Hogwarts Reads Book Seven
by physicssquid
Summary: Harry and a few friends travel back in time to finish the war with Voldemort faster, while also bringing the Alteran Empire back to true glory. AU Slash. M for language and mentions of sex, because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own anything recognisable, other than a copy of all seven books and DVDs of the films.  
This is a HP/Starge crossover, but no characters from Stargate will actually appear, they'll just get mentioned from time to time.  
**

**'Bold text' **= original book

_'Italics'_ = letters

_'Underlined Italics'_ = parseltongue

**Arrival**

The week after Halloween would normally be a week of hard work for all the staff and students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like most other weeks, but on the morning of the Saturday of that week in Harry Potter's sixth year, that was about to change.

Albus Dumbledore had finished showing Harry the first of a series of memories about Voldemort the night before, and was heading out to continue his search for the Horcruxes, hoping to give Harry as much of a head start as possible, before he succumbed to the curse on the ring he had so foolishly put on a few days after the end of the previous year.

As he walked to the entrance, he thought about what could be done to ensure that on the off chance Voldemort succeeded in taking over, it would last as short a time as possible, but had no ideas, until he arrived in the entrance hall, when a book and a note landed on the floor.

He quickly, or as quickly as an elderly gentleman who was trying to be stealthy and cautious can, walked to the book and looked at the title, which read '**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows**,' and then looked at the note, which said;

_Dearest Uncle Albus,_

_We apologise for the casualness in our greeting, and you will eventually find out how we know you so well, but that is not important at the moment. The rest of this note is what is important._

_We here in the future, would like to aid you in your attempt to make sure that the war with Voldemort is not lost, and to try and make the future a better place, so we sent you this book as a way to begin the process of doing just that._

_It is to be read to the entire student body, along with the rest of the Hogwarts staff, as well as a few guests. Be aware that a few of us will be joining you towards the end of the reading, and that once you start you cannot discuss what you learn with anyone not involved in the reading, otherwise the book will disappear and all your memories will be erased._

_We hope that when the book is finished, you will be able to restore the Ancients to their true power. You will have help in this endeavour, because we have acquired technology that was created by one of the races that were allied with the Ancients, and have used that to transfer copies of the souls of several people to your time. This means that you won't be alone when you attempt to restore the Ancients, so we suggest that you talk to Mr Potter as soon as possible, though he will come to you to request a meeting, just don't try and treat him like a child. A copy of his soul has been sent back to your time from here, the year two thousand and forty-six, therefore he has the memories and soul of his sixty-six year old self._

_Please, be aware that there are things that need to be done before reading, so during your meeting with Mr Potter please ask him how long he thinks he needs. He will also suggest a list of people to involve, and suggest that the night before you start reading, you inform Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Filius Flitwick of this list and show them our letter as well, so the four of you have time to contact everyone._

_Sincerely_

_E.D.P-M, A.C.M, A.A.F.P-M, A.E.P-M, A.J.M & K.G.P-M._

_P.S. I thought I ought to let you know that one of the things Uncle Harry needs to do is check the crystals that are powering the shields around Hogwarts, so if you would like to see something truly awe-inspiring, you might want to join him._

_A.E.P-M. _

Dumbledore almost jumped for joy, knowing that if the note was to be believed, the war with Voldemort would be over that much quicker, though he knew that there was the possibility that any changes made could be detrimental, so managed to restrain himself, realising that he would need to discover just what Harry was planning. He did wonder who sent the book and note, as well as what they meant when they mentioned the Ancients, but his joy meant that he didn't really care.

In the sixth year Gryffindor boys' dorm, unnoticed by any of the occupants, a bright light started glowing around two of the beds, the beds of Harry James Potter and Ronald Bilius Weasley. When the light finally vanished, nothing appeared to have changed, though something had. Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, while still having the bodies of their sixteen-year-old selves, were mentally sixty-six, having had their souls copied and sent back in time, while the souls that had resided in their sixteen-year-old bodies were removed and prepared to be born in new bodies, which meant that all memories and scars were removed so that the souls could become new people.

Harry and Ron woke up slowly with smiles on their faces, knowing that today the second war would start to draw to a close, without a lot of the stress and pain that they'd gone through the last time, and they wondered whether Harry's brilliant offspring had succeeded in transferring the souls of the rest of their group. If the spell had worked properly then that was what was supposed to have happened, and a lot of things would be easier, but if it hadn't and Harry and Ron were the only ones there, then they would just have to find a way to cope.

After half an hour of dozing and thinking, Harry and Ron decided they would try and get an early start, but they didn't want to be too early, so Harry looked at his watch, which said that it was half six in the morning, and with a huge grin on his face, he and Ron got ready for the day, not saying a word because they didn't want to disturb Neville, Dean and Seamus, their dorm-mates.

The moment they entered the Gryffindor common room thirty minutes later, they knew that they weren't the only ones to have their memories, when Hermione leapt up from her seat, and grabbed Harry in an ecstatic hug.

"I can't believe it worked." She said happily, "you and your offspring are geniuses."

"I knew they were." Harry smirked, "I just hope the transfer worked and Luc has his soul as well, because if not, I will be very unhappy."

"I looked over Annia's equations for the transfer before we came, and as far as I could tell, if it worked for the three of us, then it worked for all of us." Hermione said, "don't worry, Luc, Daph and Dray should have their souls, and we will be able to shock the socks off Hogwarts when we enter the Great Hall to begin the reading."

"Shocking the socks of Hogwarts sounds like a nice idea, but first, we have things to do. I need to head to Gringotts, and claim my inheritance, then I need to talk to Albus, he can help, and when the Jumper and nanite bodies arrive later, we can heal him." Harry said, "I also want to try and help Petunia get away from that bastard Vernon, and to do that I will need to be recognised as Head of the Potter family, so I can get the best attorney involved."

"Good luck." Ron sniggered, "we'll cover for you, but please hurry, I don't know how long you'll have until your disappearance is noticed."

"You can both do talking Patronuses, so you can send me a message if you need to." Harry smiled, standing up again and turning into a gorgeous green-eyed phoenix with black and silver feathers, before disappearing in a flash of lightning.

Less than five seconds after he had disappeared from Hogwarts, Harry Potter arrived in the entrance hall of Gringotts bank, and quickly glanced around to make sure no one had seen him, before turning back to his human form and walking quickly but gracefully to one of the many empty tellers.

"Excuse me, but I would like to speak to Lord Ragnok about an urgent matter concerning my estate." He said, in fluent Gobbledegook, causing the teller, who's nameplate bore the name Bloodson, to hyperventilate in surprise at the fact that a wizard was being respectful.

"Who should I say is requesting this meeting?" Bloodson asked, once he had regained his equilibrium.

"Harry Potter." Harry replied with a grin, making sure that his teeth were bared in the same way a goblin would.

"Very well, please wait here." Bloodson nodded, hopping off his seat and heading through one of the many doors in the hall.

Five minutes later, Bloodson returned with a distinguished older goblin behind him, who indicated for Harry to follow him.

"My name is Ragnok, and I understand that you wished to speak to me about your estate?" The goblin asked once they were in privacy.

"That is correct." Harry nodded, "I wish to claim my inheritance, acquire the services of Valerian Silvanus to help Petunia Dursley escape her marriage, press charges against Vernon Dursley for domestic abuse and child neglect, and hopefully get Dudley Dursley into rehab to get him clean of drugs."

"Very well, those are serious charges, but I will see what I can do." Ragnok agreed, "are you aware, however, that Valerian Silvanus is Lucius Malfoy's attorney?"

"I'm well aware of that." Harry smirked, "that is why I want him. He is the best and will not falter while working on this case."

"Very well." Ragnok nodded, "and we can now get started on your inheritance. What do you know of your family?"

"I know that my father was descended from Ethelred Gryffindor and therefore was the Heir of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, while my mother was the granddaughter of Morfin Gaunt, heir of Salazar Slytherin, making me Slytherin's True Heir, especially since Voldemort, the son of Merope Gaunt, has no right to the title, due to the fact that Merope was Morfin's younger sister." Harry replied.

"Very good." Ragnok said, "are you also aware that you have been named as the heir to one Sirius Black, and that his Will states that you get everything?"

"Indeed." Harry nodded, "I also know that my grandmother was Dorea Black, and therefore, having been blood-adopted by Sirius not long after I was born, I am the rightful heir according to Black family law, due to Sirius' incarceration in Azkaban and the fact that the ministry declared him dead a few months ago."

"Correct." Ragnok said, reaching into one of the many drawers in his desk and removing eight small boxes, along with a sharp knife. "Here are the Potter, Black, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin family rings. Before you put them on, you must test them, just to check that they will accept you, for if they don't, then you could die. The Emrys and Peverell rings are also there because you are the last of those lines as well, along with the heir's ring, signifying that you are an heir to the Prince family."

"I understand." Harry smiled, grabbing the knife and slicing his palm with it. Then he picked up the rings, one by one, and placed them in his cut palm, whereupon they all flashed blue, to show that he had been accepted, so once he had cleaned them off and healed his hand, he put them on, feeling a rush of power before the rings merged and became invisible.

"Very good." Ragnok said, "now, acquiring the services of Lord Silvanus will take a while, though I am sure he will be eager to take the case, but for now, I think our business is done."

"Not quite." Harry said, "what I'm about to say must never leave these four walls, for if the wrong people were to learn of it, the world will not be safe."

"Go on." Ragnok said, sounding interested.

"I know that you support neither the Ministry nor Voldemort, but what if I were to tell you that there is an item currently in the Lestrange vault, that if it were to be destroyed in some way, would get us one step closer to ending the war?" Harry asked.

"I would ask you how you know this?" Ragnok growled.

"I may appear to be only sixteen, but I have my memories and skills from when I was sixty-six." Harry replied.

"Ah, I would then ask you what said item was, and how you intend to destroy it." Ragnok said.

"Well, the item in question is a goblet, that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff herself, but was stolen by Voldemort in the late fifties, before he placed a piece of his soul in it." Harry replied.

"What?" Ragnok roared furiously, "we have a Horcrux in one of our vaults?"

"Yes." Harry said, "that is why it needs to be removed and destroyed."

"But what about the fact that Voldemort turned an artefact belonging to one of the founders into a Horcrux?" Ragnok asked, after pressing a button on the side of his desk and ordering the goblin on the other end to open the vault and bring the cup out.

"There is a spell that will destroy the soul fragment without damaging the goblet." Harry smiled, "I intend to use that spell and then put the goblet back where it belongs, in Hogwarts."

"A very wise idea." Ragnok nodded, as there was a knock on the door and a younger goblin entered, holding the small cup at arms length.

"I don't know why the wizard would want such a Dark thing." He grumbled in Gobbledegook, as he passed it to Harry.

"I know exactly what it is, and how to cleanse it of that Darkness." Harry replied, in the same language.

"Impressive." Ragnok said as the younger goblin stared in shock, "Bloodson told me that you knew our language, but I didn't quite believe him."

"There are many things I can do that others would not believe." Harry smiled, knowing that he was gaining the interest of the goblin leader.

"Of course." Ragnok said, "I would like to continue this discussion at a later date, but we may have to wait for a better time, so as I assume that our business is now done, I will contact you when Lord Silvanus had looked at the case and made an estimation of how soon it can be resolved, as well as his fees."

"Indeed and thank you, may your gold flow well, and your enemies cower before your might." Harry said respectfully, before bowing slightly and walking back out into the main hall and conjuring himself a hooded cloak to hide his identity. It had only taken about an hour to complete his business at the bank, so before he returned to Hogwarts, he took a detour to the same little shop he and Ron had found Ron's brother Percy in at the beginning of their second year, where he picked up the one item he remembered buying there in the previous time-line. It was an egg from a shadow phoenix, which, as soon as he picked it up, hatched, and the phoenix bonded with him, quickly growing to its full size, ready to help.

Five minutes later, he returned to the school with plenty of time to spare before he needed to meet with Albus and deal with the various other things he wanted to get done before the reading began.

As soon as Harry returned to the common room, Hermione started firing questions at him, at such high speed that he couldn't understand a word she was saying.

"Slow down." Ron sniggered, "take a deep breath, and then ask your questions, one at a time, giving the poor man a chance to answer."

"Sorry." Hermione mumbled sheepishly, before relaxing slightly and doing exactly as Ron advised, "right, did you get the rings?"

"Yes, I've also managed to get the goblins to enquire if Valerian wants to take me on as a client." Harry grinned, "then, once that was done, I mentioned the cup, and once I told him that it was a Horcrux, Ragnok was furious."

"He would be." Hermione nodded, "that _was_ why the goblins didn't ban us from the premises or take your vaults after we broke in. We told them what the cup was and why we broke in, so other than wanting compensation for the goblins who died during that and the dragon we stole, they didn't try and prosecute us."

"Yes, well, moving on." Harry said, not really keen on reliving the extremely boring meetings he'd had with the goblin leadership after the war, "I've got the cup, and after explaining everything to Albus and heading down to the chamber, I will be grabbing the diadem and cleansing both."

"Good idea." Ron grinned, "now, I know that when we first found the ZPMs, two of them were fully charged while the other was at five percent, but that was then, and this is now, so what are you going to do if all three are drained?"

"I don't know." Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Dray, Daphne and Luc may have a few ideas, but given that the ZPMs are being replenished by the ley line convergence, then that is a very unlikely scenario. If they are, however, I will have to see if I can get access to the DoM, they do have several ZPMs, fully charged, as an emergency back-up, and I may be able to requisition at least one. Besides, there should be at least one spare down there anyway, so I don't think we'd need to worry too much, even if one or two of them are completely drained."

"We'd have noticed if the ZPMs were depleted." Hermione pointed out, "the shields would have fallen, and that includes the illusion. There is no way that all three are completely drained."

"All right, so we'll assume that at least one of the ZPMs is fully charged still." Harry said, "so after breakfast, I will organise a meeting with Albus, during which I can explain how we're hoping to organise the restoration of the empire. But first, I'm going to eat then see if Luc and the rest have their souls."

Ron's stomach rumbled loudly, seemingly agreeing with the plan to eat.

"Yes, let's go to breakfast, otherwise Ron may well start gnawing on the tapestries." Hermione suggested, stifling a giggle as they stepped through the portrait.

When Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived in the entrance hall, they were immediately crushed in a hug by Draco Malfoy, who was practically sobbing with happiness, while Daphne Greengrass stood to the side, watching with amusement shining in her eyes.

"Harry, you and Annia are genius." Draco said, once he had finished hugging the living daylights out of the three Gryffindors, "I can't believe it worked."

"Are we the only ones up?" Harry asked curiously.

"Nah, I saw a few seventh year Slytherins reading in our common room, but I don't know about any of the other houses." Draco replied, not letting go of Hermione, "I was just about to have a look in the hall to see, but I doubt there are many people there."

"There aren't." Ron sniggered, having just had a look himself, "there are about seven Ravenclaws sitting at the Ravenclaw table, discussing something, three bleary-eyed seventh year Gryffindors, including Katie Bell and McLaggen, and one Hufflepuff, asleep in his breakfast. There are no Slytherins."

"What about the staff?" Daphne asked.

"Well, Sevvie's sitting there, glaring at the table in front of him; Minnie seems to be dozing over a cup of coffee and Filly is happily chunnering in Sevvie's ear." Ron said, covering his mouth to hide his laughter, "Albus is there too, and he looks as though he's rather confused and bewildered."

"Oh dear, poor Sevvie." Harry sniggered, "and no wonder Albus is thinking so deeply, I saw that note Eustace, Dee, Annia, Annabelle, AJ and Kaitlyn wrote. He can't work out who they are, and the note really was cryptic. He knows nothing about the Alteran Legacy, but that's because of Binns, whom I will get rid of at some point, hopefully soon."

"Can we go and eat now?" Ron asked with a smirk, "and shall we give the teachers a shock by walking in together?"

"Yeah, it would have been nice if there were more people there, but we can't have everything." Hermione giggled.

"One last thing, before we head in, I sent that message to Grandfather Ab and his group, and they should be arriving soon, depending on when they've finished arguing with themselves." Draco grinned.

"Good, well, hopefully they will arrive at a time when not many people are there to see, because we really don't want to give away the fact that they are still alive, yet." Harry said, "and if not many see them arrive, then nobody will realise that they merely faked their deaths and left the magical world, until we reveal them at the beginning of the reading."

Draco held his arm out, acting like a gentleman, so Hermione looped her arm in his and the five of them walked in, with Harry leading the way, and Daphne and Ron immediately behind Hermione and Draco with their arms wrapped around each others' shoulders.

Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Albus Dumbledore and the students that were actually awake were all shocked when they saw Harry Potter walking calmly with Draco Malfoy following him, and even more shocked when they saw Hermione Granger arm in arm with the blond, along with Ronald Weasley and Daphne Greengrass at the back. No one had expected those five to be civil in public, so their shock was understandable.

"We did it." Draco cheered, but then his expression turned to disappointment and he whined, "but I can't see any flying socks."

"You doofus." Hermione giggled, "it's a figure of speech."

"I knew that." Draco muttered sheepishly, "I need caffeine."

"Good idea." Harry nodded, as the five of them sat at the end of the Slytherin table nearest the staff, who were again shocked at how comfortable they all appeared while being stared at by their audience.

Once all five had a mug of steaming coffee in their hands, Draco gulped half of his down before turning to Harry and saying, "this isn't as good as yours, or the Athosian coffee."

"You're weird." Daphne stated, "I don't know how you can like that Athosian swill."

"It's an acquired taste." Draco said pompously, causing Hermione to roll her eyes and poke him in the side.

"We've known the Athosians since we destroyed that Hive-ship over New Athos, and I've tried their coffee every time we visited, and I still don't like it." Daphne grimaced, "but anyway, that reminds me, we will need to get access to Iona and begin rebuilding the fleet as soon as possible."

"That is one of the things I will be discussing during the meeting later." Harry nodded, "if I can persuade him to give me the details of the prisoners still held at Iona, then once the Valkyrie and the Warrior Soul have arrived we can transport them to the brig and bring the illusion down. Once that's done, either we build a few more Warrior class ships, or Misery's Crown, but that will be a decision we all have to make, together."

"So how did it go this morning at Gringotts?" Draco asked, once the five had eaten and were relaxing to let the food go down.

"Very well." Harry smirked, "I got the rings, got the cup, grabbed Ragnok's interest, and Valerian is probably going to be drooling on the case."

"He always has been a bit weird." Draco commented, "but he _is_ the best at what he does."

"I know." Harry grinned, "if he wasn't, your Dad wouldn't be one of his clients."

"Nor would the twins." Ron sniggered, "they may be extremely loud, and not bothered with grades or anything like that, but they do have extremely good business sense. Their profits are phenomenal, and the shop has only been going a few months. "

The staff who were sitting closest to the five students listened closely to their conversation, but other than the fact that it was obviously about something important and serious, the topic was something the staff couldn't understand. Dumbledore was the only one who could at least guess at what the students were talking about, but even he didn't fully understand, and was hoping Harry would explain during the meeting they were going to be having.

Daphne, noticing the fact that McGonagall and Snape were watching them closely, turned to Harry and asked in Parseltongue, "_when are you planning on offering Sevvie a way out_?"

Harry grinned, remembering the day they had discovered that those with snake animagus forms could speak Parseltongue, and answered in the same language, "_after the meeting with Albus, and if he accepts, which I hope he will, then I can remove the Mark immediately_."

"What about Dad's?" Draco asked.

"When I meet with him to organise our trip in the Jumper, unless he wants to wait until we complete the bond again." Harry said, returning to English.

"So before the reading, you'll activate the beacon, allowing the Jumper, nanite bodies and control crystals to arrive, then do whatever you were planning on doing with the Jumper and nanite bodies?" Daphne queried, changing the subject.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "I'll then send the Jumper into orbit, with its own beacon, which will amplify the signal from the surface, so Annia and the rest have a more viable point to focus on, and hopefully the Valkyrie and Warrior Soul will materialise in orbit."

"What exactly are you going to do with the Jumper and nanite bodies?" Hermione wondered, "that's been puzzling me since you mentioned that they would be sent here before the reading."

"You'll see." Harry smirked, standing up and leading the way out of the great hall.

Once the five students had left, McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape looked at each other confusedly, each planning on trying to catch one of the students alone and find out just what was going on. Only Snape knew what Harry and Daphne had said in Parseltongue, and wondered who had come up with such a ridiculous nickname for him, as well as why Harry felt comfortable using Albus' first name, though he was also confused as to why Daphne could speak the snake language.

"When are you going to meet with Albus?" Hermione asked, as the five students headed up the grand marble staircase.

"As soon as possible, preferably before lunch." Harry grinned, "but first I figured that we ought to let Luc know what's going on."

"That's a really good idea." Draco said, "he can help."

"Exactly." Harry nodded, "despite the notes Eustace, Dee, Annia, Annabelle, AJ and Kaitlyn wrote, the Ministry won't take the five of us seriously because of our age, but with Luc involved, once we clear his name, they'll have to."

"And you want to see him." Draco grinned.

"That too." Harry smirked, "so either I go alone and Ron and Hermione cover for me for half an hour, or two of us go together, in which case, the other three will have to cover for us."

"You go alone." Daphne stated calmly, "it will be easier for us to hide your absence, and while you're gone, we can start to discuss a possible time-line for getting the Empire up and running."

"Yeah, we'll have the long involved political conversation, you can have fun getting hot and sweaty with Dad." Draco sniggered.

"Right." Harry grinned, well-used to Draco's strange sense of humour after nearly forty-eight years of friendship.

Harry lead the group to the Room of Requirement, knowing that not many people knew of it, so they would have privacy for their discussion, and he could disappear without people wondering where he had gone.

After meeting with Lucius and informing him of what was going on, Harry returned to Hogwarts, to try and arrange a meeting between himself and Albus Dumbledore, though he wanted to make sure no one who was not in the know suspected what was going on. Unfortunately his plans were slightly derailed by McGonagall, who intercepted him as he headed in the vague direction of Albus' office.

"Mr Potter, I would like a word with you." McGonagall whispered, keeping a close eye on their surroundings, to make sure there were no students who supported Voldemort hanging around. She was one of the three teachers who had been giving Harry and his friends extra training, along with Draco, Daphne and Pansy Parkinson, one of the other Slytherins and Draco's best friend. The sessions had started not long after the beginning of Harry's first year, under the nose of the headmaster, because McGonagall and the other two teachers had realised that Harry would be a target, and that he was the only one who had the slightest chance of defeating Voldemort, but he wouldn't be able to do anything without being trained, and they all knew that the headmaster was too convinced that Harry was a child to really help. McGonagall and the other two teachers were well aware that Dumbledore had started giving Harry private lessons at the beginning of the year, but they had no idea what those lessons were about, though they were glad that the headmaster was beginning to realise that Harry wasn't a child to be protected from the big bad world.

"Don't worry." Harry grinned, "no one's going to tattle, you don't have to whisper."

"Very well." McGonagall nodded, "but I would still like a word with you, in private if possible."

"Of course Minerva." Harry said, using her first name as he had been instructed to as he followed the older woman into her quarters, where he found Albus, waiting for them with a curious look on his face.

"What can I do for you Albus?" Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow at the headmaster as she invited Harry to sit in one of the two leather armchairs beside the fire.

"I knew you would want to ask young Harry about what he had been talking about at breakfast, and felt that this was the perfect opportunity to sate my own curiosity." Dumbledore replied with a smile.

"Oh very well." Minerva sighed, rolling her eyes slightly as the headmaster conjured a squashy chintz chair, similar to the ones he had conjured at Harry's trial in the summer before the previous year.

"You can relax, Harry, you're not in trouble as far as I know." Minerva said, summoning a house-elf and requesting tea for three. When the tea arrived, she prepared a cup for herself and invited Harry to do the same, before fixing him with a beady stare, "I wanted to know, why your group decided to reveal that you weren't enemies, and what you were talking about."

"Pardon?" Albus asked.

"Oh for Merlin' sake." Minerva mumbled into her cup of tea.

"Harry, do you mean to tell me that you are friends with young Mr Malfoy and that you've hidden it for the last five years?" Albus asked, practically begging for the truth.

"Yes, we became friends in the second week of first year, when I found him with bruises on his face." Harry nodded, "he and I got talking, and somehow that led to him seeing me as a sort-of older brother. We hid it to protect him, not just from the older Slytherins, but also from the Gryffindors who would not take kindly to my being friendly with a so-called slimy-snake."

"I must be slipping." Albus murmured, not having known about the friendship between the two boys.

"Now that that's cleared up, care to tell us what you were talking about this morning?" Minerva asked, hoping to get to the point of the conversation sooner rather than later.

"How much did you hear?" Harry asked with a grin, knowing that there was no way he could keep anything from either the woman he thought of as a grandmother or the headmaster, who was like a grandfather to him.

"Quite a bit." Minerva said dryly, "you seemed to be talking about various things, including destroying a ship of some variety, building ships, a meeting you were going to arrange, and something called Misery's Crown, whatever that is."

"Right." Harry smiled, "first off, do you believe in the existence of aliens?"

"Not really." Minerva hesitated, "but I cannot believe that humanity is the only form of intelligent life in the universe."

"What about you professor Dumbledore?" Harry queried.

"The thought had occurred to me." Albus nodded.

"Good." Harry grinned, "that will make this a lot easier to believe."

"You're going to tell us that aliens exist, aren't you?" Minerva said wryly.

"Precisely." Harry nodded, "I have one more question before I explain everything."

"Go on." Minerva urged, wondering when on earth Harry had become so confident, for even in his private lessons with just her and his friends, he wasn't this self-assured.

"Do you believe that someone can find or create another dimension that is identical to theirs, and then send a copy of their soul to any point in time in the dimension?" Harry asked, suppressing his amusement at the gob-smacked expression on the older woman's face.

"Well," Minerva said finally, "I didn't before, but with you, I can believe anything."

"Indeed." Albus agreed, "the note I received this morning made me believe that it is possible."

"That's very good." Harry grinned, "because it is indeed possible. I, at this present time, may look only sixteen, but mentally, I am sixty-six. A copy of my soul was sent back in time, and merged with this body. The six of us who volunteered did of course ensure that anything we do here does not affect anything that happened in our past, by finding a dimension that was identical to ours. The science behind what we've done is exceptionally complicated, and unfortunately, only those who have some experience in the field of quantum physics have any chance of understanding it."

"Incredible." Minerva muttered, wishing she could add a dash of brandy to her tea. "So what has this got to do with the existence of aliens?"

"In our time-line, I, along with quite a few others, defeated Voldemort on the second of May, nineteen-ninety-eight, one and a half years from now." Harry started.

"I am glad to know that Voldemort's terror will not last as long as it did during his first reign." Albus whispered, "how did it happen?"

"I won't explain how just yet, because we will be reading about it, but that is where my story starts." Harry said.

"I understand." Minerva nodded, "go on."

"In August of that same year, after myself, Hermione, Ron, Daphne, Pansy and Dray were given the chance to take our N.E. , having not been able to with the war, we were offered jobs at a top-secret United States Air Force project hidden under Cheyenne mountain near Colorado Springs, called StarGate Command." Harry continued, "we discovered that the American Air Force and the Department of Mysteries had been working with a device known as a Stargate, sending teams to explore other planets and meet new races. When we joined the project, we were told that part of the mission statement was to find out what had happened to the people who built the Stargate, and why they did it."

"And did you?" Albus asked curiously, intrigued by the story he was hearing.

"Yes." Harry replied, "nearly four years after we started, we found the remains of a woman who belonged to that race, frozen in Antarctica, less than five miles from a second Stargate. The remains were in incredible condition, the woman looked as though she was merely asleep, and she had been frozen for five million years. When we thawed her out, we did not expect her to wake up, but she did, and apart from taking a small sample of her blood, we didn't do any of the fairly invasive tests we had been planning on."

"Merlin." Minerva whispered, in such a state of shock that she didn't care that she had a student in the room when she summoned another house-elf and asked for a large glass of the best brandy in Hogwarts while Albus popped three lemon-drops in his mouth in one go.

"It was incredible." Harry agreed with a smile, "not only was she almost completely healthy, but because of how old she was, she could have told us so much about her people, but unfortunately, she had no memory, of anything, not even how to speak."

"That poor woman." Minerva muttered, "how did she cope?"

"Not very well." Harry sighed, "not to begin with. She was terrified, she couldn't talk, she couldn't understand a word of what we were saying, and she panicked. Fortunately for us, we had an expert in the Mind Arts, who was able to quickly and subtly put her to sleep. He also implanted a copy of all his knowledge of the English language into her mind, so the next time she woke, she would be able to communicate with us."

"So whatever has been holding you back when learning Legilimency, has gone has it?" Minerva asked.

"I did not know you were teaching Harry Legilimency." Albus said, gazing at his deputy.

"Severus is." Minerva sighed, "during his first year, myself, Severus and Filius decided to give Harry and his friends private lessons. We knew that Voldemort wasn't dead, and that if he came back, he would go after Harry, so we wanted to prepare him."

"But he was just a child." Albus said, trying to stay quiet, "I had hoped that Harry would have a good childhood, without the fear that someone would kill him."

"We knew how you felt, but we also knew that Voldemort wouldn't care, and children are a lot more resilient than you think." Minerva smiled.

"Besides, I lost my childhood the day my parents died and I was left on the Dursleys' doorstep." Harry added, "I know you feel guilty about leaving me there, and I don't blame you for making what you thought was the best decision at the time, but maybe allowing the Will to be read and not forcing Petunia to take me in without a chance to refuse, would have been better."

"I'm so sorry my boy." Albus whispered, beginning to cry. He had been crying a lot more in the last six years than in the previous nine decades, and it was all due to the mistakes he'd made with Harry.

"Let's get back to the explanation." Minerva suggested, "then once that has been finished, we can move on to other things."

"Good idea. And yes, whatever it was that had been holding me back was destroyed after the war, and I discovered that it was exceptionally easy for me to learn Legilimency, but even so, I hadn't got to the stage where I could manipulate someone's mind in such a way as to implant knowledge," Harry said. "Anyway, the expert we had, was actually Lucius Malfoy, who is a very nice man once he lets his true self show."

"Lucius." Minerva hissed with disdain, "I see he bought his way out of prison again."

"I get the feeling that Harry had something to do with it." Albus muttered, glancing at Harry's posture and the way he seemed to be hiding a smile at the mention of the blond aristocrat.

"Indeed I did, and no Lucius did not buy his way out of prison." Harry grinned, "not only was he finally allowed to reveal the fact that he had infiltrated the Inner Circle as part of an undercover operation for the Department of Mysteries, but I testified for him, as well as Narcissa and Draco."

"Why?" Minerva asked, completely off-kilter.

"Because I wanted to." Harry replied, "he didn't know, so when I was called to the stand, I saw him completely gob-smacked."

"But I thought the only people who could testify, were those who could provide either an alibi or witness testimony of events." Albus said.

"I was a witness." Harry shrugged, "Lucius and Narcissa did not fight during the final battle, because they were far more worried about Draco, and even when given the chance to ingratiate herself with Voldemort, Narcissa lied to his face. Lucius told me, after the battle was over, that if Voldemort had asked him the same question, he would have lied too. And when I found out about his infiltration of the Death Eaters, I invited all three Malfoys to stay at Potter Manor. Of course, the Minister of the time couldn't really say anything against it, and during the several months they spent at Potter Manor, I found myself becoming friends with Lucius and Narcissa."

"Merlin." Minerva mumbled, deciding to summon a bottle of scotch from her liquor cabinet, knowing that she was likely to need it.

"So what did Lucius do when you found that frozen woman?" Albus asked.

"Lucius helped calm her down, before we analysed her blood." Harry continued. "The analysis had some surprising results. The DNA of the woman, who we named Ayiana, was very similar to ours."

"How did they get your DNA?" Albus asked, "I mean, wouldn't it be risky for Muggles to have samples of our blood and flesh?"

"Not as risky as you would expect." Harry said, "the people working at Stargate Command already knew. Most of the civilians were Unspeakables, and the Air Force personnel who were there for protection and general grunt work, were those who had either been to one of the American magical schools, or they had relatives who had. There were a few working there who hadn't, but they were in the minority, and generally worked in the medical corps."

"So they would have a legal obligation to keep everything secret." Albus nodded, "do go on."

"Yes, well, Janet Fraiser, the doctor who did the analysis of Ayiana's DNA found out that witches and wizards were the descendants of the people who had built the Stargate." Harry said, "that is when things really began to get interesting."

"I cannot imagine how much more interesting things could be." Minerva muttered, pouring herself a healthy glass of scotch and throwing it back.

Harry grinned, and made sure that both teachers were going to be able to reach the bottle of scotch, before saying, "well, less than two weeks after we discovered Ayiana, we not only found out what had happened to her people, but we uncovered the location of Atlantis. Five days after that, we went there, and raised the city."

"That means Ayiana is one of the Ancients." Albus said.

"You found Atlantis." Minerva whispered, then sat up straight having realised something, "where is it?"

"I'd like to know how it survived all these years." Albus added.

"Atlantis is currently submerged at the bottom of the ocean on a planet called Lantea in the Pegasus galaxy." Harry replied, "and as for how it has survived, we discovered that Atlantis is more than a mere city, it is a spaceship, designed to travel through space, from planet to planet, or from galaxy to galaxy, while carrying up to a million people. It has shields, designed to protect everything within from the vacuum of space, as well as space debris and many other things that could have harmed it, and those shields have been active for the last ten thousand years. The tale of the Atlantians, also known as the Ancients, or Alterans, is a sad one. Fifty million years ago they fled their home galaxy to come here because of a faction who believed that they were the only intelligent life-forms in the universe. Then, five million years ago, after they formed one of the most incredible galactic alliances ever, they were nearly wiped out by a plague that swept the galaxy, and Atlantis itself was the only city they had left that was free of infection, so they left."

"Those poor people." Albus murmured, "leaving one home for another, then being forced to leave that one too."

"It gets worse." Harry sighed, "after finally finding the Pegasus galaxy, and deeming it suitable to settle in, the Ancients began again, but they were struck by tragedy for a third time. They had used a device that would spread the seeds of life throughout Pegasus, but what they didn't know was that there was already a life-form there, known as the Iratus bug, and another life-form evolved out of the bug feeding on the fledgling human populations. That life-form became known as the Wraith, and for an idea of how they looked, just imagine Lucius at seven and a half feet tall with green skin, heat pits on his cheeks and feeding holes on the palms of his hands. They are ugly creatures, who see humanity as nothing more than food."

"That sounds horrible." Minerva whispered.

"It truly is." Harry agreed, "the Ancients were forced to go to war with the Wraith after their diplomatic party were all killed, drained of their very life-force. They lost. Badly. Less than five thousand survived, and they returned here, ten thousand years ago, a broken people. Some secluded themselves away, meditating to try and find a way to move on to the next plane of existence, and the rest hid their technology away and mingled with the fledgling human population of earth. That is how the wizarding world came to be, the Ancients who mingled, had children with some of the humans, and the metaphysical abilities they had had, became known as magic."

"So what's that all got to do with you?" Minerva asked, feeling as though she was missing something.

"When we found Ayiana and discovered the link between her people and ours, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Lucius, myself and Daphne, who had joined after she completed her Healer training, decided to try and restore the Ancients' civilisation and Empire back to the glory it had all those years ago." Harry replied, "it has been incredibly interesting and a lot of fun. We learned all we could about the technology they had, how it worked, how to built vessels like theirs, and everything we could about their culture."

"So the ships you were talking about building are to do with that?" Albus said.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "by the time we were planning to come back, we had several hundred, most of them we'd built ourselves and a few we'd appropriated from our enemies, but we were very lucky to find three vessels that were built by the Ancients themselves. The ones we mentioned, the Valkyrie and the Warrior Soul are two of the warships we built, and they will be sent here, to provide at least some protection for Earth while we get started properly."

"What about that Misery's Crown thing?" Minerva asked.

"That was one of four small city-ships that we'd built as a prison." Harry replied, "we built four because even though we didn't have that many criminals, we did have a few, and some were more dangerous than others, so we kept them as separate as possible. We called the place Misery's Crown to differentiate between it and the other three, known as Sins of the Father, Wages of Sin and Demon's Gate."

"Why did you need four?" Minerva asked.

"Because of the security classifications." Harry said, "we didn't want to put a pickpocket in the same prison as a murderer, and we didn't want rapists in the same prisons as smugglers. Misery's crown, being one of the two High-security prisons, held rapists, murderers and anyone else who was given a life-sentence. Sins of the Father held pickpockets, thieves and other non-violent criminals, who were usually sentenced to a year, and would be released at the end of that year."

"I understand." Albus nodded, "so you're going to build either a prison or a warship."

"Precisely." Harry grinned, "but our main obstacle is the fact that the only shipyard we can access is currently hidden under an illusion and in use."

"Where is it?" Albus asked, mentally taking notes and planning to write everything down later, so he didn't forget about it.

"Azkaban." Harry replied, "that's why we want to wait for the two warships that are being sent, so that we can transport the prisoners to the brig, then bring down the illusion, move the ship, and begin production of whatever we eventually decide is most important."

"Thank you for telling us." Minerva said, looking at the time, "I think you'd better get on with your day, so you don't arouse suspicion."

"Of course Minerva." Harry smiled, "if you want any more information, just ask either myself, Hermione, Ron, Draco or Daphne, and we'll be happy to answer any questions."

"I'll think about it." Minerva nodded, shooing him out of her quarters and heading to the staff-room, hoping that that was where she would find Flitwick and Snape.

Just as he and Albus left Minerva's quarters, Albus had a thought and stopped suddenly, fishing in his robes, looking for the note he had received that morning.

"Mr Potter, do you by any chance know who sent me this letter?" Albus asked curiously, pulling the note out and showing it to the younger man, watching as Harry's eyes gained a slight twinkle.

"Yes." Harry grinned, "Eustace Donovan and Annabelle Elladora Prince-Malfoy, Andromeda Chloe and Abraxas John Malfoy, along with Annia Aurelia Faustina and Kaitlyn Grace Potter-Malfoy."

"I presume the last two are your children with young Draco Malfoy." Albus mused thoughtfully, "but I don't quite know who the other four are."

"They are mine, but with Lucius, not his son." Harry replied, suppressing a smirk at the headmaster's gob-smacked expression, "Eustace Donovan and Annabelle Elladora are two of Abraxas Malfoy and Eileen Prince's children, while Andromeda Chloe and Abraxas John are two of the three children of Bellatrix Black and Tiberius Malfoy."

"I don't quite understand." Albus frowned, "I thought Abraxas Malfoy and Eileen Prince were dead and Bellatrix Black was not only married to Rodolphus Lestrange but was also a Death Eater."

"Abraxas and Eileen faked their deaths and while he left the magical world, she changed her name to Irma Pince, and became the school librarian." Harry smiled, "Bellatrix is married to Rodolphus Lestrange in this time, but after the final battle, the marriage contract was dissolved, and both she and Rodolphus were freed of the curse that had been tied into it. Tiberius was the one who helped her get over the horror of what she was forced to do, and during that time, they fell in love."

"But even so, Abraxas and Eileen are both in their sixties while Bellatrix is forty-five and Tiberius is forty-seven." Albus pointed out, "they would have been older after the war."

"Abraxas and Eileen decided to get themselves de-aged by fifty-three and fifty years respectively, while Bellatrix was given the option to be de-aged by twenty-nine years, to help her recover, and Tiberius chose to have thirty-one years taken off." Harry replied.

"Oh. So did anyone else, other than you and your four friends get their souls copied and transferred?" Albus wondered, having completely forgotten to think about it earlier.

"Yes." Harry replied, "Lucius had his soul copied and transferred. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Tiberius and two others also had their souls copied, but for some reason they decided to wait before doing the transfer."

"Thank you." Albus nodded, "now, at the bottom of the note, A.E.P-M, who I presume is miss Prince-Malfoy, said that you would be checking the crystals that power the shields around Hogwarts, and she also said that I might be interested in seeing where the crystals are stored."

"You would be." Harry grinned, "it is an awe-inspiring sight, apart from the large rotting corpse that's still in the Chamber."

"Do you mean to tell me that the crystals are housed in the Chamber of Secrets?" Albus asked, horrified.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "but there really is no way Voldemort would have been able to do anything to damage them. Those crystals are not only incredibly robust, but they can't be found by anyone who doesn't know anything about the Alterans or their technology."

"Interesting, shall we go?" Albus asked eagerly.

"Follow me." Harry nodded, leading the way to the second-floor girls' bathroom.

"Did you ever find out why the entrance to the Chamber is in a girls' bathroom?" Albus queried.

"No, even when I found a portrait of Salazar himself, I never discovered just what he was thinking." Harry replied with a wry grin, turning to the tap and hissing at it.

As Harry remembered happening in his second year, the tap glowed and the sink sank out of sight with a loud grinding noise, leaving a large slimy hole open, ready and waiting for someone to jump down it.

"How disgusting." Albus commented, "I can't believe you were willing to jump down that disgusting hole four years ago?"

"I felt that I had to, and ignored the muck." Harry shrugged, grabbing his wand and casting several scourgifies down the pipe, "I couldn't not go, not if I didn't want poor Ginny to die."

"You do know that I am a little too old to go jumping down pipes, don't you?" Albus asked nervously.

"The first time I went down, I thought jumping was the only way to get down, but then I discovered that the entire Chamber responds to various Parseltongue commands, including _stairs_." Harry grinned, watching as the pipe morphed into a large curved spiral staircase.

"Impressive." Albus muttered, following him down into the depths of the earth.

As they walked, Harry cleaned the floor of rodent skeletons, and when they approached the rockfall caused by Lockhart's backfired curse, he vanished the rocks and repaired the ceiling, not wanting the whole thing to fall down on their heads.

"Merlin almighty, how old was the basilisk when you killed it?" Albus asked when he saw the shed skin.

"I'm not entirely certain." Harry replied, "but I would hazard a guess and say that she shed this about seven hundred and fifty years ago, so, probably, about a thousand years old."

"But it's twenty feet long." Albus squeaked, glancing between Harry and the skin and back, "I didn't think snakes grew much larger. How big was it?"

"Very." Harry dead-panned, opening the last door and casting several air-freshening spells into the main chamber.

He lead Albus along the walkway that was flanked on both sides by snake statues, until they reached the huge statue of the man Harry had assumed was Salazar Slytherin, in front of which was the mostly intact corpse of the basilisk.

"She was eighty feet long when she died." Harry said softly, gazing sadly at the remains, "she'd become mentally unstable after nearly a thousand years of starvation and loneliness. Tom found her on the brink of insanity, and because he saw her as nothing more than an animal, he crushed what was left of her mind, then after Myrtle died, he left her alone and hungry, for another fifty years."

Albus was staring in shock, unable to truly comprehend the fact that Harry had killed such a large creature, despite the evidence being right in front of his eyes, so Harry gently helped him sit down to one side and got to work, removing the blood, venom, fangs, hide, liver, kidneys and heart, all of which would be useful. Then he vanished the flesh and remaining internal organs before wandlessly sending the skull to Potter Manor to be mounted and placed on a wall, while the ribs and other small bones were placed in a bag, ready to be turned into knives.

"I wish you hadn't had to risk your life at such a young age, but even I know that you wouldn't have done anything less, and I am in awe." Albus whispered, barely aware of anything around him, "it is just such a shame such a beautiful creature had to be killed."

"Yes." Harry nodded, "I wish I hadn't had to, but she was insane, and there was nothing that I or anyone could have done to restore her mind. I doubt she would have wanted to live after accidentally killing a student anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Salazar left her here as a second line of defence for the school, just in case the shields collapsed, and her duty was to protect the students to the best of her ability." Harry replied, "according to Salazar's journals, as well as his portrait, all of which he had hidden down here, she felt that all the students were her children, and to any snake, killing a child is anathema. She would never have been able to forgive herself for killing a student, even accidentally."

"Merlin." Albus murmured, taking one last glance at the floor where the basilisk corpse had lain, before forcing himself to not think of how close Harry had come to dying, and turning back to face the young hero.

"This way to the heart of Hogwarts." Harry said, walking over to the large statue and pressing his fingers into the side of it while whispering something in a language Albus didn't recognise. The statue shimmered before disappearing, revealing a door that was nothing like the rest of the Chamber. It appeared to be made of a strange brown metal, with a block pattern and an oblong device that had three glowing sections on to the side.

Harry waved his hand over the oblong device, opening the door with a low grinding noise, allowing Albus to see the, strangely hexagonal, room behind it. At first glance, this room wasn't all that impressive, with a few shelves on parts of the walls, each with slots in and several glowing orange crystals in a few of the slots, and one large table-like object in the middle, but Albus took a closer look at the object, seeing the symbols all over it, and knew that this whole room was built by the Ancients themselves. He was even more impressed when Harry pressed some of the symbols, and part of the top of the object rose up with a hiss, to reveal three orange crystals, all glowing, two strongly and the other flickering faintly. As soon as the crystals were completely free, Harry pressed a few more symbols, and a screen that Albus hadn't noticed, lit up, displaying lines of a strange rune-like text that the headmaster couldn't understand, but Harry obviously did, because he walked over to one of the walls with shelves on and grabbed another glowing orange crystal from its slot, before walking back to the console in the middle and removing the flickering crystal from its holder. He quickly placed the new crystal in the holder and the entire thing sank back down into the console while he placed the flickering one to one side. The next thing Harry did was press another sequence of symbols, causing the display on the screen to shift to something else that Albus didn't fully understand, with a graph in one corner and a series of the same strange rune-like symbols down the side. Harry kept one eye on the screen while keying in a new sequence to the console, watching the graph change from a completely asymmetrical wavy line to a perfectly symmetrical curve, going from the lower left corner to the lower right corner. The symbols down the side also changed, and when Harry was satisfied, he pressed one final symbol, causing part of the console to light up and flash.

"That's it." Harry said, turning away from the console after shutting the screen down. "The subspace beacon is active, and the shields are at full power."

"I didn't notice anything change." Albus commented, following the younger man back out in to the main Chamber and watching the statue reappear.

"There is a back-up power supply that can be used when the ZPMs are disconnected." Harry smiled, leading the way back to the exit, "it doesn't last long, so we try not to disconnect the ZPMs too often or for too long, but when merely replacing a depleted ZPM with a fresh one, it's fine."

"Interesting." Albus remarked as they ascended the stairs and headed out of the bathroom. "So what precisely is the 'subspace beacon' and why did you turn it on?"

"It is a device that can send a signal through subspace, basically acting like a homing beacon, only I've calibrated it to send the signal through time, and it will allow the people in the future to send us a few objects that will aid us in restoring the Alteran Empire." Harry replied.

"What kind of objects, and how long until they arrive?" Albus wondered, internally boggling at how easy it was to talk to Harry, and wondering why he hadn't noticed before.

"The people who wrote the note and sent the book, will be sending a short-range, all-purpose space-craft that we call a Puddle-Jumper, which holds six canisters of tiny robots known as nanites." Harry replied, "we plan to use those canisters in our demonstration of the technology our ancestors were using and creating on a daily basis. The Puddle-Jumper will be sitting in orbit, amplifying the signal from the subspace beacon, to allow two of our warships to be sent, so that the planet can be protected to the best of our ability, then that will be used as part of the demonstration as well. As for when they'll arrive, probably about two hours, maybe less, depending on how soon those on the other end receive the signal and get it all ready to send." Harry shrugged.

"Very well." Albus nodded, shaking Harry's hand and heading back to his office, to write down everything he had learned, as the younger man proceeded down to the great hall, to await the arrival of the Time Jumper and nanite bodies and have lunch.

While Harry waited for the Time Jumper to be sent through time, he had lunch and discussed with the rest of the students in his group, what they were going to do about their N.E. and the war.

"We should try and take the exams as soon as possible." Daphne stated, "I do not think we will be able to stay here for a full two years, otherwise the restoration will be delayed again."

"And the whole point of this was to begin restoring the Empire a lot sooner, as well as end the war with Voldemort." Draco agreed, "the good thing is, that we know what we're doing now, there may only be six of us currently involved, but with Albus working with us, or at least, not sticking his nose in and getting in the way, hopefully the Ministry will take us seriously."

"Yes." Hermione nodded, "if we take our N.E. at the end of this month, then that is one thing we do not have to worry about. Once the reading is over, and if Scrimgeour gets enough of a kick up the arse, then we can get rid of Voldemort by the end of the year. That I think is the first thing that needs to be done."

"I agree." Harry said, noticing Albus enter the great hall, "I've already got the cup, and after the Jumper arrives, then I will grab the diadem and destroy both soul pieces. I don't think we can delay the reading too much, because given the size of the book, then it will take at least a day to read, maybe close to a week, especially since we cannot stop people commenting, and we will have to explain things as we go along."

"I think we'll probably have to start reading on Monday, we'll probably be finished on Wednesday or Thursday, so we can think about everything else." Daphne mused.

"So we can ask to take our exams and begin working on the political side after the reading." Hermione nodded, writing everything down.

"I think it might take the teachers some time to decide to allow us to take the exams, but we don't have to rely on their decision before doing anything else." Draco pointed out, "while they are deliberating and arguing about it, Harry can go and swap the prophecy for a fake that we create, we can programme at least some of the ship designs into the control crystals on the Valkyrie and the Warrior Soul, so that when we finally get access to Iona, we can just insert them into the computer and get that going, and we can prepare for the final battle, by grabbing the Mosquitoes from the warships and spreading them around, teaching certain people how to fly the them, teaching a few people how to use the sensors on the ships to monitor the battle field and other things like that."

"Yes, but unfortunately, even after forty-four years, we haven't been able to figure out a way to allow the synthesiser to convert water into anything usable, so someone will have to take either of the two ships we will have, and use it to transport materials from the asteroid belt or elsewhere, before we can build anything, which will mean that we can't get as many people trained as we would otherwise manage." Harry agreed, "though, we will have two ships, so one can be used temporarily as a cargo and training vessel, while the other zips across to Pegasus and we can get the shipyard there working. Of course, if we do it like that, only one or two people will be able to go to Pegasus, and that will go slower."

"Hang on a minute." Ron said, "we're working on the assumption that Annia and Eustace will follow the plan and bring the Valkyrie and the Warrior Soul. What if they decide to bring one of Hammer of the North's sister-ships instead?"

"True the Hammers don't have the intergalactic hyperdrive like the Warrior class, but they do have the wormhole drive instead." Daphne verbalised, "and while that may not be as stable as the intergalactic hyperdrive, it is a lot faster. If they do bring a Hammer class, the journey to Pegasus and back should take less than two weeks, but with a Warrior class it will take longer, even with the intergalactic hyperdrive."

"Would it be a good idea for us to send a subspace message through the beacon, suggesting that they send a Hammer class instead of one of the Warrior class ships?" Harry enquired, "or maybe even get them to shove the Ulysses or Hercules in the cargo bay of the Valkyrie, and the Scorpion in the Warrior Soul?"

"I'm not sure about switching a Warrior for a Hammer." Draco sighed, beginning to feel a ripple of pressure in the air, "the Warriors are capable of taking a lot more punishment than the Hammers, that's why they are the best in the fleet. They can last a lot longer in battle, which is part of why we decided to have two here. Undoubtedly, Ra or one of the other System Lords is still paying a little bit of attention to this area of the galaxy, and I wouldn't be surprised if they sent a Ha'tak or two to have a look if they detect the massive energy signature of the rift. Hell, the Warriors have huge energy signatures in their own right, and I doubt the System Lords will ignore them. And as for getting them to bring the Scorpion and Ulysses, that would be brilliant. The Ulysses can transport the materials we need from somewhere to Iona, and the Scorpion can take on a Ha'tak easily, so the warships don't have to take on too many different roles. I would suggest that when you send the Jumper into orbit, you do send a message, through the beacon."

"Right." Harry nodded, watching people look around nervously, wondering what was going on. "You know we're going to have to play dumb when the Jumper arrives?"

"Yeah, and I bet that, even if he knows that we know, Albus will want to keep everyone away from it, so that he can examine it." Hermione said.

"He will, because he won't know what it is, nor will he want to put anyone at risk of getting hurt." Harry grinned, "however, I'm sure he now knows that the Jumper is coming. He did ask me what I wanted the beacon for, and he was there when Minerva asked me what we were talking about earlier. Beside, Luc will be arriving later, so if we can get on board the Jumper later this afternoon or tomorrow, then that part of the plan can be complete, and the reading can definitely start on Monday."

Draco shuddered as the pressure began to build even more, "Merlin, how much power does it take to get the Jumper from one place in time to another?"

"Usually not much, but we've never needed to send it fifty years into the past remotely." Harry replied, chancing a glance at the staff table, "yes we've tested it with shorter jumps, but this is the first time a jump of this magnitude has been attempted without having someone on board to control it."

"Who volunteered to use the remote neural interface?" Daphne queried.

"Annia." Harry answered, still taking in the attitudes of the staff, "she may be eight months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave but, she is still one of the best, and she begged."

Suddenly, with a loud rumble, the pressure dissipated, and a large, brown, cylindrical object, with an angled front and rear appeared. The students screamed when they saw it, thinking the school was under attack, while the teachers, apart from Albus, Minerva, Flitwick and Snape, raised their wands and some even started to throw hexes and curses at the object. Albus even tried to get the panicking teachers to calm down, with no success.

"That won't get them very far." Hermione giggled, watching the spells merely bounce off the sides of the object, "the Jumper was designed to be able to withstand a lot more than they can throw at it."

"Yes, but they don't know that." Daphne pointed out, trying to restrain her own laughter at the ridiculousness of what she was seeing. "Look at Sprout, then look at Minnie, Filly and Sevvie, as well as the child-like curiosity on Albus' face."

"I know." Harry grinned, watching the way Albus seemed to be itching to study the Jumper while the other three sat back and relaxed. "The big difference is that those four have a vague idea of what's going on."

"Did you tell Albus and Minnie about the Jumper?" Draco asked curiously.

"I only mentioned that we were expecting something to arrive, and I only told Albus." Harry replied, closing his eyes at the nickname Minerva had been given, having just realised that they'd been using it all along. "But, given that Minnie has been watching and listening to us this entire time, I think she knows that we had something to do with it."

"Merlin, d'you think we should do something before they all exhaust themselves?" Ron asked, watching as professors Babbling, Burbage and Sprout sat down, panting slightly from exertion.

"No, that would raise too much suspicion." Hermione sighed, "at the moment the only people who have any idea of what we're doing are Albus, Minnie, Sevvie and Filly. Besides, we're only supposed to be sixteen and seventeen."

"I agree." Harry nodded, "yes those teachers know, but we do not want the rest of the teachers to get too interested. They will get in the way, and probably try and stop us."

"Oh look, Hoochie has finally realised that all that effort was a waste of time." Hermione giggled, slightly insanely, as Hooch managed to encourage the panicking teachers to stop firing spells at the Jumper.

"Merlin, I think you've been spending way too much time with Aunt Bella." Draco muttered, "that was too creepy for words."

"I agree." Daphne nodded, as the headmaster stood up and attracted the attention of the students, "anyway, let's listen to what Albus has to say."

"I know that many of you are wondering what this object sitting in the middle of the hall is, and while I also know that you would all like to stay and watch us examine it to determine the answer to that question, I'm afraid that I will have to send you back to your common rooms and declare the great hall out-of-bounds for the present time. Miss Granger, Miss Daphne Greengrass, Mr Malfoy, Mr Potter and Mr Ron Weasley, please stick around, you may be able to help." Albus said, twinkling his eyes in the hope that the milling students would relax. "If we can discover the origin of this, admittedly impressive, piece of machinery before the evening meal, then we may be able to allow the rest of you back in to eat, but if not, then your meals will be sent to your dormitories, for the length of time it takes us to find the answers. Unfortunately, this will mean that if you wish to leave your common rooms at any time, for any reason, you will need to acquire permission from the seventh-year prefects, the head boy and head girl, as well as your heads of house. This is for your safety, so please, do not try and break the rules."

"Shit." Harry muttered quietly, "this is going to stall our plans."

"It really is." Draco agreed, clenching his fist to try and control his urge to run his fingers through his hair, while the younger years crowded around the doors.

"There is so much we still have to do before we start reading the book." Hermione fretted, "we've got the ZPMs fully functional, and I presume Harry checked the stardrive and sublight engines, so that is one thing we won't have to worry about when it's time to move the ship."

"I did run a full systems check, and apart from the ZPM I had to replace, everything was in full working order." Harry nodded, "but if we're going to be cooped up in here with the teachers, we can't cleanse the diadem or cup, which will delay everything. I had hoped that we'd get the cup and diadem cleansed before I went after the locket, because I really do not think we want all three of those things together in the same place."

"I agree." Ron concurred, "it was bad enough when we were travelling with the locket around our necks, but if we had three of those things to deal with …"

"Look, we can cope with this for a little while, but we do need to be out as soon as possible." Hermione said softly, but not softly enough to stop Minerva, Snape and Flitwick hearing every word, "Harry, you do have that hidden talent, and if we need to be elsewhere, you can lend us the cloak, flame us out and if absolutely necessary, you can persuade those who do know to let us get on with everything, especially with your silver tongue which convinced the Genii to not blow up a hibernating Hive."

"Didn't last very long did it?" Harry snorted, "they went and blew one up ten years later, waking the Wraith from their hibernation."

"True, but your silver tongue did gain us ten years to research and get prepared for war." Daphne pointed out as they stood up and headed towards the staff table, where Albus, Minerva, Flitwick and Snape were waiting.

"At least there was that." Harry nodded as they drew to a halt in front of the teachers.

"What exactly is that thing?" Flitwick asked as soon as they were alone.

"It is a short-range all-purpose vessel we call a Puddle-Jumper." Daphne replied, "extremely durable, and by far one of the most useful craft we have."

"So what do you use it for?" Minerva queried.

"Mostly for transporting people and cargo from a ship in orbit to the surface of a planet." Ron replied, "but we do use them for exploring planets and getting from one planet to another within a solar system."

"Incredible." Snape murmured, only now believing the story that McGonagall had passed on to him earlier.

"I have one more question." Flitwick said, "why do you need it here?"

"Two reasons." Harry grinned, "that particular Jumper was built with a device we call a stream-shifter, and is capable of travelling both backwards and forwards in time. We want to use the stream-shifter to fetch a few people from the past, but also, it has something we call a subspace beacon, which we can tie in to the stream-shifter and send a signal through time. The plan is to leave the Jumper in orbit, with the beacon active and allow two of our warships to come here."

"Interesting." Flitwick muttered, not fully understanding, but willing to let the students do what they needed to do.

"How on earth are you going to get it out of the hall?" Albus wondered, glancing between the Jumper and the doors, "it's too big to fit through the doors."

"It doesn't need doors to be open." Harry smirked, "the Jumper has shields, and the emitters that produce those shields can be modified to emit a field known as a harmonic resonance field, which will disrupt an illusion, therefore allowing the Jumper to literally fly through the wall."

"What Harry didn't say is that everything you can see in this castle is an illusion covering the true appearance of Hogwarts." Draco added with a grin.

"What does Hogwarts really look like then?" Snape asked.

"An Alteran city-ship, known as Avalon." Hermione replied, "it was left here when the Ancients fled this galaxy, five million years ago."

"Very well." Albus sighed, not really knowing what else to say, "I suggest that you wait until this evening before doing whatever you're planning, and I will post a guard to make sure no other students try and sneak back in to have a look at your Puddle-Jumper."

"What a weird name." Snape murmured.

"It isn't when you know that the event horizon of a wormhole created by a Stargate looks like a vertical puddle." Draco sniggered, "and the Jumper can fit inside a Stargate, which is how it got its name."

"Ah." Snape nodded slowly.

"Now that that's dealt with, is there anything we can do to help you before we call the entire school to read, or would you rather be left to complete whatever on your own?" Albus asked, ignoring the way Minerva and Snape seemed to want to follow the five students.

"Well, we would like to take our N.E. as soon as possible." Daphne said, "and we have a couple of items to cleanse of Dark Magic, preferably before the book is started."

"What items?" Minerva queried.

"Items that professor Dumbledore has been searching for since our second year." Harry replied, "I really don't think we should allow these items to be corrupted for too long."

"You know how many of those vile objects Voldemort made?" Albus whispered in shock, "do you also know where they are?"

"Yes, to both of those questions." Draco grimaced, "he made six, and apart from the two that have already been destroyed, the only one we cannot get access to easily is the snake."

"Merlin." Albus mumbled, "I had wondered, but I didn't think he'd sink that low."

"What the bloody hell are you on about?" Snape asked irritably.

Harry looked at Albus, wondering whether it would be a good idea to reveal what they knew, especially since the headmaster had made Harry promise to keep it a secret. Albus nodded with a wince, knowing that the other three teachers, Minerva especially, were going to explode when they found out that he had tried to keep them in the dark.

"Voldemort made Horcruxes." Harry said, "six of them. Two have already been destroyed, I got the goblins to give me the one that had been hidden in one of the vaults at Gringotts, we're going to get another that's currently hidden in the room of requirement, and the last that we can easily access is hidden in Grimmauld place, or it was last summer."

"I'm sorry, but what is a Horcrux?" Flitwick asked, noticing the pale faces of his colleagues and knowing that he would not like the answer.

"Something that is not generally spoken of in polite company." Ron sighed, "a Horcrux is a vessel in which a wizard stores part of his soul, and the only way to make one is murder in cold blood."

"Not just any murder." Albus whispered, "murder of an innocent, such as a defenceless baby or a cripple."

"That's disgusting." Flitwick squeaked.

"Voldemort is disgustingly evil." Draco hissed, "he didn't just split his soul into seven pieces, he desecrated historical artefacts."

"Founders' artefacts, apart from his diary and Nagini." Harry added with a grimace, "he used a cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, the supposedly Lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, and a locket that Salazar Slytherin had made by hand, for his wife, who, contrary to what the history books say, was neither of noble birth, nor a pureblood."

"Indeed not, she was a muggle-born orphan, milking cows just to make enough money to eat one meal a day." Daphne nodded, suppressing a smile at the gob-smacked expressions the teachers were wearing.

"I think I need a brandy." Flitwick murmured, staggering back to his seat, along with Minerva and Snape.

"I had thought Voldemort had used Founders' artefacts." Albus whimpered, "but even I didn't expect that the Lost Diadem would be one of them."

"Nor did we, but he did." Hermione smiled.

"He truly is beyond redemption." Albus said softly, "I don't think I could go anywhere at the moment, you have my permission to do whatever is necessary."

"Thank you." Harry nodded as the five students left the hall in the direction of the room of requirement.

"Are you ever going to tell us what you plan to do with it and the nanites?" Hermione whined.

"Well." Harry grinned, "you remember when I requested six canisters of nanites?"

"Yes." Draco nodded slowly.

"One of them will be used in the demonstration, along with the Jumper, and when they arrive, the Valkyrie and Warrior Soul." Harry said, "but the other five, are going to save lives by replacing a few people."

"That's brilliant." Hermione squealed, "I didn't realise that we could maintain the time-line, while also saving lives."

"Exactly." Harry grinned, "those five people that will be replaced, will come here, listen to the book, and help us restore the empire right from the beginning, instead of joining in half-way through and needing us to explain everything."

"But who?" Daphne asked curiously.

"That will be revealed later." Harry smirked as they stepped onto the seventh floor and proceeded down to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"You are being infuriating." Hermione remarked as Harry paced the requisite three times in front of the wall.

As soon as the door appeared, Harry darted into the room, leaving the other four to keep an eye out for people approaching. He knew he did not have long to find the diadem and remove the soul pieces from both it and the cup, which he had kept in a shrunken box that would stop the malevolent energy escaping.

The diadem was easy to find, because Harry knew both where in the Room it had been hidden, and because he had used it as a landmark to point to where he had hidden his old potions text. With a shout of 'eureka', Harry managed to grab the diadem, before thinking of what he needed the room to become, which was a dim stone room, with a pentagram in the middle, several candles and several dishes of herbs.

He placed both cup and diadem in the centre of the pentagram, and stepped out, making sure that he didn't smudge the chalk lines, before pacing around the room, lighting the candles and beginning the spell to cleanse Horcruxes. It was more of a ritual, but was so quick and easy that it was merely called a spell.

Harry's chant was simple, but repetitive, and his voice got louder with every word he spoke. "Artefaktidega aegadel vana, vaba ise on pimedus hoiate!"*1

He repeated that sentence for about five minutes, before there was a blinding flash and two unholy screams echoed as the two pieces of soul were dragged out of their resting places, writhing in pain and exploding as soon as they were free, leaving the cup and diadem intact and looking as shiny as the day they had first been made.

As the light died down, Harry grinned, knowing he had been successful, so he grabbed both objects and left the room, grinning at everyone as he placed the diadem on his head as soon as the door had disappeared.

"That really does not suit you." Draco smirked as he watched Harry close his eyes due to the intense rush of knowledge that had just downloaded itself into his head.

"Oh wow." Harry whispered, "this thing, it works the same way as the repositories, except it can be used by more than one person." He removed the diadem from his head and passed it to Hermione.

"Can I have a go?" Daphne asked eagerly.

"Sure." Harry grinned as Hermione removed it from her head and passed it round, "you can all have a go, then we will all know the same things."

"Hmmm." Hermione agreed, "at least it doesn't have as much data as the repositories."

"That is a very good thing." Draco nodded, "the two times Jack stuck his head in a repository, he had his brain scrambled."

"That's because the human brain is not meant to hold fifty million years' worth of knowledge from an entire civilisation." Harry smiled, "this only holds all of Rowena's knowledge."

"Which isn't much, seeing as she died fairly young." Daphne added.

"Indeed." Harry nodded, as Draco passed the diadem to Ron.

"When did you arrange for the bad faith of the light to arrive?" Hermione asked as the five headed back down to the main staircase after Ron had taken the diadem off and passed it back to Harry.

"Now." Harry replied, as with a puff of smoke, Lucius appeared in front of them, holding on to the tail of the black and grey shadow phoenix that had hatched and bonded with Harry earlier in the day. "And you do realise that that was one of the longest round-about ways of saying his name?"

"Yes, well, I know we don't particularly care if Minnie, Filly and Sevvie overhear us talking, but it is fun to confuse them, and we don't want too many others to know just yet, especially not those loyal to Mouldywarts." Hermione giggled, petting the phoenix who had fluttered over to her shoulder.

"Too right it is fun." Lucius smiled, wrapping his arms around Harry and giving him a swift peck on the lips.

Harry and Hermione were the only members of the group who had noticed that they were being watched. Flitwick, Minerva and Snape, who had finally recovered from the earlier shock, had left the great hall, and were planning on heading to their respective house common rooms to check on the students, when they came upon the group, and managed to catch sight of the kiss between Harry and Lucius. The three house heads were utterly shocked to see that, and Snape was beginning to move out of the nook they had hidden themselves in, when Minerva stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Snape asked acerbically, though there was no real venom in his tone, he was just worried, "I would like to find out what that man is doing with Harry. He may be an old friend of mine, but if we don't stop him, you know that there's a chance they will end up doing something Harry will regret, and I do not want that on my conscience."

"Just look at Harry's friends." Flitwick whispered, "look at how your god-son is acting. I don't think we have to worry about anything."

"Indeed not." Minerva agreed, watching Lucius place his hands on Harry's cheeks and move in for another kiss, while Harry sneakily stuck his right hand under the blond's shirt and did something to make Lucius moan.

"My word." Flitwick muttered, getting flustered as Harry's left hand landed on Lucius' right buttock and squeezed, causing the blond's hips to jerk.

"We should stop them." Snape murmured, now utterly mesmerised by the scene in front of them, "Harry might be under some sort of spell, and we have a duty to stop this before it goes too far."

"Wouldn't young Draco and miss Granger be trying to do something if Harry was under a spell of some sort?" Flitwick asked, "I mean, they are friends, even though they've hidden that for the last few years."

"That is true." Minerva nodded, "but young Draco looks happy to leave them be, and Harry did tell me earlier that he and Lucius had put aside their differences. Besides, Harry seems to be participating too much for it to be anything but consensual and mutual."

"And where did that bird come from?" Snape muttered, staring at the phoenix in confusion.

"That is a very good question." Minerva nodded, tearing her eyes away from Harry and Lucius, and looking at Hermione's shoulder too.

"Oh look, they've stopped, let's listen to what they're saying." Flitwick suggested when he noticed that Harry and Lucius had separated, even though they were still touching.

"Thank you for making my eyes melt." Draco was saying melodramatically.

"You didn't have to watch." Lucius smirked.

"You deliberately put on that show didn't you?" Ron asked dryly.

"And it wasn't for our benefit." Hermione added with a wry smile.

"What are you on about?" Daphne asked.

"Il n'y a rien, juste quelques enseignants fouineur."*2 Hermione giggled, looking over Draco's shoulder at the nook where the three teachers were hiding.

Lucius groaned and closed his eyes, wondering how on earth he was going to get out of this mess. He knew he should have paid more attention to his surroundings, but he couldn't think of anything else when he was kissing Harry.

"You mean we were being watched this whole time?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yep." Hermione nodded, "but don't worry, our audience does not include anyone who isn't in the know."

"Very true." Harry agreed, gently rubbing Lucius' left arm to try and keep the blond calm.

"Is there any way we can convince them to ignore what they've just seen?" Lucius asked nervously.

"I don't think so." Hermione said, "but they obviously aren't all that worried, they're still hiding, despite the fact that they know they've been seen."

The three teachers looked at each other before emerging from their hiding place, knowing that they didn't have a reason to hide any more.

"We didn't want to interrupt, though there was a little bit of concern when we first saw you." Minerva said, drawing to a halt a few steps down from the group.

"Shouldn't you be busy doing something to defeat the Dark Lord now?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow at the students.

"The only thing that's left is to find and cleanse the locket, then somehow deal with Nagini." Draco shrugged easily.

"Fair enough." Flitwick smiled, "what have you done with the two items you said you were going to cleanse earlier?"

"The cup is sitting in one of my pockets, waiting for someone to tell me just where in Hogwarts it should be displayed, and the Diadem is in another pocket, waiting for me to take it to Gringotts to place in the Ravenclaw vault." Harry replied.

"I suggest we speak to the headmaster and Pomona about it, because I am certain that they will both know what should be done with the cup." Flitwick said, almost wishing that Harry hadn't insinuated that the Ravenclaw line was still around and that the Diadem could be placed in Hogwarts as well.

"Oh by the way, Uncle Sev, we have something to offer you." Draco grinned, enjoying the way Snape's left eyebrow twitched at the name.

"And what is that?" Snape asked, slightly apprehensively.

"Freedom." Draco replied, "if you want, Harry can remove the Mark completely."

"I seriously doubt that." Snape snapped, not wanting to get his hopes up, "I've tried, I've been searching for a way since I bloody well got the thing, and Dumbledore hasn't found a way either."

"But Harry can." Lucius smirked, shoving his left sleeve up and baring his forearm, which was devoid of the ugly tattoo it had once worn. "He removed mine this morning."

"How?" Snape asked, awed by what he was seeing.

"I bled on it." Harry replied, "we don't quite understand why, but my blood can destroy the Mark. We think it's because the Mark is made up of a bit of Voldemort's blood and magic, and since he cannot approach me without considerable pain, the Mark can be destroyed by my blood."

"Amazing." Snape whispered, "let's go somewhere more private."

"I don't think you need us hanging around do you?" Flitwick asked, "so I suggest that Minerva and I check on our students and then get some marking done."

"Very well." Snape nodded, leading Harry, Lucius and the other four students down to his office while the other two teachers headed in the opposite direction.

The group of seven proceeded in silence through the corridors in the dungeons until they reached the Potion Master's cold stone office, and when they had all filed through the door, Snape shut it and raised privacy wards, not wanting to be interrupted for any reason. Then he slowly, nervously raised his left sleeve and bared his arm to Harry, who quickly, and efficiently, used his wand to slice a cut into his palm and pressed the bleeding hand to the Dark Mark. Snape hissed slightly at the stinging sensation he felt as the magic in the Mark fought back.

"_Owww, stop that. You're hurting me_." The snake in the Mark hissed agitatedly, as the blood slowly covered the entire tattoo.

"_Good_." Harry replied, "_now leave this man alone_."

There was a flash of light and a scream of anger, before Harry removed his hand, revealing pale skin where once a dark black tattoo of a skull and a snake resided.

"It's done." Harry smiled.

"Thank you." Snape murmured, not really aware of anything around him.

"Let's leave him be." Lucius suggested quietly, watching his old friend admiring the now clear arm. "Sceadu can keep an eye on the great hall for a few hours, so we don't have to worry too much about the Jumper, and we can take time to relax. We're going to need to rest before we continue the plan."

"Good idea." Draco nodded, taking the wards down and leading everyone back out.

"Dray, you and I should head back to the common room." Daphne said, "we need to show our faces, even though Albus did request that we stay in the great hall to help the teachers. We don't want the house to think we've been killed."

"Yeah, we should head back to Gryffindor territory now." Ron agreed, "the prefects may become suspicious if we don't show our faces soon, and I'm sure they've already told Minnie that we hadn't been seen."

"We'll see you later then." Lucius and Harry grinned, beginning to head off to the room of requirement, while the phoenix flew out through the entrance doors and presumably headed for the post hole of the great hall.

Harry and Lucius had decided that there was no way they'd be sleeping in different beds, despite the huge risk that they'd be caught, and upon arrival in the room of requirement, which had become a nicely decorated set of rooms, bedroom, bathroom, study and living room, Harry turned to face Lucius and with a feral grin, grabbed the blond in a smouldering kiss, somehow manoeuvring them closer to the huge bed, all the while enjoying the extremely erotic noises he was causing Lucius to make.

"Are you sure about this?" Lucius asked, tearing his lips away and trying to think coherently.

"More than sure." Harry replied, removing the blond's robes then unzipping his trousers and shoving his hand inside them. "I don't want to wait."

"Oh god." Lucius murmured, bucking his hips as Harry's hand stroked his cock. He barely retained enough coherency to vanish their clothes and summon some lube, before Harry turned them around, practically threw him on the bed and blew his mind.

Several hours of teasing/torture/mind-blowing sex later, Harry and Lucius were kissing lazily, relaxing in the knowledge that their bond was nearly complete once more. Harry gently stroked Lucius' naked chest, watching it begin to glow as the magic of their bond worked to remove twenty-five years from the blond's physical age, which would allow them to have more time together, despite the fact that magic would allow wizards to live up to two hundred years anyway. When the glow died down, Lucius appeared to have lost at least a little bit of height, along with all of the scars that had graced his body. His hair was slightly more glossy than before, and there were less lines on his face. The most obvious change, though, was the fact that he had lost almost all of the muscles he had had, and looked like a gangly teenager with limbs that were far too long for his body.

"Merlin, what happened in the year between your sixteenth and seventeenth birthdays?" Harry asked curiously when he had taken in all of the changes that had been wrought.

"I worked out." Lucius replied while looking down at himself, before reaching a hand up to his throat and grimacing, "lovely, I sound like I'm on helium. I'd forgotten how long it took for my voice to completely change. This is going to take some getting used to."

"We've got until Monday morning before the rest of the school sees you." Harry smiled, wriggling closer to the blond.

"Good." Lucius said, trying to ignore the way his body reacted to Harry's proximity, "but what about when we go through time in the Jumper?"

"We did discover that you do have at least a little bit of Metamorphmagus talent." Harry pointed out.

"Enough for me to be able to make myself look older again." Lucius nodded, "so I can make myself look like I'm in my twenties when we go back, and you can either make yourself look like a twenty-year old Potter relative, or some random stranger with your Shape-shifting ability."

"Exactly." Harry grinned, "but we've still got a bit of time before we'll be able to get to the Jumper, and there are far more interesting things we could be doing with our time."

"Is that a semi-subtle way of asking for more sex?" Lucius asked with a smirk.

"Well, I could have said that, or just pounced on you." Harry whispered in the blond's ear, "I thought a little bit of warning would be appreciated."

"Merlin yes." Lucius growled lustfully, not really knowing what he was saying yes to, but needing something.

Translations:

1) Artefaktidega aegadel vana, vaba ise on pimedus hoiate = Artefacts from times of old, free yourselves of the darkness you hold. (Estonian)

2) Il n'y a rien, juste quelques enseignants fouineur = nothing much, just some nosy teachers. (French)

**Please be kind. This is only my second attempt at a fanfic, and my first chapter-fic.**

**Review please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Trip to the Past Part 1**

At three o'clock next morning, after a few hours sleep, as well as several rounds of sex, Harry and Lucius sneaked down to the great hall, knowing that that would be the perfect time to get to the Jumper without having to worry about nosy students trying to follow them.

"Albus is still there." Lucius whispered, trying to stay quiet but still wanting Harry to hear him, "he seems to have fallen asleep, though."

"He hasn't posted a guard to make sure no one gets in, though I'm sure there is some sort of alarm." Harry added, seeing the slumped position the headmaster was in. "We need to have as much time as possible, so we can't leave it too late, but opening the hatch and bringing the drive-pods online will be noisy, and I don't want to wake him, he needs as much rest as possible now."

"We could erect a silencing charm around him, but that might wake him up." Lucius said softly, "I think we'll just have to risk it, and if he does wake up, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"The first thing we'll have to do is modify the shield emitters, to emit a harmonic resonance field and temporarily disrupt the illusion on the west wall." Harry grimaced, "that shouldn't take too much time, but because it has to be done without the power on, which will mean that the hatch will stay open, we will be vulnerable. I get the feeling that Albus will hex first and ask questions later if he finds someone fiddling around with the Jumper."

"I'll be watching your back." Lucius smiled, quickly casting a silencing charm on the doors to prevent them making noise.

The two tip-toed over to the rear end of the Jumper and Harry took one last quick glance around before pressing a set code into the keypad next to the loading hatch. With a hiss of escaping air, and a hum of machinery, the loading hatch started opening, attracting the attention of the headmaster, who had not been asleep like Harry and Lucius thought.

"What are you doing here?" Albus asked nervously, readying his wand and getting into a defensive position if Harry and Lucius should attack, though he didn't recognise them.

"Opening the Jumper." Harry grinned, staying in the shadows, but knowing that his voice was pretty recognisable.

"Harry?" Albus asked, "is that you?"

"Yes, and if you really want to know what we're doing, you can come with us, but please, don't touch anything." Harry replied, boarding the Jumper and deactivating the power so he could access the shield controls.

"How precisely did this thing get here, you never did explain that?" Albus queried, cautiously stepping aboard and watching Harry expertly move various crystals around, obviously knowing what he was doing.

"The Stream Shifter, a highly advanced time machine. It created a bubble of time around the Jumper and almost bored a hole in the space-time continuum, through which the Jumper was shoved, almost literally." Harry said.

"But, a time-turner can only take a person backwards a few hours at the most." Albus frowned, realising that if Harry knew how the Jumper worked, he would explain in detail, so the headmaster could let his inner researcher out and learn as much as possible.

"True, but the Ancients, who built the Jumper, had advanced so far that they could build cities that would not only hold at least a million people, but also travel the stars at speeds you cannot imagine." Lucius nodded, taking over the explanation while Harry was busy. "They also built a vast network of devices we call Stargates, which are capable of transporting people and objects from one planet to another in the space of about three point two seconds."

"Are the Ancients as friendly as I hope?" Albus asked, searching through his memory to try and work out who this blond teenager was, though he did look very familiar.

"We don't know." Lucius sighed, "we like to think so, and we know what a few of them are like, having met them, but the rest disappeared ten thousand years ago."

"So how did you get this?" Albus whispered, utterly confused.

"We found it, the same day we found Atlantis." Harry replied.

"I still can't believe you found Atlantis." Albus said in awe.

"Yes." Lucius nodded, sitting down in the co-pilot's seat as Harry switched the power on and began preparations to bring the drive-pods online. "We found the city, in one piece, on the fifteenth of July, two thousand and two."

"But that's less than six years from now, and given that you said that in your time, Voldemort wasn't defeated until May ninety-eight, surely it would have taken longer than four years." Albus stuttered, blown away by what Lucius was saying.

"A lot can be done in the space of four years." Harry grinned.

"Yes, we managed to build all seven fast attack craft, as well as about fifteen other ships in the first four years after finding the shipyards." Lucius agreed.

"So what is the purpose of bringing the Jumper here?" Albus asked curiously, as Harry activated the engines and the harmonic resonance field started up.

"You see those silver objects?" Harry grinned, continuing when he saw Albus nod, "they hold the nanites, and each one contains enough to create a fully-functional replica of a human being. Our plan, is to use the device in the middle of the ship to travel back even further, and replace five people with nanite replicas."

"But there are six containers." Albus frowned.

"The sixth is the one we will be using when we demonstrate the advancements made by the Ancients." Lucius said, "after we have replaced the people we want, we will bring them back here, and while we all read the book, the ship will be in orbit, amplifying the signal that the one that brought it here is broadcasting, allowing the people on the receiving end to open a much larger rift in space and time, through which they will send two very large objects."

"Are they going to land in the middle of the great hall?" Albus asked nervously, wondering why his question made Harry and Lucius laugh.

"No." Harry sniggered, ramping up the power of the engines and sending the ship flying straight at the west wall of the great hall, speeding over the tables and chairs.

"What Harry isn't saying is that the Valkyrie and the Warrior Soul are two of the biggest vessels in the new Alteran fleet." Lucius snorted, "they are warships, about a mile long and nearly a thousand feet in width. We want both here to provide a method of transporting great quantities of rock from space down to Earth, to take a group of us to Atlantis, and to protect Earth from alien invasion."

"Right." Albus nodded, beginning to panic as he saw the west wall getting closer, "are you sure you know how to fly this thing?"

"Perfectly." Harry grinned, "it's as easy as flying a broom."

"But you're flying straight towards a solid stone wall." Albus mumbled, losing any semblance of control over his panic.

"It's not solid any more." Harry smirked as they slid straight through the wall.

"Wha-?"

"The castle you see is nothing more than an illusion." Lucius said softly, not wanting to give the old man a heart attack, "it is an incredibly detailed and solid illusion, but an illusion nonetheless. Underneath it, and powering that illusory image, is one of the most impressive pieces of technology around. In reality, Hogwarts is an Ancient city-ship, known as Avalon. They left it here five million years ago, hidden under an illusion, showing something different to what is shown today, and when the founders decided to start a school, they had a visit from Merlin, who showed them how to modify the illusion and allowed them to use this location."

"Harry and his friends did mention the fact that Hogwarts was a large ship, but how did you manage to fly the ship through the illusion?" Albus inquired, trying to remember as much of the explanation as possible. He had completely forgotten that Harry had already explained the illusion, that part of their previous conversation having been eclipsed by what Harry and his friends had said in the rest of it.

"We discovered that illusions like that which hides Avalon, can be disrupted slightly." Harry replied, making sure the little ship was cloaked, before increasing power to the drive-pods and sending the it zooming at just under the speed of sound towards the sky, "it is highly technical and complicated, but the basic gist is that an illusion is made up of light particles with energy binding them together. If the energy binding those particles together is disrupted in a certain way, solid objects can pass through the illusion, while the image remains, so anything can be hidden by an illusion, and therefore be protected."

"So how did you disrupt the illusion?" Albus asked curiously.

"I modified the ship's shield emitters to broadcast a harmonic resonance field, which would excite the light particles in the illusion in such a way as to disrupt the energy binding them together." Harry replied, leaving the pilot's seat and moving to stand next to the device in the middle of the back end of the craft.

"I do hope that the blond teenager, whom I don't recognise, is in control." Albus muttered, watching Harry switch the device on and key in several sequences on the console for it.

"I still am." Harry grinned. "It's controlled through something we call a neural interface."

"He means, it responds to thoughts." Lucius added, "most of the technology built by both us and the Ancients is capable of being controlled by people's thoughts."

"I'm sorry my boy, but who are you?" Albus asked eventually, after looking out of the window and watching the ship fly through the atmosphere.

"I'm surprised you don't recognise me." Lucius smirked, "after all, I did try and get you thrown out of the school three years ago."

"Lucius." Albus said, hiding his surprise at how at ease the blond was with Harry and himself.

"Indeed." Lucius grinned, glancing at Harry with a look in his eye that Albus couldn't decipher.

"So what are you doing here, and why do you look barely sixteen?" Albus asked, trying not to smile at his memories of the blond as a teenager.

"To answer the first part, I was one of the volunteers." Lucius replied easily, already long past his dislike of the headmaster, "and for the second, I am part Veela."

"I would have thought that Narcissa was your mate." Albus mused.

"No." Lucius sighed, "she and I are friends, siblings in all but blood, but she is not my mate."

"So you completed the bond and have been de-aged." Albus said, then blushed heavily, stumbling over his words in an uncharacteristic manner, "but that would make your mate sixteen, and completing the bond involves p-penetrative sex."

"Indeed." Lucius mumbled, beginning to blush just as much as the headmaster.

"You do realise that if we were anyone else, I would be asking whether it was consensual or not." Albus sighed, "but I won't, because I would like to know why you completed the bond so soon."

"He couldn't wait." Lucius replied, "when we discussed what we would do, we had decided to wait a few days, but that didn't quite work out."

"I can see that." Albus snorted, fishing in one pocket for a sweet.

"Brace yourself professor." Harry interrupted with a grin, "this is one journey you do not want to miss."

"Oh and why is that dear boy?"

"Oh, just a trip to the past." Harry smirked.

"To what time?" Albus asked curiously.

"Mid-July, nineteen seventy-nine." Harry replied, sitting back down in the pilot's seat as the device in the back of the ship lit up and sent out a pulse of energy. "To be precise, the fourteenth of July, nineteen-seventy-nine."

"Interesting." Albus muttered, while Lucius stood up and opened one of the containers.

The headmaster watched as a silvery liquid oozed out of the container and morphed into a picture perfect replica of an eighteen-year-old Regulus Black. Lucius grinned at the headmaster's gob-smacked expression, while the replica stood there, staring straight ahead, not blinking, breathing or showing any sign of life at all.

"That is really rather creepy." Albus shuddered, "I presume you are replacing the younger Mr Black with this, thing."

"Yep." Harry nodded, sending the ship into a shallow descent, back towards the surface of the Earth, aiming to land in the square outside number twelve Grimmauld place.

"He's not the only one we will be replacing today." Lucius added, opening two of the other containers and allowing the headmaster to see the contents form into replicas of Charlus and Dorea Potter.

"Charlus and Dorea Potter." Albus whispered, "isn't this risking changing history completely?"

"Nope." Lucius smirked, grabbing a scanner from behind one of the seas in the back and running diagnostics on the three replicas, making sure that they were ready to be activated. "When we find the real Regulus, the replica will copy everything that makes him who he is, and effectively become him. It will look, sound and act exactly like he does, and because he died on the fifteenth of July, this year, there should be no suspicion."

"When we planned this, we made sure that we would come to a dimension that was created by one of the smaller decisions made by one person." Harry explained as the craft's shield started flickering orange due to the massive amount of heat that was being generated, "we've studied a lot about the theory of alternate dimensions and parallel universes, and how every little decision creates new ones. Even something as simple as choosing what colour socks to wear creates a new dimension. If you have two pairs of socks, one blue one green, and you choose the blue pair, then three new dimensions will be created, one where you chose the green pair, one where you chose to wear a green sock on your left foot and a blue sock on your right, and one where you chose the opposite. Each new dimension has exactly the same history, but their futures have a chance of being slightly different or the same. In fact, this dimension was created less than a minute before we arrived, when you chose to have only one sugar cube in your morning tea instead of your normal two."

"I do not understand fully." Albus mumbled.

"We'll try and explain it in more detail, once we have finished what we're doing here, because we will need to explain it to Regulus and Harry's grandparents, as well as the two others we're going to replace." Lucius said, "it is a complicated concept, and difficult to explain."

"Touchdown." Harry grinned, gently landing the ship and opening the hatch.

"How were you planning on doing convincing young Mr Black to come with you?" Albus asked curiously.

"That would be part of why I'm here." Lucius grinned, closing his eyes and ageing himself slightly, just enough to make himself look twenty-two or -three again.

"You know, last time I saw you at that age, you were carrying a child." Harry whispered, gently rubbing Lucius' stomach, imagining it holding a baby once more.

"So were you." Lucius murmured softly, kissing the younger man before leaving the Jumper and walking across the street to knock on the door of number twelve.

"Excuse me, did you just say what I think you just said?" Albus asked, joining Harry at the exit and looking out as Lucius was invited into the house by someone he presumed to be Mrs Black, the woman whose portrait was hanging in the entrance hall of the house in their time.

"If you think you heard us say that we were pregnant at twenty-two in the previous time-line, then yes, we did say that." Harry replied with a grin, "Luc is part Veela, and there was a Siren or two who married into the Potter family, centuries ago. For some reason the Siren blood in my veins and Luc's Veela blood combined, which allowed both of us to become pregnant."

"You're his mate." Albus realised, "why didn't you wait to complete the bond?"

"Because I didn't feel whole without him." Harry replied, closing his eyes, "neither of us had realised, until we bonded in our original dimension, how much it hurt not having the bond between us. Once we'd completed the bond, we felt whole, like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders, for the very first time. It was something we discussed when we were planning all this, and while we said we'd wait, I think we both knew that we wouldn't be able to, and would complete the bond at the first opportunity."

"Merlin." Albus whispered, watching Lucius exit the house with Regulus in tow.

Lucius guided Regulus on to the ship, stumbling slightly as he had to stop because Regulus had halted when he saw the headmaster.

"You tricked me." Regulus whispered, "you said this was about the Dark Lord, not a meeting with Dumbledore."

"Oh it is about Voldemort." Harry grinned from the shadows, "and your involvement with him."

"Potter." Regulus growled, glaring at Harry.

"Right surname, wrong one." Harry smirked, "I'm Harry Potter, James Potter is currently, well, at the flat he bought, with Sirius."

"What do you want?" Regulus asked harshly, preparing to draw his wand and attack.

"I know that your opinion of Voldemort has changed, and that you are planning on ordering Kreacher to take you to a cave." Harry said, "I want to help. I know what will happen in that cave, and while I cannot in good conscience, change history, I can save your life."

"What?" Regulus whispered, letting his hand fall away from his wand.

"The three of us are from the future." Harry replied, stepping sideways to allow Regulus to see the replica of him. "Our plan is simple. This replica will go in your place, and you can come with us, to the future."

"Why are you doing this?" Regulus asked, wondering what they wanted him to do.

"Partly because I think eighteen is too young to die, and partly because Sirius was utterly heartbroken when he found out that you were dead." Harry said, activating some of the replica's programming, causing it to blink and start to simulate breathing. "But I also know that you are a hero, and I think you deserve a chance to see the future you were attempting to create."

"All right, how is a simple doll going to replace me?" Regulus sighed.

"This is so much more than a simple doll." Lucius said, wincing at the description, "it is a highly complicated piece of technology, and if you allow it to copy everything that makes you, you, then it will act and talk exactly like you."

"How is it going to do that?" Regulus asked nervously, shifting backwards slightly as the replica approached him.

"Stand still please." The replica requested in a flat, mechanical tone, raising its arm to head-height.

"You'll see." Lucius said softly, preparing to grab Regulus to hold him steady, "just do as the replica asks."

"All right." Regulus muttered doubtfully.

The replica literally shoved its hand through Regulus' forehead, freezing him in place as it downloaded a copy of everything he knew, as well as his thought processes, speech-patterns and other important things it would need to be convincing.

"Download complete." The replica said flatly, withdrawing its hand as Regulus slumped in Lucius' arms.

Harry nodded at the replica, which returned the gesture before stepping out of the ship and proceeding back to number twelve, with a duplicate of Regulus' wand hidden in its robes.

"Wow." Regulus murmured, allowing Lucius to lead him to a seat and relaxing slightly, now that he didn't have to worry about dying the following day.

"Next stop, Penzance." Harry grinned, lifting off and accelerating to Mach-point-eight, while Lucius poured Regulus a glass of brandy. They sped through the atmosphere and entered low Earth orbit, where Harry once again activated the device in the middle of the ship, sending them two years ahead, to the twenty-seventh of October nineteen eighty-one.

"What's in Penzance?" Albus asked curiously.

"Potter Manor." Harry replied, setting the ship into a smooth descent, levelling off at two hundred feet, flying at nearly half the speed of sound.

"Why are we going there?" Regulus asked, downing the brandy.

"We're going to be replacing a few more people." Lucius smirked, joining Harry at the front, "though I'm not entirely sure how we're going to convince them to come with us."

"I might be able to think of a way." Harry grinned, turning his eyes pale grey and shifting his scar above his hairline.

"You're a metamorphmagus." Albus whispered.

"Something like that." Harry nodded, lengthening his hair and changing the colour of it to platinum blond, while also making himself look older.

"Wow." Regulus muttered, gazing curiously at Harry's new look.

"I'm not entirely certain that making yourself look like Abraxas Malfoy is going to work." Albus frowned, "I taught all three of them, and from what I could tell, the rivalry between Abraxas and Charlus was far more vicious than the rivalry between yourself and young Draco, despite the fact that your grandfather was a sixth year when Abraxas started. Plus, as far as I know, Abraxas Malfoy is dead."

"Not quite true." Harry smirked, enjoying the shock in Albus' eyes at the sight of it.

"He faked it." Lucius sighed, "he couldn't be bothered to deal with the family business, so faked his death and moved to number six, Magnolia Crescent, Little Whinging, leaving me to deal with everything and try to avoid an elderly woman who wanted more grandchildren."

"I did not know he was so close to Harry's home." Albus whispered, utterly shocked.

"Privet Drive has never been a home for me." Harry said quietly, but forcefully.

"Do you know what you've just done?" Albus asked, sounding scared.

"Shattered those wards you set up?" Harry grinned.

"Your family are now at risk." Albus pointed out.

"They already were." Harry sighed, "those wards were worthless. They didn't work."

"But they were based on your mother's love for you, and would have held until you turned seventeen, as long as you could love your aunt." Albus said, trying to get Harry to see thing from his point of view.

"They may have done, but there is something you never knew." Harry sighed, "Petunia and my mother were only half-sisters. The blood connection wasn't strong enough, and besides, Tom Riddle's mother was my great-grandfather's sister."

"I didn't realise that you were related to him that closely." Albus whimpered, "I only thought the relation was through your father, due to the Peverells."

"I didn't know either until I looked at the family tree." Harry said, "Morfin Gaunt's illegitimate daughter was the mother of Petunia and my mother, but what nobody is aware of, is the fact that in fifty-nine, she was raped, by Tom Marvolo Riddle himself, leaving her pregnant."

"That means you're Voldemort's grandson." Regulus murmured, "does he know?"

"No he doesn't." Harry replied, shaking his head as he pointed the ship's nose down and started another slow dive towards the ground. "I don't want him to know, unless I tell him when I kill him."

"You do know he delved into some of the Darkest magic known, and it will be extremely difficult to kill him?" Regulus said, just as the ship came to a halt and began to sink towards the ground vertically.

"Yes, I know exactly what he did." Harry growled, still looking like Abraxas Malfoy, he even sounded like him. "And I have already started to undo it. Four of his Horcruxes have been destroyed already, there are only two left."

"Just believe that we do have a plan." Lucius said, taking full control of the ship as Harry stepped towards the exit and opened the hatch. "Harry, we haven't landed yet."

"Time is of the essence." Harry grinned, running down the ramp and leaping the last three feet from it to the ground, "I'll be back soon."

"Oh Merlin." Lucius groaned, gently settling the ship on the ground and powering down as Harry approached the front door of Potter Manor.

Harry made sure his disguise was perfect before knocking on the door and waiting for someone to open it.

"What does you want?" A house elf asked harshly, before getting a good look at Harry and squeaking excitedly, "Tippy knews you wasn't deads Mister Malfo, Tippy tolds them yous wasn't deads."

"Do you think you could let both Charlus and Dorea know that I'm here please?" Harry asked, interrupting the gushing house elf.

"Of course." The house elf nodded vigorously, "come in, come in, if yous would likes to waits in the drawings room, they will be with yous soon."

"Thank you." Harry grinned, entering the house and meandering in the direction of the drawing room, trying not to let the memories of spending his honeymoon with Lucius there, overtake him. He knew that having an erection would make things a lot more awkward than they already would be.

"Ab, what's going on?" Charlus asked, entering the room a few minutes after Harry had sat down, "you fake your death, leave the wizarding world, and yet you risk being exposed by coming here."

"I'm here to invite you and your lovely wife to be part of one of the greatest pranks ever pulled on the wizarding world." Harry replied.

"Aren't we a little too old for that?" Dorea asked, sitting down opposite Harry, alongside her husband.

"Never." Harry smirked, "age is just a number my dear."

"What do you have in mind, Ab?" Charlus asked, bracing himself for something truly infantile and immature.

"Oh nothing much, just a trip to the future, replacing the pair of you with perfect replicas and reading about how your grandson ended the war with Voldemort at the age of seventeen." Harry said, pretending to look at his nails and buff them on his trouser leg.

"That's impossible." Dorea snorted, beginning to look a little suspicious, "travelling more than a few hours back in time cannot be done. You're not Abraxas, he wouldn't come up with something this ridiculous and expect us to believe it can be done."

"Who are you?" Charlus asked, drawing his wand and pointing it at Harry, "what do you really want with us, and how the hell did you get in? You clearly aren't who you're pretending to be, and other than Albus, he is the only non-family member allowed through the wards."

Harry sighed and closed his eyes, allowing his natural form to reappear.

"James." Dorea grimaced, when she saw the familiar messy hair.

"Not quite." Harry said, opening his eyes, "but close. My full name, if you really want to know, is Harlequin James Riddle-Evans Gaunt Green Gryffindor Ravenclaw Slytherin Emrys Peverell Shelby Collins Whitmore Hawthorne Potter Black. I am your grandson, from the future. My body is from the year nineteen-ninety-six, but my mind is from the year two thousand and forty-six."

"So that's how you got in." Charlus sighed, lowering his wand as he realised that only a Potter could know about their connection to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, "you're family. And I suppose, given your presence here, then you have a method of travelling more than a few hours back in time."

"I do indeed." Harry nodded, "it's sitting in the grounds at the moment, holding a pair of replicas of the pair of you. I may have pretended to be someone I'm not, but the offer to take you to the future is real. I really would like you to join me."

"You said you wanted to replace us with replicas, but how, and why?" Dorea asked, taking comfort from her husband's relaxed state and accepting the situation in front of her.

"Because three days from now, you were caught in a Death Eater attack, and killed." Harry replied, "and the how is easy, but it is easier to show you than explain."

"What about James, Peter and Alfred?" Charlus asked quietly, not really wanting to know, but needing to find out.

"They weren't there when the Death Eaters attacked." Harry said, "Uncle Peter was in Nevada, working at Area 51, Alfred was apparently with his wife Anwen, and James was in Godric's Hollow with his wife Lily and the infant version of me."

"Why are you not just allowing events to happen as they did?" Dorea asked, gently placing her hand on Harry's, realising that here was her grandson who had never had a chance to meet her, and wanting to make up for that.

"Because I know the outcome, and want to change it." Harry shrugged, "you aren't the only people we're replacing, we've already replaced young Regulus with a replica, and there are two more people we want to replace."

"Why Regulus?" Charlus muttered, confused, "he died two years ago, after joining Voldemort."

"Because he died too young." Harry replied, "and he is a hero, who sacrificed his life to try and end Voldemort. He may have joined, but he regretted it ever since, and a few weeks after taking the Mark, found out about something that could help end the war, but he died in the process of getting it."

"You don't support Voldemort." Dorea smiled.

"No, I hate him with every fibre of my being." Harry said, "and I will be the one to kill him."

"But you're so young." Charlus said, "why can't you let someone else do it?"

"Fate won't allow that." Harry sighed, "nor will Voldemort. He won't rest until either I am dead, or he is, and in my past, what would have been your future, I managed to kill him, but not before thousands were slaughtered."

The three of them sat in silence for about half an hour, thinking about what had been revealed, before Dorea realised something and had to ask, "how did you manage to make yourself look like Abraxas, because that can't have been Polyjuice and he is hiding?"

"I am what's known as a True Shape Shifter." Harry smiled, "I met Abraxas just under three months after defeating Voldemort in the original time-line, and along with his grandson, convinced him to return to the wizarding world. Plus his son told me about him."

"You do know that Abraxas' son Lucius is a Death Eater?" Charlus asked.

"Not a loyal one." Harry grinned, "he works for the Department of Mysteries, and was ordered to infiltrate the Inner Circle, to spy on Voldemort."

"Interesting." Dorea murmured, letting the silence descend again for a little while.

They sat in silence for another hour before Charlus and Dorea decided what they wanted to do. Charlus spoke first, "I may not like the idea of cheating death, but the idea that I won't get to see my grandson grow up is something I never wanted to think about. I know many people may say that I'm being a typical Gryffindor, jumping into something without thinking about it, but I want to do this."

"I agree." Dorea nodded, "so, let's not waste any more time."

"Let's get this show on the road." Charlus grinned, standing up and allowing Harry to lead them out to the Jumper.

The small group walked across the grounds towards where Lucius was waiting with the replicas, and when they arrived, the replicas did the same thing to Charlus and Dorea as the replica-Regulus had done, downloading a copy of everything they knew as well as their thought processes, speech-patterns and other important things they would need to be convincing.

When the download was complete, the replicas headed back to the Manor while the real ones followed Harry and Lucius into the ship with slightly incredulous expressions on their faces.

"Creepy aren't they?" Regulus asked, pouring glasses of brandy for the two. "At least you didn't call them dolls."

"They did not look at all like dolls." Charlus murmured, knocking back his brandy and sitting down next to Albus, "I don't know what they were, but I have never seen anything quite so amazing in my life."

"I hadn't either, until I saw these two fly this thing into space." Albus smiled, "the teamwork between them is incredible, just watch them, you'll be blown away."

"Everyone comfortable?" Harry asked, pretending he didn't know exactly what the headmaster was talking about.

"I think so." Dorea replied, sipping her brandy and leaning back in her seat, seemingly completely at ease with the situation.

"Good." Harry grinned as he lifted off and increased power to the drive-pods, enough to allow it to accelerate northwards, towards the Bristol channel.

As soon as they were fifty miles north of Penzance, Harry set the Jumper accelerating even more, aiming its nose towards Godric's Hollow, while also arming two of the twelve drone weapons as they broke through the sound barrier with a loud boom fifty-five miles from the Welsh coast.

"What was that loud bang?" Charlus asked nervously, dreading the thought of dying so soon.

"That was us breaking the sound barrier." Harry grinned, "we are currently travelling at nearly one and a half times the speed of sound."

"We're still accelerating." Albus whispered, watching the sea with small ships appearing then disappearing as they flew overhead.

"Yep, by the time we reach the mouth of the Severn river, we will be travelling at four times the speed of sound." Harry nodded, "which is the speed we need to be travelling at."

"Wow." Regulus said, "you don't seem too worried about that."

"No, we're not, this is a lot slower than some of the things we've been in." Lucius smirked, "they travel faster than the speed of light."

"Impressive." Dorea muttered, "what are we doing now?"

"Preparing to put the last two replicas in place." Harry replied as Lucius stood up and opened two of the remaining three containers, allowing the silvery liquid inside to ooze out and form into picture perfect replicas of James and Lily Potter.

"You're going to replace your parents?" Albus asked, "are you sure that's wise?"

"Perfectly." Harry grinned, taking the ship down to twenty feet above ground level and activating the targeting scanners, preparing for when he would need to fire the two drones.

"We're five miles away, are the drones ready to create the crater in which the memorial was built?" Lucius asked.

"Yep." Harry nodded, zipping around a hill and descending even further.

"I don't understand." Regulus muttered.

"Time is a tricky mistress, but there are certain things that I remember happening, that we are doing right now." Lucius said, "I remember helping the Order defend Godric's Hollow from a Death Eater attack four days before Halloween in eighty-one, when something flew extremely fast overhead and fired two objects which looked like yellow glowing squids at the Death Eaters. I didn't know what it was at the time, but when we found this Jumper, I realised, we'd gone back in time and I'd seen us. I couldn't quite work out why we'd done it, but then we started planning this whole thing, and knew, this part had already happened."

"Of course." Albus whispered, "you're not changing history at all. Time travel is peculiar. But I still don't understand something. If you really had already done this, wouldn't we know?"

"No." Harry grinned, steering the ship around the church spire in Godric's Hollow and firing the drones before slowing down and banking to land in the garden at the front of the cottage his parents were living in. "The explanation ties into the theory of parallel dimensions that I was telling you about earlier."

"A new dimension is created whenever someone makes a decision, even a small one." Albus nodded, vaguely understanding.

"Exactly." Harry said, "I will explain in more detail later."

"Of course." Albus nodded.

"Well, whatever the explanation, it sounds very very complicated." Charlus snorted, "I assume we will all eventually understand."

Lucius finished preparing the replicas and Harry turned most of the power systems off to allow them time to cool down a bit, causing the lights to dim, just as he saw James and Lily Potter approach the Jumper with wands drawn and unfriendly expressions on their faces.

"I can see movement inside, let's go around the back." Harry could see James saying to Lily, before they disappeared and reappeared at the opposite end of the Jumper.

"Hello." Harry grinned, "nice to meet you."

"Who are you?" James growled, stepping slightly in front of Lily to act as a shield.

"This will sound horribly clichéd, but, we come in peace." Lucius said, wincing slightly at how corny he sounded.

"We truly mean you no harm." Harry added, stepping out of the pilot's seat and moving aft, "we're actually here to save your lives."

"How?" Lily asked, hope shining in her eyes.

"We have replicas, made up of millions of tiny machines, which, when they have copied everything that makes you who you are, will replace you, while you come with us to the future." Harry replied.

"What?" James asked.

"That's impossible." Lily stated.

"It isn't actually." Charlus said, standing up and moving into view, "we thought so too, until we were replaced in the same way."

"Dad?" James whispered, lowering his wand slightly in shock, "what are you doing here?"

"Because I want to be able to see my grandson grow up, and I know that that won't happen if I stay here." Charlus sighed, "and this is my chance."

"Are you going to replace Harry as well?" Lily asked, trusting these people, despite the fact that she couldn't actually see one of them fully.

"We don't need to." Harry said, stepping forward into the light, "that's one of the things we needed to let you know about."

"Harry?" Lily gasped, moving forward and placing her hand on his chest, just to make sure he was really there.

"It's me." Harry smiled.

"Are you the pilot, or are there more people on this, thing?" James asked, the Auror in him retaining control despite the shock of seeing his infant son a teenager standing next to his father.

"Yes, I was the one piloting the Jumper, and yes there are more people on board." Harry smirked.

"Are you crazy?" Lily shrieked, her maternal side escaping her control.

"In what way?" Harry grimaced, wondering how he was going to retain his hearing if his mother was going to continue shouting so loudly.

"You were flying so fast and so close to the ground." Lily yelled, "you could have died."

"You're underestimating his talent, and the capabilities of this ship." Lucius said quietly, defending Harry. "This vessel was designed to fly at just over three quarters of the speed of light, through space. It can enter and exit the atmosphere of a planet without being destroyed, and has been proven to be able to fly within metres of the surface of a star. It can withstand a crash far better than anything you have ever seen before."

"And besides, I've flown far bigger ships, far faster." Harry added, "plus, I just sent the Death Eaters packing."

"You have one behind you." James said dryly, wondering if he was aware of Lucius' allegiances.

"Where?" Harry asked, looking behind him and pretending not to know about Lucius.

"Blond hair, grey eyes, standing right behind you with a smirk on his face." Lily said, trying to be serious, though she knew that Harry was pulling his father's leg.

"Oh, you mean the Department of Mysteries' Secret Intelligence Agent?" Harry grinned.

"I find that hard to believe." James muttered, though Lily remembered the day she had overheard Lucius giving a report to the headmaster, as well as the day she saw him at an Order meeting.

"People only see or hear what they want to see or hear." Lucius sighed sadly, "I truly never wanted to have anything to do with Voldemort, but I was ordered to infiltrate the Inner Circle and spy on him. Of course my grandmother found out and was furious."

"I think anyone would be, especially if their children or grandchildren were putting themselves in that much danger." Lily said, trying to refrain from mothering the man.

"She wasn't angry about the danger." Lucius grimaced, "she was furious when she found out that I hated that man, and wasn't as loyal as I pretended to be. She spent three hours finding ways to torture me, in order to try and make me see things her way. She failed."

"Merlin." Lily whimpered, covering her mouth with one hand.

"My grandmother was not the nicest of people." Lucius said, "but we will have time to talk about this later. For now, let's just get the replicas ready and get out of here."

"Good idea." Harry nodded, activating the systems that would allow the replicas to mimic life, and the machines copied everything they needed to, before studying the wands James and Lily held and creating copies of those as well.

"Commander, we are ready to deploy." The replica-James said to Harry, who nodded and allowed them to leave.

"Is that it?" Lily asked.

"Yep." Harry grinned, returning to the pilot's seat and turning the power systems back on, causing the ship's lights to return to full brightness, revealing Dorea, Albus and Regulus, who were sitting down in the back.

While James reunited with his parents, Regulus grinned and poured everyone a glass of brandy, Lily went up to the front to talk to Harry and Lucius talked to Albus, doing his best to explain how the nanite technology worked.

"So what is this thing?" Lily asked, sitting in the co-pilot's seat and watching Harry as he worked.

"A short-range all-purpose spacecraft called a Puddle-Jumper." Harry replied, facing her while still running pre-flight checks.

"Spacecraft?" Lily repeated, "I didn't think wizards had advanced that far."

"We haven't, but our ancestors had." Harry said, "they were a truly amazing people, capable of building ships that would fly faster than the speed of light. The Ancients built this vessel, as well as ships that were cities, and their Empire, spanned the galaxy, at the height of its power. But they were nearly wiped out by a plague, and had to leave, in one of their city-ships, the one we know as Atlantis."

"You found it." Lily whispered, "amazing."

"We did." Harry nodded, "we found it at the bottom of an ocean on a planet in the Pegasus galaxy, and once we had recharged the power supply, we raised it."

"Wow." Lily murmured, "how, I mean, you look as though you're only fourteen or fifteen, how can you have done something so incredible?"

"My body is sixteen, but my mind and soul are sixty-six." Harry smiled, lifting off once the checks were complete. "We discovered that it is possible to copy a soul and send it to a certain point in time in another dimension, which is what we did on the first of September, two thousand and forty-six. Six of us, myself, Lucius, his son Draco, Daphne Greengrass, and my best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, volunteered to have our souls copied and transferred, to the second of November nineteen-ninety-six, whereupon they merged with the bodies of the versions of us from that time."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Because we wanted to end war with Voldemort a lot sooner with a lot less death." Harry shrugged, cloaking the ship and commanding it to start its ascent into low Earth orbit.

"I get the feeling that what you went through was pretty tough, and while I would love it if you could have replaced your infant self to make sure he didn't have to go through what you did, I know you can't change it without destroying everything." Lily realised.

"It was pretty tough, and while there are things I would change, the outcome is not one of them." Harry nodded, "in the original dimension, the monster was defeated, and I wouldn't want to stop that from happening, I would want to change the way it happened, but I can't, and what we all went through, made us who we are today, so maybe if I did change it, then none of us would be the same. All that pain, all the losses, they made us stronger."

"How bad was it?" Lily asked, bracing herself.

"Pretty bad." Harry sighed, "Draco, Lucius and Narcissa spent a year with that thing living in their house, and it broke them. Draco was on suicide watch for three months after the war ended, while Narcissa barely slept and almost became an insomniac due to the nightmares, and Lucius nearly died, having been cursed by his grandmother."

"How do you know all this?" Lily asked.

"Because there were so many people with the Dark Mark caught at the final battle, that the Ministry cells couldn't hold them all." Harry said, "I opened Potter Manor again, and decided to swing a little bit of my political might, persuading the Minister of the time to allow me to have all three Malfoys live there with me. The Minister couldn't deny my request because it would have been political suicide, and besides, he was a damn good friend who didn't want to risk being on the wrong end of my temper."

"Merlin." Lily mumbled, "it sounds as though it was really bad."

"You'll hear about it." Harry smiled, "part of our plan when we decided we wanted to come back was to have Hogwarts read a book, about my seventh year, and the final battle."

Lily sat silently contemplating what Harry had told her, absently watching the stars float by, when Harry activated the device in the middle of the rear cabin again, causing it to pulse one last time.

"What was that?" James asked, panicking slightly.

"That was time." Lucius replied soothingly, "the device in the middle can transport this ship years into either the future or the past."

"I didn't think that was possible." James mumbled, "but given the fact that we're in space, I'm beginning to think that perhaps there are more things that are possible than I had thought."

"And you'd be correct." Harry grinned, turning into a dive, gaining speed as they began to breach the atmosphere.

"You're gonna make us break the sound barrier again aren't you?" Lucius grinned.

"Yeah, why not?" Harry smirked, increasing power to the drive pods and laughing as they crashed past Mach 1.

"What is the top speed of this thing?" James asked curiously.

"Just under three quarters of the speed of light." Lucius replied, mentally watching the numbers race by. "Mach 4, Mach 5, Mach 6, and holding."

"What does that mean?" Regulus wondered.

"It means that we're currently travelling at six times the speed of sound, approximately two thousand and sixty metres per second." Harry replied, turning away from the console and moving back to the rear cabin, where he deactivated the device that had transported them there, and moved a few of the crystals into slightly different positions, connecting it to the communications array alone, rather than all the systems in the cockpit.

"Aren't you supposed to be flying this thing?" Lily asked nervously, gripping the seat with white knuckles.

"I am." Harry smirked, "it's thought controlled."

"Well, either command it to pull up or do something else, otherwise we're going to crash into the great hall." Lily shrieked loudly.

"No we won't." Harry grinned, turning to the white as a sheet headmaster, who had started whimpering quite loudly, "I've increased power to the harmonic resonance field, along with the shields. We'll just fly straight through the great hall."

"Oh my Merlin." Lily screamed as they phased straight through the wall behind the headmaster's chair, flew over the tables along the length of the hall and finally phased back out into the courtyard behind it. Harry grinned and with a thought the ship flew straight up for a second before slowing down and drifting to a stop, right in front of the main entrance doors.

"I'm never being your passenger again." Albus muttered, shoving about five lemon drops in his mouth and trying to regain his composure as Lucius opened the rear loading hatch.

"Let's get off before the madman starts again." Regulus said, practically running onto firm solid ground, followed by James, Lily, Dorea, Charlus and Albus, most of whom were quivering slightly.

"Is the subspace beacon ready to transmit?" Harry asked Lucius, before moving back to the cockpit and picking something small and black up, to attach to his head, just behind his ear.

"Yes, and the modified message is ready to go too. All it needs is to get into orbit for transmission to begin." Lucius nodded, striding off with Harry following him.

They joined the rest of the group, and turned just as the ship's cloak deactivated, allowing those who had not seen it before to have a good look.

"It's not as pretty as I thought it might be." Charlus muttered.

"I agree." James nodded.

"It may not be pretty, but it is useful." Lucius smirked, "besides, with ships like this one, the Ancients didn't seem to care about how they looked. They were more focussed on functionality than looks."

"Well, it's definitely functional." Lily said as the engines revved up again and the ship took off.

"How is it doing that?" Regulus asked, "I thought it needed a pilot on board."

"It can be controlled through a remote neural interface, which allows us to remain here, while it sits in orbit." Harry grinned, "unfortunately there are drawbacks to the remote interface. Some of the systems aren't compatible, like the cloaking device, but as long as we're careful and it doesn't get seen by satellites while in orbit, then it should be safe."

"It does also have an autopilot, which is tied to the sensor array, and can move it in case of trouble." Lucius added as they all walked towards the doors once the ship was out of sight.

As they reached the doors, they were met by Draco, who was running down the main staircase wearing a huge grin on his face.

"What's got you so excited?" Lucius asked nervously.

"They've stopped arguing with themselves." Draco grinned.

"Wow, it only took them nearly two days to make a decision." Harry said dryly.

"I think their decision was helped by the fact that apparently their future selves decided to copy their souls and send them back." Draco sniggered.

"That would help." Lucius muttered, "so the four of them have arrived?"

"Yep, Hermione, Ron and Daphne are bringing them up to speed on everything." Draco nodded.

"You know, I don't know why, but I seem to have got used to knowing about everyone who is in my school at any given time." Albus frowned, "could someone explain please?"

"You'll find out soon." Harry grinned, "tomorrow, when we start reading the book."

"Oh lovely." Albus sighed, "reading a book with the whole school. It's going to take forever, especially if, as I suspect, people will interrupt."

"We estimate that we will be able to get through all thirty-seven chapters in about five days, but only if we're slow enough to only read seven or eight per day." Draco smiled, "we are hoping that we can get through ten a day though, which will mean we only take four days, and we worked out a possible timetable, but I think it might be a bit conservative."

"Well, hopefully we'll be able to stick to it." Dorea said, making everyone jump when they turned to her. "Do I have something on my face?" She asked.

"No." Harry frowned confusedly, "I'm confused, which hasn't happened in a while."

"There are a few things missing from your face dear." Charlus grinned at her, "like wrinkles."

"You're missing them too." Dorea pointed out.

"Have we been de-aged?" Charlus asked.

"It would appear so, but we don't know how, or why." Lucius murmured, grabbing a scanner from his back pocket and using it on her.

The scanner beeped, and Lucius turned to Harry with a puzzled expression on his face.

"This is odd." Lucius muttered, showing Harry the results.

"Nanites, repairing all their cells." Harry whispered, "and look, once a group has finished the repairs, they're shutting down, almost as if they were programmed to do so."

"Those cheeky replicas." Lucius snorted, "they did this."

"Well, they were programmed to try and make lives easier, as long as they did no harm." Harry pointed out.

"What's the verdict?" Charlus asked eagerly, "do we get to stay like this, or do we have to find a way to undo it?"

"I don't think we _can_ undo it." Lucius replied, "not without putting you at serious risk. According to this, you were three days from kidney failure, and now you're not."

"Well, if you say I'm healthier now than I was five minutes ago, then I say, let's not do anything." Charlus grinned.

"Fair enough, I'm just glad we figured out what was going on." Harry nodded.

"I am too." Albus said, "now, it is late, I am going to bed, and I assume that because you seem to have organised quite a lot in the last two days, you can organise bedrooms for this lot Harry."

"Of course." Harry nodded.

"Then I will see you tomorrow morning." Albus sighed, "good night everybody."

"Good night Albus/Professor." The group agreed, then most turned to Harry, who was wearing a huge grin.

"Dray, we'll see you tomorrow." Harry smirked, "hope you can sleep without Hermione."

"Not likely." Draco snorted, "if you're going to the RoR, then I'm coming with you. If you think, for one second, that I'm going to spend one more night without Hermione to provide warmth, then you've got another think coming."

"I didn't really want to know that." Lucius muttered, walking up the staircase towards the seventh floor.

"Come on." Harry grinned, walking after Lucius with his eyes glued to the swaying of the blond's rear, "follow us."

Lily raced after her son, having noticed the way he and Lucius looked at each other, and contrary to expectations, she was actually happy for them. "Harry, if you could pop your eyes back into their sockets, I would just like to say, congratulations."

"What for?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I've seen the way you two look at each other." Lily said, "it's the same way I look at your father, and vice versa. He looks at you like you're his whole world, and I think you feel the same way."

"I do." Harry nodded quietly, "you know that he is part-Veela right?"

"Yes, I did a lot of research on the old families, to find out how common having creature blood was, when your father told me about his Siren ancestors." Lily nodded, "that's why I'm not surprised that you two are together. Obviously you're his mate."

"I am." Harry said, "in the original time-line, we got married on the first anniversary of the end of the war, but we'd already completed the mating bond."

"Is he as good in bed as everyone said he was?" Lily asked, eager for something to tease Harry about.

"I'm not going to tell you that." Harry snorted as they all turned a corner and proceeded to the Room of Requirement, which was already open.

"Hey, there was no door here when we were students." James cried.

"You obviously didn't need the Room." Charlus grinned, "it only appears when someone needs it. That's why it's called the Room of Requirement."

"And it can become anything you can think of." Harry added, "the only thing it can't do is provide food, and unfortunately anything created by the room will just disappear if it leaves it."

"Wow." James whistled, "I hope there are no other rooms we didn't find. That would just be annoying."

"There is one actually." Harry smirked, "but you'll find out about that later. Anyway, just a warning before we go in, there are several people in the Room already, whom you may not be too happy about, but please, stay calm."

"That means no shouting James." Lily said, glaring fiercely at her husband.

"Who's in there?" Dorea asked curiously as she and Regulus caught up.

"You'll see." Harry grinned as Lucius opened the door and entered the room.

The group followed, each slightly nervous about who they would find, but knowing they would have to just get on with it.

"Ab." Charlus yelped as he saw exactly who was in the room, "Tippy repeatedly told us that you'd faked your death, but we never really believed it, until Harry told us, and now we have proof."

"Sorry about that." Abraxas shrugged, approaching the older Potters, "everyone had to believe that I was dead for it to work."

"Well, I'm glad to know that Tippy wasn't just going completely bananas." Dorea said.

"I bet you are, Aunt Dorea." One of the other men in the room said. He had an aristocratic face, like Dorea, purple eyes, and short curly black hair. Those who knew Bellatrix Lestrange would describe him as a male version of her, showing just where she'd got her looks from.

"Cygnus, it's been too long." Dorea whispered, drawing the man into a warm embrace.

"I know." Cygnus sighed, "but we're all here now, and that's all that matters."

Regulus, who had been hiding at the back, decided he ought to get more involved, so moved forward to find out who Charlus and Dorea were talking to. He was shocked to see not only Abraxas Malfoy and Cygnus Black, but his father there as well, looking far more relaxed than he had the last time they had been in the same room together, as well as a man who vaguely resembled Rodolphus Lestrange, quietly talking to a girl with very bushy brown hair.

"Father?" Regulus asked nervously.

"Wow, your mother really did screw everything up." Orion sighed, "I miss the days when you called me Dad."

"I don't understand." Regulus said.

"It's simple. You know your mother was a bitch, but you never knew just much she controlled everything around her." Orion grimaced, "I couldn't do anything to stop her, every time I tried to get her to allow you to form your own opinions she cursed me, then after you disappeared and Sirius was thrown in Azkaban, she went mad and died. If it weren't for your Uncle Cygnus, I would have died too. The woman was finally gone, but I couldn't enjoy that, knowing that your brother was wrongfully imprisoned and you weren't around to enjoy it with me."

"Dad, I never truly believed any of the things mother said, I just pretended to." Regulus smiled, "I thought that was the best way to protect the family after Sirius ran, but all the time, I was trying to find Voldemort's weaknesses and then a way to destroy the monster. I did find it eventually, but evidently, going after what I'd found would have killed me, so I got replaced with a rather creepy doll."

"It's not a doll." Lucius whined, "it's nanite replica, a highly advanced machine, programmed to look, sound and act just like you, not a doll."

"Honestly." Harry sighed, rolling his eyes, "while I do agree with the sentiment, you're acting like a child."

"Sometimes his inner child does manage to escape." Draco said, trying to sound wise, but definitely struggling to contain his mirth.

"His inner child is going to earn him a smack on the bum." Harry muttered, only allowing Lucius and the others who were standing near him to hear.

"Bedtime people." Lily called, looking at the time, "it's late, and I for one, would like to get some sleep."

"Good idea." Dorea nodded, finally letting Cygnus go, and moving on to Orion, who looked as though he had forgotten how to smile properly.

The entire group headed to bed, Harry and Lucius slipping in to the same bedroom, trying to avoid James seeing, because they knew he was likely to explode at the thought of them together.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Dark Lord Ascending**

Next morning, Harry and Lucius were the first of their group to wake up, and were planning on how to shock the school in the biggest way possible. They wanted all the students and staff to be in the great hall before they, and their group arrived, but the only way to ensure that that would happen was if they arrived just as Albus was addressing the school, so they decided to have their breakfast in the Room.

Everyone was eating when they heard Albus' magically magnified voice echo around the castle, "all students and staff are to report to the great hall immediately. I repeat, all students and staff are to report to the great hall immediately. Thank you."

"We're going to have to try and keep an eye on how many people are in the hall, otherwise we won't know when to make our entrance." Hermione said, "and as much as I dislike the thought, the only way we can do that is to ask a house-elf."

Due to the fact that everyone agreed with her assessment, there was no point in discussing it further, so Harry summoned Dobby and requested that the excitable house-elf keep an eye on the great hall. The house-elf left with much bouncing and vigorous nodding of his head.

"We also need to decide on what order we go in in." Ron said, shaking his head as he stared at the space Dobby had occupied.

"I don't think it really matters." Harry shrugged, "unless we go in in order of rank."

"You can go first then." Draco yawned, "High councillor and all that."

"All right." Harry nodded.

"We could also dress in the colours of the Empire." Daphne suggested, "or the colours of the various departments of the High Council, with Harry wearing the Imperial Purple, High Councillor's sash."

"That's a good idea." Lucius nodded, waving his wand and transfiguring their ordinary robes into typical Alteran clothes.

When he had finished, Harry was wearing deep green robes with silver trimming and tied by a purple sash, Lucius was wearing dark grey robes that were so dark they were almost black, Draco was in pale green with an image of a tree shedding book-shaped leaves on the breast, Orion's robes were navy blue robes with an image of an Aurora class vessel firing drones on the breast, Cygnus' robes were a paler shade of blue than Orion's and had an image of a half-built Aurora class vessel on the breast, Abraxas was wearing white with silver trimming, Hermione and the Rodolphus Lestrange lookalike were in pale grey, both with the symbol that warned of radiation on the breast, Daphne had pale yellow robes with slightly darker yellow trimming and Ron was wearing dark red robes that had an image of crossed broomsticks on the breast. They all had the symbol they had chosen for the Empire, which appeared to be a triangular rune with a circle inside it and a line cutting down the middle, on their left arms, above the elbow, and the only people who understood what that symbol was, were the ten wearing it, James, and Charlus, who had both been brought up on the story of the Deathly Hallows.

"Wow." Lily whistled when she saw what Lucius had created.

"What do the colours and images mean?" James asked.

"They denote which department we're part of in the Alteran High Council." Lucius replied, making sure his dark grey, almost black robes were straight. "The dark grey signifies the shadows, in which the Department of Internal Imperial Security works. The navy blue denotes the Department of Imperial Defence, the paler blue signifies that he is part of the Department of Imperial Defence, but also deals with other departments, white is the ambassadors, pale grey is the science department, pale green is culture and education, yellow is children's welfare, dark red is sports and recreation and Harry's deep green with silver and purple mean he holds the highest position in the High Council."

"There are no strict rules to tell people how they should dress, but the cut of these particular robes is specific to the High council, and no one else is allowed to wear robes like this." Harry added, "even we only wear the robes for important meetings and special occasions, preferring to wear ordinary clothes for day to day business, with just a small patch on our shoulders, displaying our positions."

"Wow." James muttered, just as Dobby popped back into the room.

"Greatest Wizard Harry Potter Sir." The excitable house-elf squeaked, "everybodys bes in the great hall now, greatest wizard Harry Potter sir."

"Brilliant." Draco grinned, adjusting the sleeve of his pale green robes to make sure that the symbols on them were in full view.

"There also bes a new table in the great hall." Dobby continued, "I don'ts know when it appeared sirs and misses, but it bes deep green and purple and there bes an animal-wizard sitting at it with a female shape-changer. No one else has been able to sit there."

"Hogwarts." Harry smirked, "she wants us to sit there, with Remus and Tonks, so she had the constructor bots make a new table."

"Shall we?" Charlus said, lifting his arm and offering it to Dorea, to escort her out.

"We shall." Everyone nodded, looking at each other strangely when they realised that they had just spoken in unison.

Nearly ten minutes later, the entire group was standing outside the great hall doors, Harry standing at the front and the rest in two lines behind him, apart from James, Lily, Charlus, Regulus and Dorea. They were in between the lines, staying out of the way, and all were waiting for the right moment.

As soon as Harry felt everyone get settled, he flicked his fingers, blowing the doors open and then lead the group inside, striding with his head held high, in the direction of the purple table in the middle of the hall.

"Morning Remus." Harry grinned as he sat down in the utter silence that had fallen when they all walked in.

"Morning." Remus nodded calmly, though his next words belied his appearance, "what the _hell_ was that?"

"I would like to know the answer to that as well." Albus said from his seat at the centre of the staff table.

"That, was the entrance of some members of the Alteran High Council, with a few guests." Lucius smirked, "we have the High Councillor and Supreme Commander of the Alteran Fleet, the overall heads of the Departments of Internal Imperial Security, Imperial Defence, Ship-building, Science, Education and Sports and Recreation, as well as the Alteran Ambassador to the Tok'Ra, and the assistant heads of the departments of Science and Children's Welfare." With every department mentioned, he indicated who he was referring to, with a regal wave of his hand.

"The guests include Regulus Arcturus Black, Dorea Potter-Black, Charlus Potter, Lily Evans-Potter and James Potter." Draco continued.

"Wow, I didn't understand most of that." Susan Bones muttered, "but I can tell that all those titles mean that they're important people."

"They are." Daphne giggled, "without these people, the Alteran Empire would not exist."

"We will explain later, but for now, let's get on shall we?" Hermione suggested.

"Thank you miss Granger." Albus nodded, standing up and addressing the school, "on Saturday morning, I received a book, detailing the events that would occur next year had I not received the book. Hopefully as we read it, these people at the middle table will reveal and explain the Legacy of the Ancients, or as Lord Malfoy called them, the Alterans, our ancestors. Once a few more guests have arrived, we will be reading this book over the next few days, so lessons will have to be cancelled for the duration, and hopefully at the end of it, we can start to make our Ancestors proud."

As the headmaster finished speaking, the doors swung open, letting a large group of people through, including the crazy-eyed Auror Moody, who had come out of retirement; the Weasley clan; the Minister and Kingsley Shacklebolt, both of whom sat with Percy Weasley and Moody at the staff table, which had lengthened to accommodate them all. The other Weasleys ended up sitting at the middle table, where Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting.

"Right, is everyone ready?" Albus asked, noticing but trying to ignore the glares the staff and some of the guests were sending him, mainly because he had summoned them all without explaining why.

"I think we are." Minerva said, sternly gazing at the students, almost daring one of them to make trouble.

"Very well, who would like to read first?" Minister Scrimgeour asked, eager to get on with it and hopefully find out just what was going on.

"I will, if you don't mind." Albus smiled, opening the book to the right page, "the book is called, **Harry Potter ****and the Deathly Hallows**," Dumbledore read with a barely contained wince, before taking a deep breath and continuing, "**Chapter One: ****The Dark Lord Ascending**,"

"That's not good." Seamus could be heard muttering from the Gryffindor table.

**The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart, in the narrow, moonlit lane.**

**For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.**

"**News?" asked the taller of the two.**

"**The best," replied Severus Snape.**

"I knew it." Zacharias Smith bellowed, "you're a Death Eater."

"Would you sit down and shut up you irritating little arsehole." Hermione yelled, causing many to gape in shock at her language, while Lily buried her head in her hands, wondering how on earth she could have been so stupid, "if you let us read, you will find out the truth."

Albus decided to continue reading, so as to avoid a confrontation, but he knew that there would be other outbursts so thought that having a small duelling competition at the end of the book would be a good way to relieve some stress.

**The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched.**

"**Thought I might be late," said Yaxley,**

"My god." Percy mumbled, grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, so that he could write down the names of any Death Eaters that were mentioned, while also putting a silencing ward up so the only people who heard him were those sitting on either side of him. "I can't believe I missed it."

"Missed what Percy?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked quietly, leaning over and allowing Scrimgeour to join in.

"The fact that he's one of them." Percy replied, "I feel like I've failed in some way if he has been able to get into the position he's in undetected."

"What are you on about Weatherby?" Scrimgeour asked exasperatedly, but still keeping his voice down.

"I was employed by the Wizengamot, to try and bring the Fudge administration down, which has been done, and they gave me a list of the people they suspected were Death Eaters, so I could keep an eye on them, just to make sure they didn't try and stick their own men in to disrupt the Ministry." Percy sighed, "I've obviously failed, though Yaxley wasn't on the list."

"If he wasn't on the list, then you couldn't have known." Kingsley said reasonably.

"Unfortunately, it means that there may be others not on the list." Percy said, sounding miffed, "I hope this book lists them all, and then we can do something about them, because if not, then there is something seriously wrong with the wizarding world."

"It should do." Scrimgeour sighed, "and once it's over, hopefully these students can help bring the wizarding world into the twentieth century, at least."

"Indeed." Percy nodded, glancing at the purple-clad table, where his parents were sitting. "And my name is Weasley, sir, not Weatherby."

"I'm sorry." Scrimgeour apologised, "I was not aware that you were related to Arthur. Barty Crouch and Cornelius never mentioned that."

"They should have known, I did put my full name when I applied just after graduating." Percy grimaced, "but Crouch wasn't exactly stable, and as far as I know, Cornelius didn't see my application."

"Unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do about it now." Scrimgeour said, "at least I now know."

"Indeed sir." Percy nodded.

**his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke the moonlight. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?"**

"What are you doing?" Emma Dobbs, a little third year Hufflepuff wondered shyly.

**Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way. Neither of them broke step: In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke.**

"What's that all about?" Isobel MacDougal, a sixth year Ravenclaw asked.

"I would assume that it is something to do with the Dark Mark." Snape replied.

"I knew you were a traitorous untrustworthy Death Eater bastard." Smith snarled.

"I trust Severus, with my life." Albus said quietly, but his voice was still strong enough to reach everyone.

"Well, good for you, I don't." Smith retorted.

The blond Hufflepuff didn't realise that he was annoying almost everyone who sat at the table in the middle of the hall, so didn't notice the fist that was flying towards his face until it was too late. His head rocked back slightly and he looked up into the pissed off face of the boy-who-lived, who was holding an absolutely enraged Draco Malfoy back.

"He's not worth it Draco." Harry said, sneering at the blond Hufflepuff, who was now doing his best to mop up the blood that was pouring out of his broken nose, "he'll see how much of a hero Professor Snape is in the end."

"Mr Smith, ten points from Hufflepuff for arguing with a teacher." Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, said, wincing at the fact that it was one of her badgers she was having to discipline.

"Fifteen points to Mr Malfoy for defending your Head of house." Snape said, "but five points from Slytherin for physical violence against a fellow student."

"And twenty points to Mr Potter for preventing more physical violence." McGonagall added dryly.

**The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge.**

"Isn't that your house Draco?" Pansy Parkinson asked, pretending to flirt with him, despite the fact that the Ravenclaw table was between them.

"Yes." Draco replied, rolling his eyes at his best female friend, having forgotten how annoying her fake flirting was.

"Hands off." Hermione said, mock-glaring over the heads of the cowering Ravenclaws at Pansy, "he's mine."

"I knew it." Pansy giggled, "that's why I always pretended, so no one else got any ideas, I knew you two were made for each other."

"**He always fancied himself well, Lucius.**

Unnoticed by all but a select few, Lucius and Draco winced at the reminder that Voldemort had taken over their home and forced them to pander to his every whim. Harry gently rested his hand on Lucius' arm to provide some comfort and help push the awful memories away.

**_Peacocks _…" Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort.**

"What's with the peacocks?" Colin Creevey asked curiously, not afraid of the blond Death Eater at all.

"They were my mother's." Lucius replied, "I'm not particularly keen on the ruddy things, but Narcissa loves them."

"She told me that you said you liked them." Draco sniggered while Abraxas pretended to vomit into Lucius' lap.

"I only said that because she was pregnant and if I said I didn't like them, I might have ended up on the wrong end of a hormonal outburst." Lucius snorted, ignoring his father's melodramatics.

"We Black women can be rather vindictive at times." Dorea admitted, wincing as she remembered what she was like when pregnant with James.

"This makes me wonder why one of his animagus forms is a peacock." Hermione muttered to Harry and Draco, though everyone else could hear her quite clearly since Albus had put a spell on the hall, to make sure that no one missed any comments. He couldn't do anything to prevent people putting up silencing wards when they didn't want to be overheard, however.

"It might be because sometimes he prances around like one." Draco sniggered.

"I don't." Lucius whined, completely smashing his reputation for being a cold-hearted bastard with no emotions. This caused many people, especially Mr Weasley, to stare at him in shock.

"It is so odd to see a full-grown man whining like a five-year-old." Minerva mumbled quietly, causing Lucius to cringe slightly.

"It is also rather refreshing to know that said full-grown man understands that there is no need to pretend to be what he is not, while in a setting such as this." Albus nodded.

"And what is that?" Remus asked with a grin.

"Mature." Albus dead-panned.

**A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped toward the front door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it. **

"House-elf." Ernie MacMillan stated in a pompous tone.

**The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past.**

Lucius snorted, knowing that the portraits in that hallway always stared at visitors, never saying a word, unless he was the only one around to listen, which many people had complained about. The portraits elsewhere in the manor weren't quite so silent, though they were of other members of his family, so didn't seem to be held to the same standards.

**The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle.**

**The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. **

"I bet Cissy hated that." Remus sniggered, using the nickname Narcissa had been given by Sirius.

"It wasn't her decision." Lucius sighed, "Voldemort did it without even asking either of us for our opinions."

**Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. **

"I wonder who that was." Charity Burbage muttered quietly. Lucius grimaced as he remembered the sad fate of the woman, whom he had liked, despite the fact that they hadn't been in the same year or house when they were students.

**None of the people seated under this singular sight was looking at it except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or so.**

"Is that you Malfoy?" Smith asked, glaring at the blond.

"Sadly." Draco replied, trying to hide the pain in his eyes. He failed.

"I can't believe you would force your son to see that." Dorea hissed angrily, trying to make sure that the only people who heard her were those sitting closest to her.

"I wouldn't, not if I had a choice." Lucius returned, "the only reason my son was there, was because that _abomination_ had threatened my life."

"My god." Charlus breathed.

Dorea wasn't the only one to hear Lucius' reply, and most were curious, so Colin, who was showing a lot more bravery than anyone else, asked, "how do you know so much about the events in the book when it's in the future?"

"Because the people who sent the book, also sent a copy of my soul, from the me of their time." Lucius replied with a smile, "and I wasn't the only one who's soul has been sent, nine of the other people sat at this table have."

"Who?" Dennis Creevey asked.

"You'll see." Lucius smirked, amused by the exuberance of the two Creevey boys.

"Soul magic is considered to be extremely dark, why would anyone do that?" Sprout asked in a fearful whisper.

"They wanted us to be able to change things." Lucius sighed, "even though Voldemort was defeated, there were close on a thousand casualties, and nothing changed, not really."

"Merlin." Mr Weasley said softly.

"We came up with the idea of creating this book to give us a way to end the war once and for all without all the casualties, but then we realised, that we had no way of knowing whether it worked or not, so, we copied our souls, sent them back, and merged them with our bodies of this time." Harry grinned, shocking a lot of the people in the hall with his knowledge.

"What about your souls from this time?" Dumbledore asked, having realised that he had forgotten to ask when he first found out a few hours after they arrived.

"They were removed, and in time, they will be reborn, as new people, with no memory of being us." Hermione replied.

"It does seem like a sensible thing to do." Pomfrey nodded.

"Didn't you hear her say it was Dark?" Smith asked, sticking his foot in his mouth once again.

"Soul magic is one of those grey areas, and can be both Dark and Light, but it all depends on the intention of those who use it." Scrimgeour sighed.

"Oh." The Gryffindors muttered, while the Hufflepuffs vowed to think about it, and the Ravenclaws and Slytherins nodded, already accepting.

"How did you do it, because as far as I know, there are no spells that will copy a soul?" Bill Weasley wondered.

"You're right, there are no spells, but our friends, the Asgard, were extremely technologically advanced, with the ability to clone themselves." Harry replied, "they were suffering extreme genetic degeneration after thousands of years of cloning themselves, and when they finally gave up on trying to find a way to reverse that, they gave us their technology and blew their home up. We used the cloning technology that they had perfected to copy our souls. The only spells we used were the ones to send our souls back."

"Incredible, are these Asgard still around now, and is there any way to meet them?" Flitwick asked.

"They are just, so we may be able to, they do live a long way away though." Hermione smiled.

"How far?" McGonagall wondered.

"Three million light-years." The Rodolphus Lestrange lookalike smirked, "their home is another galaxy."

"What?" Mrs Weasley spluttered, "you're saying that aliens exist?"

"Yep." Cygnus grinned.

"Merlin." Everyone whispered, though those who had had their souls transferred and those they had already told, didn't.

"Wait a minute, when you told us all about the titles you all have, you didn't mention any names, and there some people we don't recognise here." Su Li, one of the sixth year Ravenclaws said with a slight Chinese accent.

"Whoops." Lucius muttered sheepishly, "erm … right, OK."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, it's not that difficult." Charlus snorted.

"Er, Dad, I think you're understating things a little." James grinned.

"I'll say." Draco grinned, "anyway, I hope no one has a heart attack, but sitting diagonally opposite Hermione, is one of my grandfathers, with the other one two seats to his left. Next to professor Lupin, by far the best DADA professor we ever had, is my cousin, Nymphadora Tonks."

"Don't use that name." Tonks snapped, "that goes for everyone. I'm Tonks, and if I hear anyone using my stupid first name, they will be hexed."

"Yes, thank you." Draco grimaced, "anyway, to continue, I'm sure no one needs to be introduced to Harry or his parents, unless they've been living under a rock for the last fifteen years, and the same goes for my Dad, so as I said, next to Dad, is my grandfather Abraxas Malfoy, and opposite him are Harry's grandparents, Charlus and Dorea Potter, at the end of the table is Regulus Arcturus Black with his father Orion next to him, and then his cousin, my other grandfather, Cygnus Black. Seated in various places at the table are the Weasleys, and I'll let them introduce themselves."

"Thank you Dray." Ron grinned, "I hope you know my sister Ginny, with our parents next to her, and my older brother Charlie opposite Dad, while at the other end are my other brothers, the infamous twins and Bill."

"Someone didn't get introduced." Ginny said suspiciously.

"Oh dear." The Rodolphus lookalike sighed, "I knew it was a bad idea coming here."

"No it wasn't Caruso." Cygnus said, "you knew as well as I that we would have to try and prove that we were nothing like our reputations. Our names have been dragged through the mud enough already, it's time we did something about it."

"He's right you know." Abraxas added, "I know that Rabastan wrecked your family name and doesn't deserve to be known as a Lestrange, but it's not your fault that your wife brainwashed him. She failed with Rodolphus, which was why she used that blasted contract to control his free will."

"We don't blame you for what that bitch did." Cygnus continued, double-teaming the man, "you shouldn't blame yourself."

"What's going on?" Seamus asked curiously, "surely your identity isn't that bad."

"I am known as the father of two of the worst Death Eaters around." The man sighed, "my name is Caruso Lestrange, father of Rodolphus and Rabastan, however, I have never supported the pureblood supremacy shite."

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Cygnus grinned, "what say you Abraxas?"

"Oh I totally agree Cygnus." Abraxas nodded, "the idea that purebloods are better simply because they are purebloods is a stupid one. In fact, I believe that those who didn't grow up in the magical world have it so much better."

"Well, there we have it." Dumbledore smiled, "let's continue with the book."

"**Yaxley, Snape," said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late."**

"OK, what?" James spluttered, "how can one be nearly late?"

"I have no idea." Snape growled, trying not to look at the man who he felt was the bane of his existence.

**The speaker was sitting directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shown through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow.**

"That's what V-V-V-V-Voldemort looks like?" Fred Weasley asked, stuttering over the name, but he had promised himself that he would say it.

"Yep, good looking bloke isn't he?" Harry grinned sarcastically.

"Oh I'd go for him." Hermione giggled, her tone dripping sarcasm.

"You mean I have to chop my nose and hair off, and somehow turn my eyes red?" Draco asked with a snort.

"No, I like you just the way you are." Hermione smiled.

"Besides, I don't think you'd want to go through what he did to look like that." Regulus said.

"True." Draco sighed.

"**Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right. **

"What on earth did you do to earn that position?" Pansy asked curiously.

"I do not know." Snape replied weakly.

"Well, whatever it is, we'll stop you." Smith said confidently, not realising that he was starting to sound very arrogant and annoying.

"Do you know what I did?" Snape asked the people sitting at the middle table nervously.

"I think the term is, assisted suicide." Lucius said, glancing side-long at Dumbledore, "you helped a dying man fulfil his last wish."

"Great." Snape muttered sarcastically, knowing that he had been forced to do what Dumbledore had ordered him to at the beginning of the year.

"So, if we know who Voldy's right-hand man was, who was his left-hand man?" James wondered.

"Until the end of last year, I was, but I don't know who replaced me." Lucius shrugged.

"Did you expect to get that far when you infiltrated the Death Eaters?" Lily asked.

"No." Lucius shook his head, "at the beginning of the mission, I almost expected to be discovered and killed, but as each month went by with no sign that my cover had been blown, I began to wonder just how far I would get, and therefore how much information I would get my hands on, but I never expected that I would get to such a prominent position."

"**Yaxley – beside Dolohov."**

"He's one of the ten who escaped Azkaban earlier this year." Percy whispered in disbelieving horror.

**The two men took their allotted places. Most of the eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first.**

"**So?"**

"**My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at night fall."**

"I can't believe you." Lily yelled angrily, "you're just giving him away."

"I knew you weren't really on our side." Smith shouted.

"I trust Severus with my life." Dumbledore said sharply.

"As do I." Harry nodded.

James had to refrain from goggling at his son. Why would Harry defend his worst enemy like that?

Lucius smiled, knowing exactly what was going on in James' head, and knowing that Harry was going to shock everyone a lot more.

**The interest around the table sharpened palpably: some stiffened, others fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort.**

"**Saturday … at nightfall," repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with such an intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort's face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort's lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.**

"I didn't know he was capable of _smiling_." George Weasley said.

"Oh he is." Snape said, "but his smile is not something you want to see."

"It was when he was a teenager." Horace Slughorn, the returned Potions professor remarked, "he was so charming back then. I just don't know what could have made him choose the path he followed."

"**Good. Very good. And this information comes –"**

"– **from the source we discussed," said Snape.**

"What source?" Aurora Sinistra, the Astronomy professor, asked.

"I don't know." Snape muttered.

Harry had overheard the question, and could see that Snape was not happy at all, so decided to put the poor man out of his misery. "It was the portrait of someone the world mourned, but Voldemort –" everyone apart from those who either used it daily or had got used to people using it, shuddered at the name. "– thought Mundungus Fletcher was your source."

"Who's portrait?" Snape asked.

"It will be mentioned in the book." Daphne said gently.

"**My Lord."**

**Yaxley had leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him.**

"**My Lord, I have heard differently."**

"Of course he would." Snape huffed.

**Yaxley waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on, "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the night before the boy turns seventeen."**

"So this is set at the end of this year." Dean breathed.

"Yes." Harry said.

**Snape was smiling.**

"**My source tells me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible."**

"He really was." Hermione giggled quietly, "by the time of that meeting, he'd been Confunded at least three times."

"**I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," said Yaxley.**

"**If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," said Snape. "I assure _you_, Yaxley, the Auror office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry."**

"My god." Percy whispered, wondering what on earth was going to be done to stop the Death Eaters if their position was as strong as it appeared.

"**The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" said a squat man sitting a short distance from Yaxley; he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table.**

"Merlin." Scrimgeour breathed, "if that's who I think it is, he's another member of that group that escaped Azkaban."

**Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving slowly overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought.**

"Whoever that is, is not getting out of there alive." Snape sighed sadly, wishing that there was something he could do.

Even though they had only read three pages, James, Lily, Charlus and Dorea were horrified at the amount of power the Death Eaters seemingly had, and couldn't think of a way to stop them. Even Regulus, who had spent nearly two years as a Death Eater, hadn't realised quite how strong the Dark army really was.

"**My Lord," Yaxley went on, "Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy –"**

"If the Ministry has been infiltrated, then I doubt the Order would trust them." Moody growled.

**Voldemort held up a large white hand, and Yaxley subsided at once, watching resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Snape.**

"**Where are they going to hide the boy next?"**

"**At the home of one of the Order," said Snape.**

"And I think we can guess where." McGonagall said, looking at the Weasleys.

"We would be happy to have him." Mrs Weasley smiled, seemingly wondering whether she could put Harry and Ginny together enough to encourage them to get together and make her dream of having lots of green-eyed black-haired grand-babies come true, "I've always thought of Harry as another son."

"As have I." Mr Weasley nodded sincerely, not knowing what his wife was thinking. If he had, he might have been worried about his wife's state of mind.

"**The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."**

"I can't believe it." Remus said, "I can't believe they're that strong."

"I don't want to believe it either, but I cannot deny the evidence in front of me." Lily sighed, resolutely ignoring Snape, who kept shooting sad glances in her direction.

"**Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort called down the table, the firelight glinting strangely in his red eyes. "_Will_ the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"**

"No, but it fell later." Ron sighed, "August the first was the day the Ministry fell."

"How?" Scrimgeour asked, "there is no way I would just stand aside and let those barbarians take over."

"You didn't." Harry said, "they tortured you for information about my whereabouts, and then killed you when you refused to tell them anything."

"Well at least I didn't go down without a fight." Scrimgeour grimaced.

**Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders.**

"**My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have – with difficulty, and after great effort – succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse on Pius Thicknesse."**

"My god." Kingsley whispered, "he's the current Head of the DMLE."

"It's worse than the first war." Scrimgeour agreed, "I don't know what we can do if the Death Eaters use the Imperius on high-ranking officials."

"You can try and train them to resist it." Daphne suggested, "that way, they can hopefully delay whatever plans they are ordered to take part in."

"A very good idea." Kingsley nodded, "we'll start working on that as soon as we've finished the reading."

"You could have the Healers at St Mungo's do the same." Charlus said, "the hospital may not be such a big target as the ministry, but there is still the chance that the Death Eaters will use that curse to try and stop the healers treating those they think are not worthy."

"And even if there is no way to get the officials and Healers trained completely, it might be a good idea to try and find a ward that would alert you if someone was under the Imperius." Dorea added, "that might be a short-term measure though."

"It is certainly worth thinking about." Kingsley nodded thankfully, while Percy wrote down all the suggestions that had been made.

**Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbour, Dolohov, a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back.**

"**It is a start," said Voldemort. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Our people must surround Scrimgeour before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."**

"Merlin, it's so strange, hearing someone planning how to kill you." Scrimgeour murmured.

"At least we can now plan how to stop it." Kingsley pointed out.

"Very true." Scrimgeour nodded.

"**Yes – my Lord, that is true – but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, **

"How did he get there?" Bathsheba Babbling, professor of Ancient Runes, asked.

"A few days before I was elected, Amelia Bones was killed, so as soon as the election was over, we had to find people to put in our former positions." Scrimgeour grimaced.

"Actually, she was captured, and taken to Lestrange Manor, while Voldemort created a Golem that looked like her and made it look like she was dead." Harry said, shaking his head, "we plan to rescue her soon."

"Merlin." Percy whispered, "how did you find out that she was still alive?"

"Rabastan Lestrange, the only Lestrange truly loyal to Voldemort, was finally arrested two weeks after the war and Lestrange Manor was searched." Draco said, "she was lucky to survive."

"We were part of the team that found her, and I have to say, I've seen pictures of Jews that survived the Nazi concentration camps, and none of them looked as broken as she did." Harry added, "it was that bad."

"My god." Albus whispered, utterly horrified, having been around at the time the concentration camps were broken open and the prisoners freed.

"What happened to Rabastan?" Minerva queried.

"He was executed." Hermione replied.

"Are you saying that the Death sentence was revived?" Albus asked in slight horror.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "the consensus of the Ministry and Wizengamot was that there is no point trying to redeem someone who doesn't want redemption."

"Indeed." Charlus nodded, "it's also a waste of the taxpayers' money."

"I can see that we do not agree on this topic, however, this is neither the time nor the place for a full debate." Albus said diplomatically, "so let's carry on."

"Hang on, if Rabastan was the only one loyal to Voldemort, what about Bellatrix and Rodolphus?" Scrimgeour asked curiously.

"My bitch of a wife had placed both under the Imperius three days after Bellatrix graduated." Caruso replied with a bitter smile, "she tied it to their marriage contract to ensure that it didn't fade, and neither could resist it. Then when she forced them to take the Dark Mark, Voldemort bound their wills to his, they couldn't escape, nor could they even entertain the thought of it without experiencing pain worse than the Cruciatus."

"Merlin." Neville muttered, not really knowing what to think, but vowing to ponder on it later.

"The only way to free them of control was to declare the contract null and void." Harry added, "which we did, just over three weeks after the war ended, and we plan to do the same in this time-line as well, as soon as we have got them out of Voldemort's hiding place."

"That's horrible." Minerva whispered.

**Thicknesse has regular contact with not only the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."**

"Unless Thicknesse can break the Imperius, which is doubtful." Moody said.

"Don't count your basilisks before they've hatched Mad-Eye." Tonks grinned, "he may surprise you and be able to break it."

"It would take someone with a strong will to do so though." Cygnus pointed out, "at least Voldemort wasn't the one to cast it, otherwise there would be no chance of it being broken."

"True, but I never got the impression that Pius Thicknesse had a strong will." Kingsley sighed.

"**As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," said Voldemort. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels."**

"You can try." Remus hissed quietly.

"**We are at an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley, who seemed determined to receive some portion of approval. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."**

"Bollocks." Bill muttered, making sure his mother couldn't hear.

"What are they going to do?" Mrs Weasley asked nervously.

"Don't worry Mrs Weasley, there's a rather ingenious plot in the making." Hermione smiled, refraining from rolling her eyes at the woman's over-protectiveness.

"**He will do neither," said Snape. "The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place."**

"**All the better," said Voldemort. "He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far."**

"Nope." Draco sniggered, "he failed, for the I don't know how manyth time."

**Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on. "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs."**

"He's underestimating Harry." Neville said, "I don't know much, but from what I've heard, Harry's escaped V-V-V-V-Voldemort five times already."

"Mainly because he never learned from his mistakes, and always blamed others." Harry smirked.

"He was like that as a student." Caruso sighed.

**The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, each of them, by his or her expression, afraid that they might be blamed for Harry Potter's continued existence. Voldemort, however, seemed to be speaking more to himself than to any of them, still addressing the unconscious body above him.**

"That poor person." McGonagall whispered, getting out her handkerchief and wiping her eyes with it.

"**I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be."**

"No, you won't." Daphne snorted.

**At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downward, startled, for the sound had seemed to issue from below their feet.**

"Who's that?" Filius Flitwick asked in his squeaky voice.

"You'll see." Lucius sighed, closing his eyes to try and hide the pain.

"**Wormtail," said Voldemort, **

All the members of the Order and the DA who knew who Wormtail was and what he had done, growled angrily at the mention of him, though those who had been taken from the past wondered why, especially James and Lily, who couldn't believe that their friend had become a Death Eater.

"All right, who is he?" Colin asked, glancing nervously at the furious expressions around him.

"That would be Peter Pettigrew, the scummy little shol'va who gave Voldemort the secret of where my parents were hiding." Harry replied, trying to refrain from losing his temper, while Lily broke down in James' arms and Remus buried his head in his hands.

"I thought that Peter Pettigrew was dead." Scrimgeour frowned, "I know that Sirius Black's name was cleared this last summer, after he was seen fighting against the Death Eaters and new evidence proving his innocence came to light, but that still doesn't mean that Pettigrew survived the explosion."

"It doesn't mean that he didn't either." Hermione snorted bitterly.

"True, but even though the Aurors have been alerted to the possibility that he did survive, there has been no sign of him." Percy pointed out nervously.

"That's because he's an unregistered Animagus." Remus said quietly, "his form is a fat grey rat, and until Sirius escaped, he'd been hiding in plain sight."

"Where?" Scrimgeour asked, the instincts he'd trained when he was still an Auror, coming to the fore.

"He was Scabbers, my pet rat." Ron snarled, still angry about that, even after so many years.

"Merlin." Kingsley muttered, not having known about that, despite having heard the story when he first met Sirius the previous summer.

"I'm sorry, but what does shol'va mean?" Colin asked.

"It means traitor." Harry grinned.

"What language does it come from?" Minerva wondered, not having been told about it during her conversation with Harry two days previously.

"It comes from the language of the Goa'uld." Hermione replied, "and is incredibly old."

"Who are the Goa'uld?" Snape asked, glancing curiously at Minerva to see if she had any idea, but she shook her head in confused denial.

"The Goa'uld are a race of parasitic aliens, who need human hosts to survive, but don't care whether their hosts are willing or not." Harry replied, "they force humans to worship them as if they were gods."

"Almost every historical culture that worshipped gods, like the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Egyptians, were being forced to worship the Goa'uld." Lucius continued, "the gods and goddesses mentioned in old texts, like Ra, Hathor, Cronus, Anubis, Apophis, Horus, Sokar, Athena, Aphrodite, they are all Goa'uld, who've taken those names, and forced the people to worship them."

"What about Thor and the Norse gods?" Flitwick asked, letting his obsession with ancient cultures show.

"They are the Asgard, who are even older, and were part of the Alliance of the Four Great Races that our ancestors formed." Harry said, "they never intended to be worshipped as gods, they wanted to be thought of as guardians and guides, protecting humanity from the Goa'uld. We will explain the political landscape of the galaxy once the book is finished."

"It all sounds very interesting." Minerva mumbled.

"How old is the Goa'uld language?" Some Ravenclaws asked.

"So old that it was the precursor to what we know as Ancient Egyptian." Harry smirked.

"Bloody hell." Babbling muttered, completely blown away by that revelation.

**with no change in his quiet, thoughtful tone, and without removing his eyes from the revolving body above, "have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet?"**

"**Yes, m-my Lord," gasped a small man halfway down the table, who had been sitting so low in his chair that it had appeared, at first glance, to be unoccupied. Now he scrambled from his seat and scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him but a curious gleam of silver.**

Remus started hyperventilating slightly, knowing that he could never go near Wormtail if he didn't want to die, and he definitely didn't want to die.

Harry, knowing what the problem was, also knew that the only way to help was to give Remus some chocolate, so called for Dobby and requested that he find a large bar for Remus. Dobby was happy to do so and Remus slowly calmed down over his huge bar of Honeydukes chocolate.

Dorea, who knew that chocolate was one of the best things to help people recover from emotional trauma or Dementor attacks, smiled slightly, though she was also very health conscious and knew that chocolate was not healthy, so had to fight the urge to tell Remus off. She wondered how many times he had been placed on a diet over the years, and thought it might be a good idea to put him on another diet soon.

"**As I was saying," continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter."**

"So he knows." Albus muttered, before shaking himself and continuing.

**The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.**

"That's what it's like." Snape said, "but it's much worse than that."

"Without a wand, most wizards are defenceless, and the fact that he's asking to borrow one, means that we are useless and therefore expendable." Lucius added, "which we were anyway. Voldemort doesn't care about the lives of the Death Eaters, but he would rather they were alive and therefore at least vaguely useful."

"He's a sociopath." Orion said disgustedly, "someone who doesn't care about the pain of others."

"**No volunteers?" said Voldemort. "Let's see … Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand any more."**

"Merlin, I did not realise that being captured at the Ministry at the end of the last school year damaged your standing with him so badly." Snape whispered, horrified at the thought of what could have happened to his old friend.

"He was already beginning to doubt me before that." Lucius sighed, "I may have been there at his rebirth, but that was only so I knew how many others were there, and I think he could tell that I didn't want to be there. I think the fact that he had to break me out was the last straw, he knew he couldn't trust me, but he wasn't willing to risk killing me because if he had, then I'm almost sure that he would have gained more enemies, which he definitely didn't want."

"I know I would have wanted revenge." Draco put in, "and even though she's not in love with him, Mum would too."

"I can imagine." Snape murmured, knowing just what an angry Black was like.

**Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.**

"You sound unwell." Lavender Brown said, looking at the blond as if he was on his deathbed.

"I had spent around a year in the presence of several dozen Dementors." Lucius snorted.

"Poor you." Lavender whispered, looking at him even more worriedly.

"I'm not dying Miss Brown." Lucius said with a slightly flirtatious smile, "no need to worry."

"No flirting with the children Lucius." Abraxas said sternly, managing to cover Harry's low growl as he did so, though Lucius still heard it and cringed slightly, knowing he was going to be in trouble.

"When did you get out in the story, and how are you here now?" Seamus wondered.

"In the book, I had only been broken out a few hours before that meeting." Lucius sighed, "and I'm here now, because Harry rescued me."

"With Sceadu's help." Harry added.

"Who?" Dean asked.

"A shadow phoenix who hatched on Saturday morning, about five minutes after I found his egg." Harry grinned, "he's currently hiding in the ceiling, perched on one of the rafters."

"**My Lord?"**

"**Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."**

"**I …"**

**Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife.**

"How is Narcissa in your time?" Snape asked curiously.

"Happily remarried." Lucius replied with a grin, "she and I may not have been in love, but we did become close friends, and once the war was over we weren't under any obligation to continue the charade of being married, due to the fact that we had divorced not long after Draco was born. We had had to keep up appearances, and she had her own wing at the Manor, and after the war I took down most of the Manor wards, except the notice-me-not and Muggle-repelling charms on the Quidditch pitch, and her second husband moved in not long after." Lucius smiled.

"The pitch saw a lot of use after that." Draco sniggered.

"Indeed it did." Lucius grinned, "because we are all Quidditch maniacs."

"We'd noticed." Caruso sniggered, "I did notice that hardly any of you actually listened when Andy said, no Quidditch during the latter stages of pregnancy."

"Someone played Quidditch when they were pregnant?" Poppy Pomfrey screeched angrily.

"Yes." Cygnus snorted, "fortunately there were no complications resulting from that."

"Was the baby all right?" Pomfrey asked urgently.

"Yes, and it was babies, plural." Abraxas smiled, "the second one was hiding behind the first. That was a surprise, for all of us."

"Merlin." Pomfrey said, then started mumbling and muttering about the irresponsibility of people who ignored their Healer's orders, while everyone bar those from the future wondered who precisely the men had been talking about.

**She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, who held it up in front of his red eyes, examining it closely.**

"What does he expect to find?" Colin asked.

"That I do not know, I have no understanding of wandlore." Lucius shrugged.

"**What is it?"**

"**Elm, my Lord," whispered Malfoy.**

"**And the core?"**

"**Dragon – dragon heartstring."**

"What breed?" Charlie asked, trying not to drool at the mention of dragons.

"Japanese Suntongue." Lucius replied with a small smile, knowing just what was going on in the red-head's mind.

"Fascinating." Charlie muttered.

"What's so interesting about that?" Remus wondered.

"It's always interesting to watch the displays male Japanese Suntongues put on when they're trying to attract a mate, because they are so flamboyant." Charlie replied, "no other dragon is as outrageous and flamboyant as a Japanese Suntongue."

"Well, that core fits him perfectly." Draco sniggered, nearly choking when he saw Lucius pouting.

"**Good," said Voldemort. He drew out his own wand and compared lengths.**

"The wording of that could have been different." Fred chuckled.

**Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it seemed he expected to receive Voldemort's wand in exchange for his own.**

"I didn't, I just thought he might change his mind and give my wand back." Lucius sighed.

**Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously, did not miss the gesture.**

"He rarely misses anything." McGonagall said.

"**Give you my wand, Lucius? _My _wand?"**

**Some of the throng sniggered.**

"**I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late … What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"**

"The fact that it was my home he was contaminating." Lucius muttered, "and the fact that I had no interest in being his lackey."

"**Nothing – nothing, my Lord!"**

"**Such _lies_, Lucius …"**

**The soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving.**

"What's going on?" Eleanor Branstone, a third year Hufflepuff asked nervously.

"Nagini was there." Lucius replied with a grimace.

**One or two of the wizards barely repressed a shudder as the hissing grew louder; something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor beneath the table.**

**The huge snake emerged to climb slowly up Voldemort's chair.**

"What kind of snake?" George asked.

"We're not sure, but possibly some kind of cobra or a cobra relative." Harry replied.

**It rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort's shoulders: it's neck the thickness of a man's thigh; it's eyes, with their vertical slits for pupils, unblinking. Voldemort stroked the creature absently with long thin fingers, still looking at Lucius Malfoy.**

"That was not pleasant." Lucius muttered.

"**Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"**

"Ooh." One of the other Muggle-borns in the school said, "you're now stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"**Of course, my Lord," said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it – we do."**

"Liar." Someone singsonged. Lucius smiled slightly, but the humour in the hall didn't help to cheer him up much. Harry's warm body next to his, and the hand resting on his arm were the only things that kept him from breaking down completely.

**To Malfoy's left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact.**

"I'm not surprised." Daphne said softly, "he was not the most handsome of blokes."

"**My Lord," said a dark woman halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, **

"Poor Bellatrix." Cygnus sighed, wondering how soon his oldest daughter could be rescued from Voldemort's control.

"**it is an honour to have you here in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure." She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanour; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness.**

"That is just sick." Neville growled.

"Indeed." Caruso agreed, "she was a sweet girl when she was growing up, but when my bitch of a wife put the Imperius on her, she changed so much that no one could recognise her."

"**No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."**

**Her face flooded with colour; her eyes welled with tears of delight.**

"**My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"**

"**No higher pleasure … even compared with the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"**

"What?" the now pink-haired Tonks asked confusedly.

"You'll see." Hermione grinned.

**She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused.**

"**I don't know what you mean, my Lord."**

"**I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married **

"Who? Who did I marry?" Tonks asked, bouncing in her seat slightly, and glancing occasionally towards Remus, who was sitting next to her.

**the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."**

"YES!" Tonks screamed, jumping up and grabbing poor Remus, planting a big sloppy kiss on his lips. The rest of the Order, the students who liked Remus, and the staff all congratulated him as well.

Cygnus and Orion also congratulated the pair, even though many expected them to object to a werewolf being brought into the Black family.

Once Tonks had finished kissing the white and shaking werewolf, she let him slump back down in his seat, and Abraxas offered his own words of congratulations, "you deserve happiness Remus, I suggest you accept that fact, and accept that there is someone who wants you even though you are a werewolf."

"Thanks." Remus muttered, "I just don't know why she would want me."

"She sees something that she likes in you." Caruso smiled.

**There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful look; a few thumped the table with their fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth wide and hissed angrily,**

"Interesting, does one of the people who had their souls sent back, know what the snake said?" Blaise Zabini, a sixth year Slytherin, asked.

"There were four other Parselmouths, other than Voldemort, there, and according to them, she was too angry to be coherent." Harry replied.

"Who were they?" Blaise asked.

"You'll find out later, if they decide to reveal their ability." Hermione smiled.

"And knowing us, we'll persuade them to." Draco sniggered.

Snape glanced to a smirking Lucius nervously, knowing that there was no way he would be able to keep his secret if his godson decided to pry it out, though he did wonder who the other three were, and how Draco knew.

**but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix and the Malfoys' humiliation. Bellatrix's face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.**

"**She is no niece of ours, my Lord," she cried over the outpouring of mirth. "We – Narcissa and I – have not seen our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."**

"Tonks is no brat, and Remus is no beast." Draco yelled, finally giving up on keeping his anger in check.

"Thanks for that, cus." Tonks grinned, happy that the role he had had to play hadn't completely corrupted him. Orion, Caruso, Cygnus and Abraxas agreed with Draco, but because they were supposed to be more mature, they didn't yell.

"**What say you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. "Will you babysit the cubs?"**

"C-c-c-cubs." Remus whispered faintly.

"Don't worry, Lycanthropy can only be passed on through a bite, so your children are safe." Lucius smiled, "in fact, in the time our souls were sent back from, you had four grandchildren, the oldest of whom was twenty-two."

"Merlin." Remus muttered, shakily running a hand down his face.

"Grandchildren?" Tonks squealed.

"Yes." Lucius nodded, "I don't know how long it took Teddy and Victoire to decide on names for their two, but I do know that your daughter-in-law threw a few fireballs at her poor husband during the arguments they had about it."

"How did she do that?" James asked with a grin.

"Her great-grandmother, on her mother's side, was a Veela." Hermione giggled, "and unfortunately, of all the Veela traits Victoire could have inherited, throwing fireballs was the only one she got."

"I feel very sorry for her husband then." Susan said.

"I think we all do." Pansy muttered.

"What about the other two?" Tonks asked excitedly.

"Your daughter married an Italian, so their children got Italian names." Harry grinned.

"Brilliant." Tonks cheered.

**The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan star at the opposite wall.**

"**Enough," said Voldemort, stroking the angry snake. "Enough."**

"Well, he really is a horrible bastard, but at least he knows when to stop." Theodore Nott said, revealing the fact that he was another Slytherin who didn't wish to support Voldemort.

**And the laughter died at once.**

"**Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time," he said as Bellatrix gazed at him, breathless and imploring. "You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."**

"That's just wrong." Millicent Bulstrode hissed.

"Indeed it is Miss Bulstrode." Snape agreed.

"**Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes swam with tears of gratitude. "At the first chance!"**

"**You shall have it," said Voldemort. "And in your family, so in the world … we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain."**

"It won't work." Flitwick muttered.

"Of course not, if Voldemort really wanted to get rid of all non-purebloods, then he would have to die too." Harry snorted.

"What do you mean?" Theodore asked, looking over the heads of the Ravenclaws at Harry curiously.

"He's a half-blood." Harry replied, "his father was a Muggle."

"Merlin, I never knew that." Blaise whistled, "how did you find out?"

"He told me, before telling me that he'd killed his father, purely because the man had left his mother after finding out that she'd used Love Potions to get him to marry her." Harry replied.

"Incredible." Theodore muttered.

"No wonder he became insane." Snape sighed, "if his mother was any good with potions, then she would have known that if one parent is under the influence of Love Potions when a baby is conceived, then the baby is predisposed to mental problems."

"His mother was insane due to the fact that her parents were probably siblings." Harry sniggered.

"That's a horrible thought." Minerva muttered.

**Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy's wand, pointed it directly at the revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.**

"**Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" asked Voldemort.**

"I bloody well hope not." Snape snapped, turning even paler, knowing that even if he did recognise the prisoner, there was nothing he could do to help. Lily looked at him incredulously when she heard him, unable to work out why he sounded as though he didn't want to be involved in the Death Eaters.

**Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity. As she revolved to face the firelight, the woman said in a cracked and terrified voice, "Severus! Help me!"**

Snape closed his eyes and a tear slipped down his cheek at the realisation that the poor woman wasn't going to get out alive and the fact that he knew her was going to make it harder for him to ignore her suffering.

"Why don't you help her you greasy git?" Smith screamed, "or are you a heartless bastard after all?"

"Enough." Harry growled, getting fed up of the blond Hufflepuff's unending hatred and pigheadedness, "I'd like to see you try and spy without blowing your cover but still saving everyone's life. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and I'm sorry if this sounds heartless, but better a helpless prisoner than a spy who could still help."

"He's right." Albus nodded sadly while James and Lily looked at each other, still wondering why Harry was defending Snape, "this is war, and people have to do things that are less-than-honourable."

"**Ah, yes," said Snape as the prisoner turned slowly away again.**

"**And you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, stroking the snake's snout with his wand-free hand. Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seemed unable to look at her any more.**

"**But you would not have taken her classes," said Voldemort.**

"It's one of us." Rolanda Hooch whispered in the horrified silence.

"**For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage**

"No." Septima Vector, the Arithmancy professor, said, bursting into tears as she thought of her friend in that kind of trouble.

All the other female teachers crowded around Burbage, who was just sitting there, frozen in despair at the horror that her future held.

Snape had paled to such an extent that only the librarian's hand on his shoulder was keeping him upright, and most of the students were glaring at him as if to say, 'why aren't you tied up instead of her?'. The only people who weren't glaring, were those who had been sent back, who all knew what had happened after that meeting, and knew exactly what having to watch a colleague be tortured did to Snape's fragile emotions.

**who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."**

**There were small noises of comprehension around the table. A broad, hunched woman with pointed teeth cackled.**

"How disgusting." Minerva spat.

"**Yes … Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles … how they are not so different from us …"**

"Which they aren't." Hermione, Ron, Daphne, Harry, Draco, James, Lily and all the Muggle-born students yelled while those who agreed with them, but were supposedly more mature, nodded in agreement, shocking the students and staff who had thought they were pureblood supremacists.

**One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again.**

"**Severus … please … please …"**

"I wish I could." Snape said, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"**Silence," said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy's wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defence of Mudbloods in the _Daily Prophet_. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the Pure-bloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance … She would have us all mate with Muggles … or, no doubt, werewolves …"**

"There's nothing wrong with that." Tonks shouted, as her hair turned bright red in her anger.

**Nobody laughed this time: there was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Voldemort's voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again.**

"**Avada Kedavra."**

"Merlin." Scrimgeour whispered as Burbage sobbed in the middle of a hug from all the other female professors.

**The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto the floor.**

"**Dinner, Nagini," said Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood.**

"That's disgusting." The students who didn't support the Voldemort yelled.

"That was the end of the chapter." Albus said quietly, breaking the silence that had fallen after the students' outburst.

"I will read next headmaster." Slughorn said so Dumbledore passed him the book.


	4. Chapter 4

**In Memoriam**

"**In Memoriam**." Slughorn read.

"Who died?" Malcolm Baddock, a third year Slytherin asked.

"Whoever it was, we can try and prevent it." Albus said.

"That _is_ the whole point of this exercise." Harry pointed out.

"Are we going to hear more about you now?" James asked eagerly.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "the previous chapter was just telling us a bit of what was happening in the rest of the world."

**Harry was bleeding. **

"Great way to start." George snorted.

"What did you do?" Lily asked, beginning to panic at the thought of her son hurt.

"You'll see." Harry smiled, "it's nothing to worry about."

**Clutching his right hand in his left and swearing under his breath, he shouldered open his bedroom door. There was a crunch of breaking china: he had trodden on a cup of cold tea that had been sitting on the floor outside his bedroom door.**

"What the –?" Remus asked.

"**What the –?"**

"Weird." Fred muttered, glancing between Remus and Harry.

**He looked around; the landing of number four, Privet Drive, was deserted.**

"Where are you?" Theodore asked.

"The Dursleys' house." Harry replied.

"What on earth were you doing there?" James asked, "what happened to us?"

"I presume we died." Lily sighed, "or rather, our replicas did."

"They did." Harry nodded, "four days after we put them there."

"But, even if we, or our replicas, were dead, we wrote in our Will that you should grow up with Frank and Alice, or if they weren't available, Sirius, Madame Bones, the Greengrasses, the Zabinis, the Davis or Remus." Lily said, "I even added another family, without James knowing."

"Who?" James asked, "and why?"

"I added Luc and Cissy, because I knew about their spying, and was worried that there might be a chance that none of the others on the list would be around." Lily sighed, smiling at Lucius, who returned it, though his smile was slightly strained.

"Oh." James muttered, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Can you honestly say that you wouldn't have exploded?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"No, not without knowing what I do now." James mumbled sheepishly.

"I thought so." Lily said, then turned to Harry and asked, semi-calmly, "so who ignored the will?"

"The headmaster." Harry replied, slightly wary of his mother's temper.

"ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE." Lily screamed, "HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU IGNORE OUR WILL?"

"I had to." Albus whispered brokenly, "I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could have done, but the only way to keep Harry safe was to use Blood Wards, and they would only ever work if he was living with a blood relative."

"Petunia hates us." Lily laughed mirthlessly, "I sent her a letter when Harry was born, to tell her that she had a nephew, but she sent it back, with a note telling me to never contact her ever again. She also said that she wanted nothing to do with worthless freaks like us, and blamed me for the fact that our mother committed suicide two days after my seventeenth birthday. I also know quite a bit about wards, and Blood Wards won't work if the people involved hate each other, nor will they work if the person they're supposed to protect doesn't call the place home."

"Mr Dumbledore, we will have to have a talk about this, and there will possibly be charges brought against you, however, your clear remorse will mean leniency." Scrimgeour said sternly, knowing that Albus had done the best he could at the time, and only now realised what a mistake it was.

"Mum, you do know that Vernon forced Petunia to write that note?" Harry asked, "he dictated it to her, and said that if she didn't write exactly what he wanted her to, then he would kill Dudley."

"Merlin, I knew he was a bastard, but I didn't know he was that bad." Lily whispered.

"I didn't either, until he went too far a week before he died." Harry sighed, "she was lucky to survive, after he fractured her skull, shattered her left hip and broke five of her ribs."

"Are you going to try and get her away from him so he doesn't get that chance?" Dorea asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "and Vernon is hopefully going to be charged with domestic abuse, among other things."

"Good." Minerva hissed, hating the fact that anyone could be as disgusting as Vernon.

**Possibly the cup of tea was Dudley's idea of a clever booby trap. **

"Oh please, like that lump could be clever." George snorted, and everyone who had met Dudley Dursley burst out laughing at the absurdity. Harry and the others who had had their souls sent back didn't laugh, because they knew that Dudley had actually started to use his brain a lot more after the war, when he finally realised that being able to do magic wasn't something to be afraid of.

**Keeping his bleeding hand elevated, Harry scraped the fragments of the cup together with the other hand and threw them into the already crammed trash bin just visible inside his bedroom door. Then he tramped across to the bathroom to run his finger under the tap.**

**It was stupid, pointless, irritating beyond belief that he still had four days left of being unable to perform magic …**

"It is very irritating indeed." Percy nodded, causing everyone to stare at him in shock, because he hadn't said much and everyone had forgotten he was there. His parents looked at him sadly, wishing he would return to them, while his siblings, the twins especially, looked at him with expressions of disgust, having seen just how much his pig-headedness was hurting their parents.

**but he had to admit to himself that this jagged cut in his finger would have defeated him. He had never learned how to repair wounds,**

"Well that's wrong." Daphne giggled.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"A group of us have been getting extra training, since the beginning of first year, and we were taught basic first aid as part of that training." Daphne shrugged.

"Who is in your group?" Lily asked.

"Myself, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco and Pansy." Daphne replied.

"So that's the so-called Golden trio and three Slytherins." Tonks whispered.

"Yes, but the Golden trio aren't so Golden." Draco sniggered, "all three of them belong in a different house, but they decided to become Gryffindors, for various reasons."

"What reasons?" Dorea asked.

"I chose Gryffindor because I didn't think I'd be welcome in the house I should have gone into, being Muggle-born." Hermione said.

"I chose it because I knew that if I did go into the house the hat wanted me in, I would have been thought of as the next Dark Lord, or something equally unpleasant." Harry continued.

"And I chose it because I probably would have been disowned if I hadn't." Ron finished.

"What house did the hat want to put you all in?" Charlus wondered.

"Slytherin." The three chorused.

"Well, we Potters always have been silver-tongued enough to persuade the hat to put us elsewhere." Charlus snorted.

"Do you truly believe that the three of you are cunning enough to get into our house?" Astoria Greengrass, one of the other more decent Slytherins and Daphne's younger sister, asked. "I always thought you three were the kind of people to jump into things without thinking."

"That's what we wanted you to believe." Hermione giggled, "of course, we did have our adventures, but most of the time they were all planned."

"That still didn't stop things going belly-up." Ron sniggered.

"We should have remembered that no plan survives first contact with the enemy." Harry sighed.

"It wouldn't matter to me if you'd been in Slytherin, you'd have been following in your Uncle Bilius' footsteps." Mr Weasley said, silencing his wife, who he knew would not have been happy, "he was a Slytherin, doing the exact opposite of what our parents expected."

"What did your parents expect?" Susan asked.

"I don't know what Dad expected, but Mum wanted him to go to Gryffindor and have a Slytherin wife." Mr Weasley shrugged, "Mum is a bit weird."

"She's a Black, of course she's weird." Dorea snorted.

"I think it would be a good idea if we continued reading now." Albus suggested, before indicating that Slughorn should carry on.

**and now he came to think of it – particularly in light of his immediate plans – this seemed a serious flaw in his magical education. **

"What are your immediate plans?" Bill wondered.

"Let the man read and you'll find out." Harry smirked.

**Making a mental note to ask Hermione how it was done, **

"Oh yeah, thanks." Hermione said sarcastically, "I still don't get why you can't do that spell."

"I'm too powerful." Harry grinned, "even when I try putting as little power as possible into simple healing spells, they're too powerful."

**he used a large wad of toilet paper to mop up as much of the tea as he could, before returning to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.**

"Wow, angry teenager alert." James sniggered quietly, looking pointedly at Remus, while also wondering where Sirius was and why he wasn't reading with them.

**Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school trunk for the first time since he had packed it six years ago.**

"Typical behaviour of a teenage boy." Daphne giggled.

"It's not just teenage boys who are that lazy." Hermione snorted.

"Too true." Draco grimaced.

**At the start of the intervening school years, he had merely skimmed off the topmost three quarters of the contents and replaced or updated them, leaving a layer of general debris on the bottom – old quills, desiccated beetle eyes, single socks that no longer fit. **

"That's disgusting." Millicent muttered, "but then again, he is a teenage boy."

"You should clean your trunk every year." Mrs Weasley said, "then you wouldn't have quite so much rubbish to deal with."

"She's right." Lily and Dorea nodded, eliciting rolled eyes from most of the males in the hall, as well as some of the less-girly girls.

**Minutes previously, Harry had plunged his hand into this mulch, experienced a stabbing pain the fourth finger of his right hand, and withdrawn it to see a lot of blood.**

"Well, that's not good." Minerva muttered.

**He now proceeded a little more cautiously.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE." Mad-Eye Moody bellowed.

"How did I know you were going to do that?" Tonks asked, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"It's his catchphrase." Harry grinned.

**Kneeling down beside the trunk again, he groped around in the bottom and, after retrieving an old badge that flickered between _SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY_ and _POTTER STINKS_, **

"I still can't understand why you kept that." Ron muttered.

"It was the one I threw at you, I don't know how it ended up in my trunk." Harry shrugged, "and you may have noticed that I'm a bit of a pack-rat."

"We Potters do seem to be pack-rats." Charlus said.

"Yeah, I did notice that most of the stuff in the safe in your study is utter crap. And I do mean crap. There were about fifty pairs of broken glasses in it." Remus nodded.

"Did you throw them away?" Bill asked with a grin.

"I wasn't allowed." Remus grumbled, reaching round and smacking James on the back of the head, "James said that nothing that could possibly be used would be thrown away. I still don't know how on earth he could think that half a pair of glasses would be useful, but he wouldn't throw them away."

"Strange man." Dean muttered quietly while looking at James worriedly.

**a cracked and worn-out Sneakoscope, and a gold locket inside which a note signed R.A.B. had been hidden, **

"Who's R.A.B?" Dennis asked curiously.

"You'll find out." Harry replied, trying to refrain from glancing at the end of the table, where Regulus was sitting, because he didn't want to give the game away. Regulus raised an eyebrow at Hermione and Draco, wondering if he was right in thinking that he was the one who had written that note.

**he finally discovered the sharp edge that had done the damage.**

**He recognized it at once. It was a two-inch long fragment of the enchanted mirror that his dead godfather, Sirius, had given him.**

"Sirius is dead?" James and Lily yelled incredulously, while Remus broke down in tears. Even Orion was less-than-happy at the mention of Sirius' supposed death.

"He died at the end of the last school year." Albus sighed sadly, "he fell through the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries."

"Actually, we found out that the Veil doesn't kill those who fall through it." Harry said, "it is a device known as a Stargate, which transports objects and people to another Stargate, like the Floo."

"So where did he end up?" Scrimgeour asked.

"A planet we know as P3A-194, but the inhabitants call it Volia." Hermione replied, "it's currently part of something known as the Aschen Confederation, though it won't be if we have anything to say about it."

"Why?" Minerva wondered.

"Because the Aschen are a less-than friendly race, using viruses and sterilisation to conquer the planets they want." Ron sighed, "when we first came across them, we planned on providing them with access to our technology in exchange for them aiding us in any confrontations with the Goa'uld."

"Unfortunately, what they wanted, wasn't access to our technology, but Stargate addresses, which would have allowed them to find more planets to conquer." Daphne added with a grimace.

"Merlin, that sounds horrible." Flitwick whispered.

**Harry laid it aside and felt cautiously around the trunk for the rest, but nothing more remained of his godfather's last gift except powdered glass, which clung to the deepest layer of debris like glittering grit.**

"I can't believe you didn't open it." Remus said, "he gave it to you at Christmas."

"I was not going to give him any reason to leave the safety of his house." Harry snorted.

"You could have just talked." Remus pointed out, "that would have been untraceable, unlike the Floo."

**Harry sat up and examined the jagged piece on which he had cut himself, seeing nothing but his own bright green eye reflected back at him.**

"Lily's eyes." Snape mumbled quietly while Lily smiled at her son, glad that he had inherited something of hers.

**Then he placed the fragment on top of that morning's _Daily Prophet_, which lay unread on the bed, and attempted to stem the sudden upsurge of bitter memories, the stabs of regret and of longing the discovery of the broken mirror had occasioned, by attacking the rest of the rubbish in the trunk.**

"So you're blaming yourself for something that in all likely-hood isn't even your fault." Remus sighed.

"It partly was." Harry grimaced, "I didn't take into account his lack of common sense when I was helping plan out the mission."

"Yes, when duelling someone as talented as Bellatrix, you do not taunt her and say 'is that the best you can do?'" Lucius snorted, "if he'd taken that duel a bit more, oh Merlin, seriously, then he wouldn't have been caught off guard."

"If he was here, he would say that he always takes things Siriusly." Regulus groaned.

"That joke is far too old to be funny any more." Orion mumbled.

**It took another hour to empty it completely, throw away the useless items, and sort the remainder into piles according to whether or not he would need them from now on. His school and Quidditch robes, cauldron, parchment, quills, and most of his textbooks were piled in a corner, to be left behind.**

"What do you mean?" Mrs Weasley screamed, "why aren't you packing to return to Hogwarts?"

"Because I had a job to do, and I wouldn't have been able to do it if I was stuck in Hogwarts." Harry replied, rolling his eyes at Mrs Weasley's over-reaction, though he did know that his own mother was less-than-pleased about him dropping out.

"I don't think he would have been able to return anyway." Draco sighed, "just before the beginning of the school year, Harry was declared the most wanted man in the wizarding world, with a ten thousand galleon price on his head."

"That's a strangely low figure." Charlus snorted, "one of our investments makes that much interest in one day."

"Unfortunately, the Ministry is not filthy rich." Kingsley laughed, "and I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort's take-over hadn't seriously depleted the coffers."

"From what we found out during the clean-up, they were." Hermione nodded, "after the Death Eater trials, the few who were not given the death sentence were ordered to pay fines, which did help, but even so, taxes had to increase for a few months after the war. Voldemort almost bankrupted the Ministry, with all his new policies, and it did take a while for the Ministry finances to recover."

"Bloody hell." Moody growled.

**He wondered what his aunt and uncle would do with them; burn them in the dead of night, probably, as if they were evidence of some dreadful crime. **

"Well, they didn't." Harry sniggered, "the Walrus might have insisted on it, if he hadn't been killed a year after the war ended."

**His Muggle clothing, Invisibility Cloak,**

"You have an invisibility cloak?" Scrimgeour asked, "those are very rare."

"He probably stole it." Smith grunted, still smarting about how Potter had sneered at him and taken Malfoy's side earlier in the day.

"No, he didn't." Charlus snapped, "that cloak has been in the Potter family for centuries. It has been passed down from son to son since the third Edward Potter inherited it from his mother in the thirteen-hundreds."

"Impossible." Mad-Eye muttered, "invisibility cloaks don't last that long."

"That one has." Draco grinned, "you'll find out why later."

**potion-making kit, certain books, the photograph album Hagrid had once given him, a stack of letters, and his wand had been repacked into an old rucksack.**

"Don't put your wand there, you'll need it." Mad-Eye shouted, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

"Mind the ears, Alastor." Kingsley Shacklebolt grimaced as he and Slughorn stuck fingers in their ears and wiggled them around slightly.

**In a front pocket were the Marauder's Map and the locket with the note signed 'R.A.B.' inside it.**

"Am I right in thinking that I'm this R.A.B who wrote that note?" Regulus asked.

"Wait and see." Ron grinned.

"I'll take that as a yes." Regulus snorted.

**The locket was accorded this place of honour not because it was valuable – in all usual senses it was worthless – but because of what it had cost to attain it.**

"What did it cost?" Megan Jones, a sixth year Hufflepuff asked.

"A life." Harry replied.

"Is that why the chapter is called In Memoriam?" Dennis asked.

"Yes." Hermione said.

**This left a sizeable stack of newspapers sitting on his desk beside his snowy owl, Hedwig; one for each of the days Harry had spent at Privet Drive this summer.**

**He got up off the floor, stretched, and moved across to his desk. Hedwig made no movement as he began to flick through the newspapers, throwing them onto the rubbish pile one by one. The owl was asleep, or else faking; she was angry with Harry about the limited amount of time she was allowed out of her cage at the moment.**

"She really is a gorgeous owl." Lavender and Parvati sighed.

**As he neared the bottom of the pile of newspapers, Harry slowed down, searching for one particular issue that he knew had arrived shortly after he returned to Privet Drive for the summer; he remembered that there had been a small mention on the front about the resignation of Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts.**

Everyone, apart from Slughorn, who had read ahead and was trying not to show that he was slightly worried about the outcome of the war, bowed their heads in sorrow at the mention of the poor woman who had been killed in the previous chapter.

**Turning to page ten, he sank into his desk chair and reread the article he had been looking for.**

_**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE REMEMBERED **_

"NO!" The staff, students and Order members yelled. Even Snape was grieving, wondering who had killed the man he thought of as a father.

"Point me in the direction of his killer and I will avenge his death." Snape said, not bothering to hide the tears that were streaming down his cheeks, nor did he bother to keep his voice down, so everyone heard him. In his grief, he didn't realise that he had been forced to fulfil both the Unbreakable vow that he had given Narcissa, and the Wizard's oath that he had given Albus, which meant that he himself was the one who cast the curse that killed his mentor.

"It's not that easy old friend." Lucius sighed, "you'll understand why later in the book."

"I'll hold you to that." Snape muttered, staring fiercely at the blond.

"I would suggest that no one interrupts the reading of the article, that way we can get through it quicker." Harry said, using a Sonorus charm to make himself heard.

"A very good idea." Albus nodded.

_**(article removed,** **refer to original book if you want to read it)**_

_**... He died as he lived: working always for he greater good and, to his last hour, as willing to stretch out a hand to a small boy with dragon pox as he was on the day that I met him. **_

There were hardly any dry eyes in the great hall at the end of the article, with those who absolutely hated Albus being the only ones not in tears. Even the people who had already known about his death were crying, because they felt that the death of such a great wizard, was a huge loss to the world.

"Merlin, how is the world going to survive without him?" Lily whispered through her tears.

"You'll see." Hermione replied, slightly wetly.

**Harry finished reading but continued to gaze at the picture accompanying the obituary. Dumbledore was wearing his familiar kindly smile, but as he peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles, he gave the impression, even in newsprint, of X-raying Harry, whose sadness mingled with a sense of humiliation.**

"I felt like that whenever I spoke to him, or saw his portrait." Lucius said, wiping the tears from his face.

"Wow, you really are different. Last time I saw you you sneered at us" George said, staring at the blond in amazement.

"I know, and I am so sorry." Lucius said, sounding slightly broken, "I had a role to play, and I hated every minute of it."

"Interesting." Fred whistled, while James, who had not fully believed that Lucius wasn't a loyal Death Eater, now came to understand just what the man had sacrificed to try and help end the war.

**He had thought he knew Dumbledore quite well, but ever since reading this obituary he had been forced to recognize that he had barely known him at all.**

"You know him better than most." Ron said, "and there are very few who know him better than you."

**Never once had he imagined Dumbledore's childhood or youth; it was as though he had sprung into being as Harry had known him, venerable and silver-haired and old.**

"That's what I thought." Remus grinned.

"Oh lordy." Draco groaned, banging his head against the table, "I don't think having Remus babysit Rax and Akasha was a very good idea."

"Too bad." Harry smirked, "we couldn't have Samson's parents babysit them as well as Al, Tarquinia and Titania. That would have been even more of a recipe for disaster. And besides, can you imagine how Cassie and Teddy would have reacted if their best friends hadn't been allowed to stay with them occasionally?"

"Good point." Draco sighed.

"Who are you talking about?" Charlus asked.

"Some of my half-siblings." Draco replied.

"Five of the eighteen." Harry sniggered, "as well as Tonks and Remus' two children."

"Yeah." Draco nodded, "I've got eighteen half-siblings, sixteen on Dad's side, two on Mum's."

"Wow." Sirius whistled, "your Dad must have been busy."

"I think he was." Draco smirked, watching Lucius go pink in embarrassment, "either that or he forgot the contraceptive charms."

"Oh dear." Remus murmured.

"Did their poor mother have to give birth to eight sets of twins or something?" Bill asked worriedly, remembering what his mum had been like when Fred and George were born, and not wanting to imagine what woman would be willing to go through that eight times.

"Nope." Draco grinned.

"So how on earth was she able to have sixteen children?" Fred squeaked.

"You seem to be working under the misconception that I'm straight." Lucius commented, still very pink in the cheeks.

"Oh, so who's the lucky bloke?" Seamus asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Lucius replied, knowing that he was just making everyone who didn't already know extremely curious.

"I didn't think males could get pregnant." Blaise frowned.

"They can if they have creature blood, or are married to someone with creature blood, especially Veela." Bill smiled, having researched creatures when he started going out with Fleur, who was part-Veela, "there are a few male Veela around, and occasionally their soul-mates are too, therefore the Veela magic allows both to become pregnant. That is so male Veela can have families if their soul-mate is male too."

"And of course, being a Malfoy, I am part Veela." Lucius added.

"So you have a destined soul-mate." Ginny surmised.

"Indeed." Lucius nodded.

"And again I ask, who's the lucky bloke?" Seamus asked.

"Wait and see." Lucius snorted, "you will find out later."

**The idea of a teenage Dumbledore was simply odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

"I think the word you're looking for there, is impossible." Draco grinned, "the idea of Hermione ever being stupid, is so ridiculous that it just can't happen."

**He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. No doubt it would have felt strange, impertinent even, but after all, it had been common knowledge that Dumbledore had taken part in that legendary duel with Grindelwald, and Harry had not thought to ask Dumbledore what that had been like, nor about any of his other famous achievements.**

"I find it hard to talk about them." Albus whispered, closing his eyes to hide the immense pain he was in.

**No, they had always discussed Harry, Harry's past, Harry's future, Harry's plans … and it seemed to Harry now, despite the fact that his future was so dangerous and so uncertain, that he had failed to ask Dumbledore more about himself, even though the only personal question he had ever asked his headmaster was also the only one he suspected that Dumbledore had not answered honestly:**

"_**What do you see when you look in the mirror?"**_

"_**I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."**_

"What mirror?" Padma Patil, Parvati's twin sister, asked.

"The Mirror of Erised." Hermione replied, "it shows what people want most, whether it's possible or not."

"It's an extremely dangerous artefact, that should never have been created." Orion added, speaking for the first time in a while, having not had much desire to randomly comment on anything.

"Indeed." Scrimgeour nodded, now knowing how he could begin to get Harry on his side and solidify the Ministry's power, "what do you suggest we do with it?"

"Destroy it." Harry replied, "as soon as possible."

"A wise suggestion." Dorea agreed.

**After several minutes' thought, Harry tore the obituary out of the Prophet, folded it carefully, and tucked it inside the first volume of _Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts._ **

**Then he threw the rest of the newspaper onto the rubbish pile and turned to face the room. It was much tidier.**

"Wow, you really were working hard that day, if your room is that tidy." Hermione giggled.

"I had nothing else to do." Harry snorted, "and besides, I wanted to be as prepared as possible for our mission."

"Harry, you work better when you _don't_ plan." Draco sniggered, "your plans have a tendency to fail, explosively."

**The only things left out of place were today's _Daily Prophet, _still lying on the bed, and on top of it, the piece of broken mirror.**

**Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today's _Prophet_, and unfolded the newspaper. He had merely glanced at the headline when he had taken the rolled-up newspaper from the delivery owl early that morning and thrown it aside, after noting that it said nothing about Voldemort. Harry was sure that the Ministry was leaning on the _Prophet_ to suppress news about Voldemort. **

"That's not surprising." Remus sighed.

"We don't want to cause a panic." Percy said, "that would be detrimental to any attempt at mounting a defence against him, and more innocents would be killed."

"But if people don't know how bad the situation is, then they won't be prepared." Tonks pointed out, "I may be in the minority, but I'd want the truth, so I could prepare."

"I agree." Harry nodded, "while ignorance may be bliss, knowledge is power, and I for one, would rather have the knowledge than the ignorance."

**It was only now, therefore, that he saw what he had missed.**

**Across the bottom half of the front page a smaller headline was set over a picture of Dumbledore striding along looking harried: _Dumbledore – The Truth At Last__?_**

"Undoubtedly it's going to be one of the most ridiculous stories, written by Rita Skeeter." Minerva harrumphed.

"Oh it was indeed, but there was quite a lot of truth mixed in with the lies." Harry nodded.

"I remember Alfred complaining about her in the summer after his fifth year." Charlus said, "she was year below him, and stuck her nose into everyone's business. Not even her house-mates liked her, which makes me glad she wasn't a Gryffindor."

"What house was she in?" Blaise asked.

"I'll give you a clue." Lucius said, "she shared a dorm with Bellatrix."

"That doesn't really help." Theo grumbled.

"Here's another clue." Regulus grinned, "Sirius is the only Black in history, who didn't get sorted into the house of green and silver."

"That means Skeeter was a Slytherin." Pansy shrieked in horror, "oh Merlin."

_**Coming next week, the shocking story of the flawed genius considered by many to be the greatest wizard of his generation. Stripping away the popular mage of serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter reveals the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, the life-long feuds, and the guilty secrets that Dumbledore carried to his grave. WHY was the man tipped to be Minister of Magic content to remain a mere headmaster? WHAT was the real purpose of the secret organization known as the Order of the Phoenix? HOW did Dumbledore really meet his end?**_

_**The answers to these, and many more questions are explored in the explosive new biography, **_**The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore****_, by Rita Skeeter, exclusively interviewed by Betty Braithwaite, page 13, inside._**

"Merlin." Snape whistled, "I had thought Skeeter was bad enough two years ago, but she seems to have got worse."

**Harry ripped open the paper and found page thirteen. The article was topped with a picture showing another familiar face: a woman wearing jewelled glasses with elaborately curled blonde hair, her teeth bared in what was clearly supposed to be a winning smile, wiggling her fingers up at him. **

"Ugly bug." Hermione muttered.

**Doing his best to ignore this nauseating image, Harry read on.**

"Why bother, you know she's a compulsive liar and will irritate you?" Remus said.

"I wanted to find out just what kind of rubbish she was writing." Harry shrugged, "but you're right, that entire article pissed me off."

_**In person, Rita Skeeter is much warmer and softer than her famously ferocious quill-portraits might suggest.**_

"On what planet?" George asked.

"The woman's nothing but a horrible lying cow." Fred agreed.

"Yes, but sadly, there was a lot of truth in what she wrote, though she twisted it to suit her own needs." Daphne said.

_**Greeting me in the hallway of her cosy home, she leads me straight into the kitchen for a cup of tea, a slice of pound cake and, it goes without saying, a steaming vat of freshest gossip.**_

"_**Well, of course Dumbledore is a biographer's dream," says Skeeter. "Such a long, full life. I'm sure my book will be the first of very, very many."**_

"And I would hope that at least a few of the others would be accurate." Minerva hissed, sounding a lot like her animagus form.

"One of them definitely was." Harry said, "we managed to persuade Aberforth to write one. It took a while for him to agree, but he did eventually. He wanted the truth to be known, not the fiction Skeeter wrote."

_**Skeeter was certainly quick off the mark. Her nine-hundred-page book was completed a mere four weeks after Dumbledore's mysterious death in June. I asked her how she managed this super-fast feat.**_

"It's easy when you take a few grains of truth, and mix them in with a lot of lies." Caruso snorted.

"_**Oh, when you've been a journalist as long as I have, working on a deadline is second nature. I knew that the Wizarding world was clamouring for the full story and I wanted to be the first to meet that need."**_

_**I mentioned the recent, widely publicized remarks of Elphias Doge, Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and long-standing friend of Albus Dumbledore's, that "Skeeter's book contains less fact than a Chocolate Frog card."**_

"Good old Elphias." Remus muttered.

_**Skeeter throws back her head and laughs.**_

"_**Darling Dodgy! I remember interviewing him a few years back about merpeople rights, bless him. Completely gaga, seemed to think we were sitting at the bottom of Lake Windermere, kept telling me to watch out for trout."**_

"I'm pretty sure he was calling her an interfering trout." Draco sniggered.

"She's more of a bug." Harry grinned, "one that needs to be squashed."

"Good luck with that." Alicia Spinnet giggled.

_**And yet Elphias Doge's accusations of inaccuracy have been echoed in many places. Does Skeeter really feel that four short weeks have been long enough to gain a full picture of Dumbledore's long and extraordinary life?**_

"_**Oh, my dear," beams Skeeter, rapping me affectionately across the knuckles, "you know as well as I do how much information can be generated by a fat bag of galleons, a refusal to hear the word 'no', and a nice sharp Quick-Quotes Quill!**_

"A lot more can be generated by taking a few facts and making up a story to fit them." Harry growled.

_**People were queuing to dish the dirt on Dumbledore anyway. Not everyone thought he was so wonderful, you know – he trod on an awful lot of important toes. But old Dodgy Doge can get off his high Hippogriff, because I've had access to a source most journalists would swap their wands for, one who has never spoken in public before and who was close to Dumbledore during the most turbulent and disturbing phase of his youth."**_

_**The advance publicity of Skeeter's biography has certainly suggested there will be shocks in store for those who believe Dumbledore to have led a blameless life. What were the biggest surprises she uncovered, I ask?**_

"_**Now, come off it, Betty. I'm not giving away all the highlights before anyone's bought the book!" laughs Skeeter. "But I can promise that anyone who still thinks Dumbledore was white as his beard is in for a rude awakening! Let's just say that nobody hearing him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth!**_

"That's a lie." Flitwick snapped.

Albus closed his eyes, knowing that it wasn't a lie, but he couldn't bring himself to deny it.

"It must be true, he's not denying it." Pansy said, cocking her head to one side. Apart from being one of the students whose father supported the Dark Lord, but couldn't actually stand him herself, she was also one of the students who respected the headmaster deeply, but understood that he was only human and therefore couldn't be expected to be perfect.

"Just because someone does things they regret in their youth, does not mean they can't change." Hermione snorted, glaring at Pansy.

"I know that." Pansy shrugged, "but look at it logically, if it wasn't true, then he would deny it, but he's not, so it has to be true."

"She's using logic." Draco whispered in fake horror, staring at the enchanted ceiling, almost as if he expected it to fall down.

"I can be logical." Pansy smirked, "the hat did say I could have gone to Ravenclaw."

"Why didn't you?" Lily asked.

"My father." Pansy sighed, "he'd have punished me if I didn't get into Slytherin."

_**And for the wizard who spent his later years pleading for tolerance, he wasn't exactly broad-minded when he was younger! Yes, Albus Dumbledore had an extremely murky past, not to mention that very fishy family, which he worked so hard to keep hushed up.**_

"Every man has a right to privacy, even the famous ones." Ginny snarled, fingering her wand as if she wanted to find Rita Skeeter and hex her.

_**I asked whether Skeeter is referring to Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, whose conviction by the Wizengamot for misuse of magic caused a minor scandal fifteen years ago.**_

"_**Oh, Aberforth is just the tip of the dung heap," laughs Skeeter.**_

"_**No, no, I'm talking about much worse than a brother with a fondness for fiddling about with goats, worse even than the Muggle-maiming father – Dumbledore couldn't keep them quiet anyway, they were both charged by the Wizengamot. No, it's the mother and the sister that intrigued me, and a little digging uncovered a positive nest of nastiness – but, as I say, you'll have to wait for chapters nine to twelve for full details. All I can say now is, it's no wonder Dumbledore never talked about how his nose got broken."**_

_**Family skeletons notwithstanding, does Skeeter deny the brilliance that led to Dumbledore's many magical discoveries?**_

"_**He had brains," she concedes, "although many now question whether he could really take full credit for all of his supposed achievements. As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon's blood when Dumbledore 'borrowed' his papers."**_

"Percy, please remind me that the _Prophet_ needs to clean up its act." Scrimgeour said

"Of course." Percy nodded, making a note on a small piece of parchment. "It will be difficult though, the Ministry only holds twenty-five percent shares, I don't know who holds the rest."

"The Black, Potter and Malfoy families each hold twenty-five percent." Charlus said, having overheard, "you'll have to talk to Harry, Lucius and whoever currently holds the Black Lordship. You shouldn't have too many problems, none of us really likes the _Prophet_."

"Thank you." Percy smiled.

_**But the importance of some of Dumbledore's achievements cannot, I venture, be denied. What of his famous defeat of Grindelwald?**_

"_**Oh, now I'm glad you mentioned Grindelwald," says Skeeter with a tantalizing smile. "I'm afraid those who go dewy-eyed over Dumbledore's spectacular victory must brace themselves for a bombshell – or perhaps a Dungbomb. Very dirty business indeed. All I say is, don't be so sure that there really was the spectacular duel of legend. After they've read my book, people may be forced to conclude that Grindelwald simply conjured a white handkerchief from the end of his wand and came quietly!"**_

"Is she seriously suggesting what I think she's suggesting?" Ginny growled angrily.

"If you think she's suggesting that the duel didn't happen and that the witnesses were all memory-charmed to believe that it did, then it sounds like you're right." James replied, barely controlling his own anger.

"Well, that's stupid." Ginny grumbled.

_**Skeeter refuses to give any more on this intriguing subject, so we turn instead to the relationship that will undoubtedly fascinate her readers more than any other.**_

"_**Oh yes," says Skeeter, nodding briskly. I devote an entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship.**_

"Yes, and the whole thing is a pack of lies." Hermione snarled.

_**It's been called unhealthy, even sinister.**_

"How is thinking that he's the grandson I never had, sinister?" Albus asked quietly, making sure that the only people who heard him were Flitwick and Minerva.

"Who knows?" Minerva sighed tiredly.

_**Again, your readers will have to buy my book for the whole story, but there is no question that Dumbledore took an unnatural interest in Potter from the word go. Whether that was really in the best boy's interests – well, well see. It's certainly an open secret that Potter has had a most troubled adolescence." I ask whether Skeeter is still in touch with Harry Potter, whom she so famously interviewed last year: a breakthrough piece in which Potter spoke exclusively of his conviction that You-Know-Who had returned. "Oh, yes, we've developed a close bond," says Skeeter. **_

"I can't stand that bitch." Harry snorted, "I wouldn't go near her with a ten-foot broomstick, even if someone paid me."

"I'm not surprised" Abraxas sniggered.

"_**Poor Potter has few real friends, and we met at one of the most testing moments of his life – the Triwizard Tournament. I am probably one of the only people alive who can say that they know the real Harry Potter."**_

"He's my best friend, and I can't even say I know the real him." Hermione giggled.

_**Which leads us neatly to the many rumours still circulating about Dumbledore's final hours. Does Skeeter believe that Potter was there when Dumbledore died?**_

"Of course you were." Remus sighed, "knowing your luck."

"Yes, I was, he stuck me in a full body-bind while I was under the invisibility cloak, so I saw exactly what happened." Harry snorted mirthlessly.

"Why were you using the cloak?" Charlus asked.

"We'd just been away from the school, and he didn't want anyone finding out where we were going, or that I was there." Harry shrugged, "you'll find out where and why later."

"_**Well, I don't want to say too much – it's all in the book – but eyewitnesses inside Hogwarts castle saw Potter running away from the scene moments after Dumbledore fell, jumped, or was pushed.**_

"I can't believe she's making it seem as though _you_ were the one to kill him." James snarled.

_**Potter later gave evidence, against Severus Snape, a man against whom he has a notorious grudge.**_

"You murderer." Most of the people in the hall screamed, standing up and aiming their wands at the potions master.

The only people who didn't stand up or scream were those who knew the truth, those who hated the headmaster, and Lily, who wasn't entirely sure _what_ to believe. What she did know was that she would be gaining a lot of grey hairs before the book was finished, especially with the way the first two chapters were going.

The moment curses started flying at Snape, a solid blue shield appeared, and all the curses splashed harmlessly against it, causing everyone to look around for the source. Most assumed that Albus himself had cast it, but when they noticed that he also looked confused, they searched a bit more, until they saw the utterly furious expression on Harry's face. They were all terrified when they realised that he was literally glowing with power.

"Sit." Harry said quietly, his voice reverberating around the hall, "do you not remember the fact that he was grieving when he heard that the headmaster was dead? Does the fact that he wanted to avenge the headmaster's death mean nothing to you? Not everything is as it seems, and you would do well to not judge until the end."

"But he's the one that killed the headmaster." Smith yelled incredulously.

Before anyone could move, Harry stood up and punched Smith as hard as he could, breaking the blond's nose again and knocking him to the floor.

"Listen very closely." Harry said, "if Professor Snape was a murderer, I would not be able to trust the man with my life. So, stay seated, let us continue the book, and you will find out just what happened."

As Harry returned to his seat, Lily leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear, "wow, he's scary."

"He's Harry." Hermione giggled.

"Wait a minute." Seamus said, "if Professor Snape did kill Professor Dumbledore, and you don't consider it murder, what do you consider it?"

"Assisted suicide." Harry replied, "or giving a dying man a dignified death. Professor Dumbledore was already dying, and he had decided that he would prefer to have Professor Snape use the killing curse than to suffer the long, drawn-out and painful death he would have had."

"What was wrong with him?" Minerva asked, all her attention on the black-haired boy sitting at the middle table, who held the answer to the problem of how Albus had injured his hand.

"A curse that doesn't have a name." Harry said, "not one that can be pronounced anyway. It was an Egyptian curse, and if he had decided to let it run its course, then he would have effectively been mummified, from the inside out. His hand is already well on its way to being mummified."

"That's horrible." The Ravenclaws and Lily whispered, while Bill went through every Egyptian curse he knew, trying to find out which one Harry was talking about.

"It truly is." Bill said, when he had worked it out, "the Egyptians were nasty people. I've seen what happens to someone who's inflicted with that curse, and it is one of the worst and most painful ways to die, because that curse cannot be cured, it can only be slowed down."

"Merlin." Flitwick muttered.

_**Is everything as it seems? That is for the Wizarding community to decide – once they've read my book."**_

_**On that intriguing note, I take my leave. There can be no doubt that Skeeter has quilled an instant best-seller. Dumbledore's legion of admirers, meanwhile, may well be trembling at what is soon to emerge about their hero.**_

"What a load of utter rubbish." Minerva snapped.

"Sadly, like most of what Skeeter writes, there are nuggets of truth." Harry said quietly.

**Harry reached the bottom of the article, but continued staring at the page. Revulsion and fury rose in him like vomit; **

"It sounds like you respect him." Ernie said.

"I do, Professor Dumbledore is a great man, and he has earned our respect." Harry shrugged.

"He definitely has, but we must remember that he is human, and therefore can make mistakes." Charlus nodded.

**he balled up the newspaper and threw it, with all his force, at the wall, where it joined the rest of the rubbish heaped around his overflowing bin.**

**He began to stride blindly around the room, opening drawers and picking up books only to replace them on the same piles, barely conscious of what he was doing, as random phrases from Rita's article echoed in his head: _An entire chapter to the whole Potter – Dumbledore relationship … It's been called, unhealthy, even sinister … He dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth … I've had access to a source most journalists would give their wands for …_**

"Who is the source?" Minerva asked, "and why would anyone willingly talk to a journalist like her?"

"You'll find out." Hermione sighed, "what Skeeter did to that poor old lady, it's disgusting."

"Unfortunately, there are only two people who know enough about my youth, and I know that one of them would never want to speak to Miss Skeeter." Albus said sadly, "so, the only person it could possibly have been, is Bathilda Bagshot, an old friend of my mother's."

"She was a friend of my great-grandfather." Charlus whispered in awe, "I was not aware she was still alive. She must be close to a hundred and fifty by now."

"She's actually a hundred and forty." Harry nodded, "and she's not the oldest person around."

"If Uncle Nick and his wife are still around, then I'm sure they are the oldest people alive." Charlus grinned.

"They're both still going." Hermione grinned, "she's now the head of the Department of Mysteries."

"Merlin, what made her change her mind after over six hundred years of saying no to the job?" Dorea asked.

"I haven't a clue." Harry snorted, "she's very tight-lipped about it, but I get the feeling she just said yes because she was fed up of being asked."

"I'm not surprised." Charlus murmured quietly.

"I do hope we will find out who you are talking about eventually." Snape said irritably.

"Of course." Hermione grinned, "though I'm sure some people have already worked it out."

"**Lies!" Harry bellowed, and through the window he sat the next-door neighbour, who had paused to restart his lawn mower, look up nervously.**

**Harry sat down hard on the bed. The broken bit of mirror danced away from him; he picked it up and turned it over in his fingers, thinking, thinking of Dumbledore and the lies with which Rita Skeeter was defaming him …**

**A flash of brightest blue. Harry froze, his cut finger slipping on the jagged edge of the mirror again. He had imagined it, he must have done. He glanced over his shoulder, but the wall was the sickly peach colour of his Aunt Petunia's choosing: **

"Horrible colour." Parvati and Lavender squealed. Pansy looked disgusted as well, and refused to open her mouth, just in case she threw up, like many other people who thought the same.

"Petunia is, unfortunately, a stereotypical blonde." Lily groaned, "she never has been able to figure out that not everybody likes the same colours as she does."

**there was nothing blue there for the mirror to reflect. He peered into the mirror fragment again, and saw nothing but his own bright green eye looking back at him.**

**He had imagined it, there was no other explanation; imagined it, because he had been thinking of his dead headmaster. If anything was certain, it was that the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore would never pierce him again.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Slughorn said, "who would like to read next?"

"I would like to read." Flitwick said, levitating the book towards himself and settling into his seat.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Three **

"**The Dursleys Departing**," Flitwick read.

**The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the stairs and a voice roared, "Oi! You!"**

"Here we go." Harry mumbled, not wanting to remember how painful it had been watching his aunt beaten down emotionally by Vernon.

**Sixteen years of being addressed thus **

"Does he ever use your name?" Lily asked angrily.

"Not often." Harry replied, "I'm not even certain he knows it."

"I told you." Minerva hissed, rounding on Albus who had lost the twinkle in his eyes, "I told you it wasn't the best place for him."

"Let's just read on." Harry sighed, "there is nothing that can be done, not right now anyway."

"So what does he call you?" James growled.

"Usually boy, or freak if he's in a bad enough mood." Harry shrugged while Snape closed his eyes and tried not to lose his cool, "or when he's drunk."

**left Harry in no doubt when his uncle was calling, nevertheless, he did not immediately respond. He was still at the narrow fragment in which, for a split second, he had thought he saw Dumbledore's eye. It was not until his uncle bellowed, "BOY!"**

"Despicable behaviour." Pansy muttered quietly, remembering what Harry had talked about during their training sessions.

**that Harry got slowly out of bed and headed for the bedroom door, pausing to add the piece of broken mirror to the rucksack filled with things he would be taking with him.**

"What's the point?" Blaise asked curiously.

"I thought I saw Professor Dumbledore's eye in it." Harry shrugged.

"**You took you time!" roared Vernon Dursley when Harry appeared at the top of the stairs, "Get down here. I want a word!"**

**Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his jeans pockets. When he searched the living room he found all three Dursleys. They were dressed for travelling: Uncle Vernon in a fawn zip-up jacket, Aunt Petunia in a neat, salmon-coloured coat and Dudley, Harry's large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket.**

"Lovely descriptions." George sniggered.

"**Yes?" asked Harry.**

"**Sit down!" said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his eyebrows. "Please!" added Uncle Vernon, wincing slightly as though the word was sharp in his throat.**

"How rude." Mrs Weasley sniffed.

"That was actually Vernon at his politest." Harry snorted, wondering how the students were going to cope with Mrs Weasley's reactions to the more stressful and dangerous parts of the story. "Of course, he was sober at that point."

Mrs Weasley puffed up angrily, but before she could say anything, she was once again silenced, this time by Tonks, who did not want to hear any more screeching, especially after the previous year, when the red-head kept arguing with Sirius about what he should and shouldn't be doing in his own house.

**Harry sat. He thought he knew what was coming.**

"Are you a Seer?" Theo asked.

"No, Vernon Dursley has always been extremely predictable." Harry replied.

**His uncle began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and Dudley, following his movement with anxious expressions. Finally, his large purple face crumpled with concentration. Uncle Vernon stopped in front of Harry and spoke.**

"**I've changed my mind," he said.**

"What a surprise." Tonks said.

"**What a surprise," said Harry.**

"Wow Nymphie, you think like Harry." Regulus sniggered.

"There are worse people to think like, and don't call me Nymphie." Tonks snapped.

"Why not, _Nymphadora_?" Regulus asked cheekily.

"If you do, you'll be hexed." Tonks replied, waving her wand threateningly, "to the moon."

"This is why most people know to never get on the wrong side of a Black woman's temper." Dorea giggled.

"That sounds so like Harry." Remus muttered, "a few people have experienced one of his explosions, and never want to experience another one."

"Harry seems to have a combination of two different, but equally scary tempers." Orion grinned, "his mother's and his grandmother's."

"Oh Merlin, he's inherited my temper." Dorea said with wide eyes.

"That's a scary thought." Lily muttered, knowing how vicious her mother-in-law could get when she was angry.

"And combining that temper with Lily's is an even scarier thought." Remus grimaced, remembering a few times when he had been on the receiving end of a Lily-eruption.

"**Don't you take that tone –" began Aunt Petunia in a shrill voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down.**

"**It's all a lot of claptrap," said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry with piggy little eyes. "I've decided I don't believe a word of it. We're staying put, we're not going anywhere."**

"Why would they be going anywhere?" Eddy Carmichael asked curiously.

"For their safety." Lucius replied, "though I can't see why anyone would want to try and protect Vernon Dursley."

"Nor can I, and I've only heard a little bit about how he treats my sister." Lily agreed.

"It's not just how he treats his wife, but also how he treats his co-workers." Abraxas grimaced, "he works at Grunnings, a company my father helped set up, so we own part of it. According to the people who work for him, he treats them all like dirt, especially his secretary."

"A couple of years ago, he was being considered for a promotion, so Narcissa and I pretended to be prospective clients, to see what he was like from a customer's point of view, and while he appeared to be nice on the surface, the evening was interrupted." Lucius added, "his explanation for why he was keeping a twelve-year-old child hidden was unsatisfactory, and we left as soon as we could. A few days later, we spoke to his neighbours, and not one of them had anything nice to say about him, they all said that he was a pompous bully with no idea of how to be a good parent or person."

"Merlin." James muttered.

"It gets worse." Lucius sighed, "we looked through the company records and found that of the five secretaries that had been working for him, only one of them hadn't been fired after claiming that he had raped them, and that was only because she was sixty-three, and the other four were all between twenty-three and twenty-five."

"So he raped his secretaries, then had them fired when they went to the police about it?" James whispered.

"Exactly." Lucius nodded.

"Did Petunia know about what he did?" Lily asked with a whimper.

"No, he never told her." Harry replied, "she only found out after he was killed by Dolohov, and the police turned up at her door, wanting to know where he was. They'd been investigating the rapes, and thought he'd done a runner, so they questioned her."

"Merlin, poor woman." Dorea murmured quietly.

"Next break, Shacklebolt, message the Yard, they'll want to know about this." Scrimgeour growled, "we may not be able to do anything about him, but that doesn't mean we can't point them in the right direction."

"Yes sir." Kingsley nodded.

"Why would you not be able to do anything?" Lavender asked, not knowing about the limits of the Aurors' powers.

"Because Mr Dursley is non-magical, and so are his victims." Kingsley sighed, "if it was up to me, I would throw him in Azkaban and throw away the key. He deserves nothing less."

"His victims may not be magical, but all four were left pregnant, and the children are all magical." Harry said, "does that help?"

"It might, but I don't know." Kingsley said, "it certainly lets us get more involved, but much depends on what the women want in terms of how involved we can be."

"I understand." Harry nodded, making a mental note to go and find the women his uncle had raped to tell them what was going on, though he only knew who one of them was, so finding out who the other three were would take priority.

**Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every twenty four hours for the past four weeks, packing and unpacking and repacking the car with every change of heart.**

"What a waste of time and effort." Colin said.

**Harry's favourite moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware the Dudley had added his dumbbells to his case since the last time it been repacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and collapsed with a yelp of pain and much swearing.**

"**According to you," Vernon Dursley said, now resuming his pacing up and down the living room, "we – Petunia, Dudley, and I – are in danger. From – from –"**

"**Some of 'my lot' right?" said Harry.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Many students asked incredulously.

"It's how Vernon referred to witches and wizards." Harry replied, "he couldn't stand certain words, especially if they had anything to do with the wizarding world."

"That's insane." Someone said, but no one could tell who, though Harry knew that the person was sitting at the Slytherin table.

"**Well I don't believe it," repeated Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt in front of Harry again. "I was awake half the night thinking it all over, and I believe it's a plot to get the house."**

"What house?" James asked.

"You'll see." Harry sniggered, knowing how similar that question was to his question.

"**The house?" repeated Harry. "What house?"**

"**_This_ house!" shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein his forehead starting to pulse. "_Our_ house! House prices are sky-rocketing around here! You want us out of the way and then you're going to do a bit of hocus pocus and before we know it the deeds will be in your name and –"**

"Honestly, where does he get these strange ideas from?" Hermione asked.

"No idea, and anyway, I already own the place." Harry snorted, "I know they were being paid to look after me, but they should have been paying _me_ for the privilege of living there."

"I knew I recognised where you were living." Charlus said, "the Potters have owned the land Privet Drive is on, since the sixteen-hundreds, everyone who lives there should be paying rent, to one of the accounts we have in the Muggle world."

"As far as I know, the Dursleys are the only ones who didn't mention that they were paying rent, so either they didn't pay it, or they did, but didn't tell me." Harry sighed, "so the rest of the residents don't need to worry too much."

"That's another thing we'll look into when we liaise with the police." Kingsley nodded.

"**Are you out of your mind?" demanded Harry. "A plot to get this house? Are you actually as stupid as you look?"**

"Honestly Harry, I don't know how you managed to stay in control that day." Dorea said, "I'd have exploded already if it were me."

"That means he's like me, letting everything build up before exploding." Charlus snorted.

"**Don't you dare –!" squealed Aunt Petunia, but again Vernon waved her down. Slights on his personal appearance were it seemed as nothing to the danger he had spotted.**

"**Just in case you've forgotten," said Harry, "I've already got a house, my godfather left me one. **

"Did he leave you the Order's HQ?" Snape asked.

"Yes, much to the anger and disappointment of that irritating portrait." Harry sniggered.

"So you didn't manage to get her down?" Fred whined.

"Nope, not until Neville's twenty-first birthday." Hermione giggled.

"Yes, we discovered that while that portrait is protected from pretty much anything, including the explosion from the detonation of Weasley firework in a vat of nitroglycerin, it is not protected from six blokes using it as target practice." Ron laughed, while Mr Weasley made sure his wife was silenced so she couldn't explode at the thought of her children doing something so dangerous, "that was fun."

"Merlin." Snape mumbled, wondering who the six blokes were.

**So why would I want this one? All the happy memories?"**

**There was silence. Harry thought he had rather impressed his uncle with this argument.**

"**You claim," said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace yet again, "that this Lord Thing –"**

"Good name for him." Cygnus sniggered.

"– **Voldemort,"**

Everyone in the hall, bar those who were sitting at the middle table & Albus, flinched at the name.

"It's only a name." Harry shouted, getting fed up of all the flinching, "he's not going to jump out at you if you say it."

"He's right." Hermione nodded, "besides, every time you avoid saying the name, you're giving him power over you. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Very wise." Albus said.

**said Harry impatiently.**

"**and we've been through this about a hundred times already. This isn't a claim, it's fact. Dumbledore told you last year, and Kingsley and Mr Weasley –"**

**Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and Harry guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward off recollections of the unannounced visit, a few days into Harry's summer holidays, of two fully grown wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most unpleasant shock to the Dursleys. Harry had to admit, however that as Mr Weasley had once demolished half of the living room, **

"You did what?" Mrs Weasley screamed, having taken the silencing charm off herself as soon as her husband had turned back to the book.

"I had to." Mr Weasley whispered, cowed by his wife's fury, "there was no other way to get out of the fireplace. I repaired it once the boys had left."

"If he hadn't, your husband and sons would have been pancakes." Harry said.

"Oh dear." Mrs Weasley sighed.

**his reappearance could not have been expected to delight Uncle Vernon.**

"– **Kingsley and Mr Weasley explained it all as well," Harry pressed on remorselessly, "Once I'm seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I'd come and try to rescue you."**

**Uncle Vernon's and Harry's eyes met. Harry was sure that in that instant they were both wondering the same thing.**

"Would you?" Remus asked, staring at his honorary godson.

"I probably wouldn't have to." Harry snorted, "anyone who captured them would have to put up with Petunia's incessant screeching, so they'd most likely let them go to get away from the noise. I would congratulate anyone who was able to spend more than five minutes listening to her shrill voice without going mad."

"Her voice obviously didn't change in the years since I last saw her." Lily grimaced, "it is one the least pleasant sounds ever."

**Then Uncle Vernon walked on and Harry resumed, "You've got to go into hiding and the Order wants to help. You're being offered serious protection, the best there is."**

**Uncle Vernon said nothing but continued to pace up and down. Outside the sun hung low over the privet hedges. The next door neighbour's lawn mower stalled again.**

"**I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?" asked Vernon Dursley abruptly.**

"**There is," said Harry, surprised.**

"I still can't believe he remembered that." Harry muttered.

"**Well, then, why can't they protect us? It seems to me that, as innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than harbouring a marked man, we ought to qualify for government protection!"**

"Yeah, but sadly for them, they're Muggles, and the ministry doesn't care about the Muggle population." Draco sighed.

**Harry laughed; he could not help himself. It was so very typical of his uncle to put his hopes in the establishment, even within this world that he despised and mistrusted.**

"Very true." Lily sighed, "I never did like Vernon arse Dursley."

"Wow, you swore." James whistled, "you never swear."

"I do occasionally, when the moment calls for it." Lily sniffed.

"**You heard what Mr Weasley and Kingsley said," Harry replied. "We think the Ministry has been infiltrated."**

**Uncle Vernon strode back to the fireplace and back breathing so strongly that his great black moustache rippled his face still purple with concentration.**

"**All right," he said. Stopping in front of Harry get again. "All right, let's say for the sake of argument we accept this protection. I still don't see why we can't have that Kingsley bloke."**

"Congratulations Kingsley." Harry grinned.

"What have I done?" The big black Auror asked in his deep soothing voice, looking thoroughly confused.

"You've done something not many other wizards have done, and that's gained Vernon's trust." Harry sniggered.

"Er … thanks?" Kingsley said, unsure how to respond.

**Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. This question had also been addressed half a dozen times.**

"I would have cursed them by now." Dorea giggled, "especially if the argument occurred as often as it would seem."

"**As I've told you," he said through gritted teeth, "Kingsley is protecting the Mug – I mean, your Prime Minister."**

"Oh lucky you." Tonks giggled.

"**Exactly – he's the best!" said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen. The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle,**

"Of course, my Mum was a Muggle, and she wanted me to know how to cope in that world." Kingsley snorted.

**not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard, although it was true that they had never seen him with his earring in.**

"Next time you visit them, please wear the earring, I would love to see their reactions." Harry grinned.

"Will do." Kingsley nodded with a smirk.

"**Well, he's taken," said Harry. "But Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are more than up to the job –"**

"**If we'd even seen CVs …" began Uncle Vernon, but Harry lost patience. **

"Wow, you were able to remain patient for four weeks?" George asked.

"Yeah, though I don't know how." Harry replied, "I got so frustrated with them constantly changing their minds."

"I'm not surprised." Fay Dunbar said, shocking everyone who was sitting near her. She had rarely spoken outside the Gryffindor common room, and even when the only people around her were her dorm-mates, she was quiet.

**Getting to his feet, he advanced on his uncle, not pointing at the TV set himself.**

"**These accidents aren't accidents – the crashes and explosions and derailments and whatever else has happened since we last watched the news. People are disappearing and dying and he's behind it – Voldemort. I've told you this over and over again, he kills Muggles for fun. Even the fogs – they're caused by Dementors, and if you can't remember what they are, ask your son!"**

"How would Dudley know about Dementors?" Ernie asked suspiciously.

"At the beginning of last year, he and I were attacked by two Dementors." Harry said.

"Merlin." Ernie muttered, "that must have been horrible for him, not being able to see them."

"Indeed." Sprout nodded, glad that at least one of her sixth year badgers understood what it meant to be a Hufflepuff.

**Dudley's hands jerked upward to tower his mouth. With his parents' and Harry's eyes upon him, he slowly lowered them again and asked, "There are … more of them?"**

"**More?" laughed Harry. "More than the two that attacked us, you mean? Of course there are hundreds, maybe thousands by this time, seeing as they feed off fear and despair –"**

"**All right, all right," blustered Vernon Dursley. "You've made your point –"**

"**I hope so," said Harry, "because once I'm seventeen, all of them – Death Eaters, Dementors, maybe even Inferi –**

"It sounds worse than the first war." Scrimgeour said.

"It was a lot worse." Lucius snorted mirthlessly, "for everyone."

**which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark wizard – will be able to find you and will certainly attack you. And if you remember the last time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you'll agree you need help."**

**There was a brief silence in which the distant echo of Hagrid smashing down a wooden front door seemed to reverberate through the intervening years. **

"When did that happen?" James asked.

"When Vernon wasn't allowing me to receive my Hogwarts letter." Harry replied, "he hated magic so much that he forced Petunia to lie to me about what happened in eighty-one."

Albus looked older than ever when he heard that, and resolved to find some way of making things up to the boy he'd failed so badly.

**Aunt Petunia was looking at Uncle Vernon; Dudley was staring at Harry. Finally Uncle Vernon blurted out, "But what about my work? What about Dudley's school? I don't suppose those things matter to a bunch of layabout wizards –"**

"I can't believe he said that." Minerva hissed, "what does he think we are?"

"He thinks we're abominations." Lily sighed sadly, "I'd invited Petunia to our wedding, and he sent a foul reply, saying that we shouldn't be corrupting the world with our freakishness, and that she wouldn't be going anywhere near something as abnormal as a magical wedding."

"**Don't you understand?" shouted Harry. "_They will torture and kill you like they did my parents!"_**

Remus and Snape both shuddered violently, trying to suppress the memories of when they heard that Lily and James were dead.

Most of the students and staff who didn't follow the Dark Lord looked at Harry with pity in their eyes, but he just raised a questioning eyebrow at them, as if to ask, 'why are you looking at me like that?'. Harry's friends who were sent back were the only ones who knew that Harry had already accepted his parents' death and didn't find it difficult to think about.

"Merlin." James murmured, hugging Lily who had broken down and buried her head in his chest, while Dorea and Charlus were trying to stay strong, though they both had a few tears rolling down their cheeks.

"**Dad," said Dudley in a loud voice, "Dad – I'm going with these Order people."**

"**Dudley," said Harry, "for the first time in your life, you're talking sense."**

"That didn't happen often." Harry sniggered, "but then again, he inherited Vernon's stupidity."

**He knew the battle was won. If Dudley was frightened enough to accept the Order's help, his parents would accompany him. There could be no question of being separated from their Diddykins. **

"D-D-D-D-Diddykins?" George asked while Fred, and most of the other people in the hall, had collapsed on the floor in laughter. Even those who were normally considered to be very strict, or were supposed to be more mature, were struggling to contain their amusement.

"That wasn't the worst." Harry sniggered, "she came up with some really crap names for Dudley, including, Dinky Duddydums, Popkin and Sweetums."

"That's awful." Lavender laughed, clutching her sides in an attempt to ease the aching.

"Petunia never has been able to come up with sensible nicknames." Lily giggled, though she was still crying slightly.

**Harry glanced at the carriage clock on the mantelpiece.**

"**They'll be here in about five minutes, he said, and when none of the Dursleys replied, he left the room. The prospect of parting – probably forever – from his aunt, uncle, and cousin was one that he was able to contemplate quite cheerfully but there was nevertheless a certain awkwardness in the air. What did you say to one another at the end of sixteen years' solid dislike?**

"That's horrible." Minerva whispered, "no one should hate their family."

**Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his rucksack then poked a couple of owl nuts through the bars of Hedwig's cage. They fell with thuds to the bottom, where she ignored them.**

Harry clenched his jaw, hating the fact that Hedwig had died while she was angry with him.

"**We're leaving soon, really soon," Harry told her. "And then you'll be able to fly again."**

"No, she won't." Harry whispered sadly.

"I miss that owl." Hermione sighed, "she made everything seem a bit brighter."

**The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back out of his room and downstairs. It was too much to expect Hestia and Dedalus to cope with the Dursleys on their own.**

"Way too much." Draco sniggered, "Dedalus Diggle is … a little excitable."

"That's an understatement." Snape muttered, "he makes me feel tired just looking at him."

"**Harry Potter!" squeaked an excited voice, the moment Harry had opened the door; a small man in a mauve top hat was sweeping him a deep bow. "An honour, as ever!"**

"I shouldn't have told him I remembered him bowing to me when I was seven." Harry grumbled.

"Yes, that was a mistake." Kingsley nodded, "he still talks about it."

"I hope you don't mention the fact that you shook my hand when I was ten, and then walked away without a word." Harry snorted.

"I'd forgotten about that." Kingsley mumbled sheepishly.

"Good." Harry said.

"**Thanks, Dedalus," said Harry, bestowing a small and embarrassed smile upon the dark-haired Hestia. "It's really good of you to do this … they're through here, my aunt and uncle and cousin …"**

"**Good day to you, Harry Potter's relatives!" said Dedalus happily, striding into the living room.**

"I bet they didn't like that." Remus grinned.

"That's a sucker bet." Lily snorted.

**The Dursleys did not look at all happy to be addressed thus; Harry half expected another change of mind. Dudley shrank nearer to his mother at the sight of the witch and wizard.**

"Why did he do that?" Dennis asked.

"Because every time he's come into contact with other wizards, something has happened to him." Harry replied with a smirk, "when I was eleven, Hagrid gave him a pig's tail; in the summer before fourth year, he ate a sweet which enlarged his tongue; and this last summer, he was attacked by Dementors."

"I wish that had all happened to his father." Dorea said flatly.

"Dudley deserved at least some of it." One of the Gryffindor first years yelled, making Harry wonder who he was, "he's great big bully, but he never got into trouble with his parents, even when Mum told them about how he broke my ankle last year. They just said it was my fault, and that I should stop making up stories."

"You are a resident of Little Whinging?" Percy asked curiously.

"Yessir." The first year nodded, "I'm Mark Evans, and I live at number fifteen Magnolia Crescent with my Mum. You can ask her about what he gets up to, she hears all the gossip Mrs Dursley spreads, and won't believe a word of it."

Harry winced, now knowing who Mark Evans was. That little boy was not only the ten-year-old who had been beaten up by Dudley a few weeks before the Dementor attack, but was also the son of one of Vernon Dursley's rape victims, which lead Harry to the conclusion that young Mark was Dudley's half-brother.

"We might just need to do that." Kingsley nodded, knowing that even if the Aurors couldn't get involved in any investigation in the Muggle world, they could most certainly pass as much information as possible to the Muggle police.

"**I see you are packed and ready. Excellent! The plan, as Harry has told you, is a simple one," said Dedalus, pulling an immense pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it. "We shall be leaving before Harry does. Due to the danger of using magic in your house – Harry being still under-age, it could provide the Ministry with an excuse to arrest him –**

"Why?" Seamus asked.

"Because they would want the public to think I'm supporting them, and if people saw me entering the Ministry, then that's the conclusion many would come to." Harry replied, "however, I thought that the Ministry was going about things the wrong way, putting innocent people in Azkaban, and letting the guilty walk free."

"Typical Ministry behaviour." Charlus snorted.

"If we can implement the changes we desperately need to, it won't be typical of the Ministry." Percy said forcefully, "at the moment there are just too many people who sympathise with the Death Eaters, in high positions for those who only want to do their jobs to be able to."

**we shall be driving, say, ten miles or so, before Disapparating to the safe location we have picked out for you. You know how to drive, I take it?" he asked Uncle Vernon politely.**

"Ooh, that was a bad thing to say." Justin Finch-Fletchley muttered from the Hufflepuff table.

"Why?" Blaise asked.

"Because most Muggles, except those who either can't afford to, are disabled in some way, or live in places that are inaccessible to vehicles, know how to drive." Draco replied, causing many to stare at him in astonishment.

"Wow." Justin blinked, "I did not expect you to know that."

"Well, I may have acted like I hate Muggles, but I don't, and decided to learn as much as I could, including how to drive." Draco shrugged, shattering people's perceptions of him completely.

"Yes, and you scare the living daylights out of everyone when you get behind the wheel." Lucius muttered.

Draco grinned unrepentantly, "I can't help the fact that I like going very fast."

"Maybe that's why Warrick had difficulty choosing between you and Sam when he wanted a co-pilot for that Loop of Kon Garat race." Ron sniggered.

"Pity he chose Sam." Draco sighed.

"She knew more about Serrakin technology, having helped him repair his ship while we were trying to keep him safe and his passengers under guard." Harry snorted.

"Who were his passengers, and why were they under guard?" Snape wondered.

"They were criminals, on their way to a penal colony." Hermione replied, "from what we could gather, their home had a peaceful, unified and democratic government, and they didn't like that, so had attempted to assassinate the leaders and bring the government down."

"Incredible." Sprout muttered, "it still amazes me that aliens exist."

"**Know how to –? Of course I ruddy well know how to drive!" spluttered Uncle Vernon.**

"**Very clever of you, sir, very clever, I personally would be utterly bamboozled by all those buttons and knobs," said Dedalus. He was clearly under the impression that he was flattering Vernon Dursley, who was visibly losing confidence in the plan with every word Dedalus spoke.**

"No wonder." Hermione giggled.

"**Can't even drive," he muttered under his breath, his moustache rippling indignantly, but fortunately neither Dedalus nor Hestia seemed to hear him.**

"**You, Harry," Dedalus continued, "will wait here for your guard. There has been a little change in the arrangements –"**

"I hope the new plan is a good one." Lily muttered worriedly.

"It was, it's just a pity that Professor Snape was forced to tell Voldemort about it." Hermione said, "because if he hadn't, Voldemort would have known that he was a spy."

"**What do you mean?" said Harry at once. "I thought Mad-Eye was going to come and take me by Side-Along Apparition?"**

"**Can't do it," said Hestia tersely. "Mad-Eye will explain."**

**The Dursleys, who had listened to all of this with looks of utter incomprehension on their faces, jumped as a loud voice screeched, "_Hurry up!_" Harry looked all around the room before realizing that the voice had issued from Dedalus's pocket watch.**

"Dedalus does have a strange sense of humour." Albus said with a slight smile.

"**Quite right, we're operating to a very tight schedule," said Dedalus, nodding at his watch and tucking it back into his waistcoat. "We are attempting to time your departure from the house with your family's Disapparition, Harry; thus, the charm breaks at the moment you all head for safety." He turned to the Dursleys, "Well, are you all packed and ready to go."**

"Of course, they've been packed for weeks." Colin sniggered.

**None of them answered him. Uncle Vernon was still staring, appalled, at the bulge in Dedalus's waistcoat pocket.**

"What a daft place to stare at." Remus muttered, causing most of the people who heard him to stare at him, while Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco groaned and shook their heads. Mrs Weasley was one of the people who didn't stare or groan, she instead puffed up, ready to scold Remus for saying something so rude in front of children, who she was sure were going to be traumatised by the images. Fortunately for the sanity and hearing of the so-called children, Mr Weasley shook his head, warning her not to shout, while wondering when she was going to realise that all children needed to grow up.

"At least he wasn't staring at anything lower." Cygnus smirked, knowing that he was not only putting a nasty image in everyone's heads, but also confirming his status as a decent bloke who didn't believe in pureblood supremacy.

"Oh that's a horrible image." George grimaced, "a tiny bloke and a blob. Poor Dedalus would get lost in all the rolls of fat."

"Thank you _so_ much George for putting that image in my head." Katie Bell said sarcastically.

"**Perhaps we should wait outside in the hall, Dedalus," murmured Hestia: she clearly felt that it would be tactless for them to remain in the room while Harry and the Dursleys exchanged loving, possibly tearful farewells.**

"**There's no need," Harry muttered, but Uncle Vernon made any further explanation unnecessary by saying loudly, "Well, this is good-bye, then, boy."**

"He has a name." Minerva hissed angrily.

**He swung his right arm upward to shake Harry's hand, but at the last moment seemed unable to face it, and merely closed his fist and began swinging it backward and forward like a metronome.**

"What a coward." Justin growled.

"**Ready, Diddy?" asked Aunt Petunia, fussily checking the clasp of her handbag so as to avoid looking at Harry altogether.**

"That bitch." Mrs Weasley shouted, fed up of keeping her opinion to herself.

**Dudley did not answer, but stood there with his mouth slightly ajar, reminding Harry a little of the giant, Grawp.**

"You know a giant?" Several students screamed incredulously.

"Yep." Harry grinned, not fazed at all.

"Blimey." George muttered, while James, Lily, Charlus and Dorea were shaking their heads and rolling their eyes exasperatedly.

"**Come along, then," said Uncle Vernon.**

**He had already reached the living room door when Dudley mumbled, "I don't understand."**

"**What don't you understand, Popkin?" asked Aunt Petunia, looking up at her son.**

"A lot of things." Bill snorted.

**Dudley raised a large, ham-like hand to point at Harry.**

"**Why isn't he coming with us?"**

"Probably because he doesn't want to." Susan said.

"Yeah, though I also had something to do, and going into hiding with them wasn't part of it." Harry nodded.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina.**

"That's just wrong." Fred said, struggling to not be sick at the thought of Dudley in a tutu.

"Why?" Dennis asked, staring at the red-head in fascination, wondering how it was possible for someone to look quite so green.

"Last I saw, Dudley Dursley was roughly the size of a baby killer whale." Fred replied.

"He got bigger." Harry sniggered, "Dudley grew outwards, about an inch every year."

"That's disgusting." Pansy grimaced.

"It's unhealthy too." Pomfrey nodded, "that boy really should go on a diet."

"His headmistress said the same thing." Harry smirked, "she sent a letter to his parents, saying that not only was he a bully, but the school did not provide clothes big enough to fit him. Petunia denied everything, saying that Dudley wouldn't hurt a fly, and that he was a growing boy who still had puppy-fat."

"Merlin." Dean whistled.

"I hope the diet worked." Pomfrey said.

"Nope." Harry snorted, "the school nurse had sent a list with the letter, showing all of the foods that Dudley was allowed to eat, and even though Petunia made sure that everyone had the same thing, to make him feel better about it, he still got bigger. But that was because over the holidays, he went to his friends' houses and ate junk food, not following the diet at all."

"If he was one of my boys, I would take him over my knee." Mrs Weasley said, causing all six of her sons to fidget uncomfortably, remembering instances when they had been taken over her knee.

"I think most decent mothers would." Orion snorted.

"Our mother wouldn't." Regulus sighed.

"No, but that's because her idea of punishment involved you screaming and writhing under the Cruciatus while I was stuck in a body-bind in the corner." Orion said bitterly, "she did everything she could to make sure that I didn't interfere."

"Are you saying that your wife routinely used an Unforgivable on your sons?" Scrimgeour asked sternly, writing down a list of things to remember to try and do something about.

"Yes." Orion nodded sadly, "she did, she used it on me too, because she blamed me for Sirius' refusal to agree with her beliefs on blood purity."

"That's why he ran away in the summer before sixth year." James added.

"There has to be something we can do to make sure no other child has to go through that." Minerva whispered.

"There is, or there will be, once the Flower Foundation gets set up again." Hermione said.

"The what?" Albus asked.

"The Flower Foundation." Harry replied, "in the time we had our souls sent from, they were the biggest charity in the world, dealing with children from all walks of life, victims of domestic abuse and almost every magical creature imaginable."

"Incredible." Kingsley muttered.

"So what does the Foundation do for those groups?" Minerva asked.

"A lot." Harry grinned, "there was Holly house, the orphanage; The Lily-pad, a safe house for domestic abuse victims; the Full Moon Motel, for werewolves; Sanguine Station, for Vampires; Secret Passion, for Veela; The Wall, for trolls and giants; Tricky Heaven, for pixies and other fairy folk; Waterworld, for merpeople; and Star Palace, for centaurs."

"The good thing was that each place was run by someone who either came from those groups or was close to them." Lucius added, "the Lily-pad was run by a woman who had survived an abusive marriage; the Full Moon Motel was run by a werewolf; Sanguine Station was run by a Vampire called Sanguini; Fleur Delacour's sister Gabrielle ran Secret Passion; I can't remember, for the life of me, who ran The Wall or Tricky Heaven; one of mer-Chieftainess Murcus' children ran Waterworld; and Firenze was in charge of Star Palace."

"Wow, how do you lot know so much about the Foundation?" Flitwick squeaked.

"Apart from the fact that we were the ones who set it up, Petunia was the one who ran the Lily-pad." Harry replied.

"Impressive." Snape whispered, awed by Harry's selflessness.

"**What?" said Uncle Vernon loudly.**

"**Why isn't he coming too?" asked Dudley.**

"**Well, he – he doesn't want to," said Uncle Vernon, turning to glare at Harry and adding, "You don't want to, do you?"**

"Not in the slightest." Dean snorted.

"**Not in the slightest," said Harry.**

"Dude, you think like Harry." Seamus sniggered.

"Damn." Dean muttered.

"**There you are," Uncle Vernon told Dudley. "Now come on, we're off."**

**He marched out of the room. They heard the front door open, but Dudley did not move and after a few faltering steps Aunt Petunia stopped too.**

"**What now?" barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the doorway.**

**It seemed that Dudley was struggling with concepts too difficult to put into words. After several moments of apparently painful internal struggle he said, "But where's he going to go?"**

"Does he actually care, or is it just my imagination?" Mr Weasley asked.

"I'm not sure." Harry shrugged, "he seemed to care that day, and he had definitely changed after returning from their year in hiding, but I'm not sure how much of that was due to spending a year in the presence of Dedalus and Hestia, and how much was due to the Dementors because I hadn't spent much time around him this summer, and stayed in my room during the few weeks before they left."

**Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. It was clear that Dudley was frightening them. Hestia Jones broke the silence.**

"**But … surely you know where your nephew is going?" she asked, looking bewildered.**

"**Certainly we know," said Vernon Dursley. "He's off with some of your lot,**

"_He_ certainly doesn't sound like he cares." Minerva screeched, while Lily, Dorea and many of the other females in the hall glared at Dumbledore.

"I'm not surprised." Lily sighed, "Vernon has always been small-minded and prejudiced."

**isn't he? Right, Dudley, let's get in the car, you heard the man, we're in a hurry."**

**Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front door, but Dudley did not follow.**

"**Off with some of _our_ lot?"**

**Hestia looked outraged. Harry had met this attitude before: witches and wizards seemed stunned that his closest living relatives took so little interest in the famous Harry Potter.**

"Well, yeah." Draco shrugged, "it is shocking."

"**It's fine," Harry assured her. "It doesn't matter, honestly."**

"**Doesn't matter?" repeated Hestia, her voice rising ominously. "Don't these people realize what you've been through? What danger you're in? The unique position you hold in the hearts of the anti-Voldemort movement?"**

"What position?" Dennis asked.

"You'll find out." Harry smiled.

"**Er, no they don't actually," said Harry. "They think I'm a waste of space, actually, but I'm used to –"**

"You shouldn't be used to it." Albus whispered, ashamed of the mistake he made when he put Harry with the Dursleys. This hardened his resolve to offer Harry and his friends full membership of the Order as soon as possible, because he could now see that they weren't children, despite the fact that they were only sixteen physically.

"**I don't think you're a waste of space."**

**If Harry had not seen Dudley's lips move, he might not have believed it. **

"I still didn't believe it." Harry snorted.

**As it was, he stared at Dudley for several seconds before accepting that it must have been his cousin who had spoken; for one thing, Dudley had turned red. Harry was embarrassed and astonished himself.**

"**Well … er … thanks, Dudley."**

**Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy for expression before mumbling, "You saved my life."**

"Is he talking about the Dementor attack?" Romilda Vane, one of the third year Gryffindor girls who had stayed quiet, asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"**Not really," said Harry. "It was your soul the Dementor would have taken …"**

**He looked curiously at his cousin. They had had virtually no contact during this summer or last, as Harry had come back to Privet Drive so briefly and kept to his room so much. It now dawned on Harry, however, that the cup of cold tea on which he had trodden that morning might not have been a booby trap at all.**

"Well, that's good." Minerva muttered.

"It's a pity I don't like tea." Harry snorted.

"Nor do I." Lucius agreed.

"How Teddy can drink so much of the stuff I don't know." Draco added.

"He drinks as much tea as you three do Athosian coffee." Hermione giggled, "and I don't know how you can drink that much of that swill."

"We like it." Harry grinned.

"It tastes like sewage." Hermione pointed out disgustedly.

"No it doesn't." Lucius sniggered.

"Yes it does." Hermione snorted.

"No it doesn't." Lucius said.

"Does."

"Doesn't."

"Does."

"Doesn't."

"Does."

"Doesn't."

"Does."

"Doesn't."

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Snape snapped, "you're both acting like five-year-olds. Grow up."

"We really are seeing a whole new side to that man." Fred muttered to George and Bill.

"I know." George agreed, "I never thought I'd see the day when he stopped acting like a mature adult with a pole up his arse."

"He is so very different." Bill nodded.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I actually like this version of him." Fred said, awed by his own admission.

"I do too." George grinned.

"Of course you would." Alicia smirked, "not one of you is mature."

"Where's the fun in that?" Fred whined.

"It's not supposed to be fun." Alicia sighed exasperatedly.

"But-but-but …" George stammered, while Fred was speechless in horror.

"Merlin's hairy toe-nails." Ginny shrieked, getting fed up, "shut up."

"Er, did I just hear her say that Merlin had hairy toe-nails?" James asked nervously.

"Yeah, she did decide to see if she could come up with suitable phrases to use instead of swearwords, and that was one of the better ones." Remus nodded, remembering the day he had walked in on Ginny attempting that.

**Although rather touched, he was nevertheless quite relieved that Dudley appeared to have exhausted his ability to express his feelings. After opening his mouth once or twice more, Dudley subsided into scarlet-faced silence.**

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears. Hestia Jones gave her an approving look that changed to outrage as Aunt Petunia ran forward and embraced Dudley rather than Harry.**

"Honestly." Snape muttered, "she should have got over her jealousy years ago."

"**S-So sweet, Dudders …" she sobbed into his massive chest. "S-Such a lovely b-boy … s-saying thank you …"**

"**But he hasn't said thank you at all!" said Hestia indignantly. "He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space!"**

"**Yeah, but coming from Dudley that's like 'I love you,'" said Harry,**

"That's a disturbing image." Cygnus muttered.

"Get your head out of the gutter." Hermione screeched, "there are children in the room."

"Oi." Little Mark Evans protested loudly while Mrs Weasley nodded, agreeing with Hermione, though she didn't say anything.

"I wasn't referring to you." Hermione said to the kid, "I was referring to the coffee addict."

"Which one?" Daphne asked with a giggle.

"The blond one opposite me." Hermione replied, smirking at Lucius' pout.

**torn between annoyance and a desire to laugh as Aunt Petunia continued to clutch at Dudley as if he had just saved Harry from a burning building.**

"**Are we going or not?" roared Uncle Vernon, reappearing yet again at the living room door. "I thought we were on a tight schedule!"**

"**Yes – yes, we are," said Dedalus Diggle, who had been watching these exchanges with an air of bemusement**

"I'm not surprised." Caruso grinned, "anyone would be."

**and now seemed to pull himself together. "We really must be off. Harry –"**

**He tripped forward and wrung Harry's hand with both of his own.**

"– **good luck. I hope we meet again. The hopes of the Wizarding world rest upon your shoulders."**

"Yeah, but no pressure." The Weasley twins yelled in unison.

"**Oh," said Harry, "right. Thanks."**

"**Farewell, Harry," said Hestia, clasping his hand. "Our thoughts go with you."**

"**I hope everything's OK," said Harry with a glance towards Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

"**Oh, I'm sure we shall end up the best of chums," said Diggle brightly, **

"Yeah, that'll only happen when Snape wears something that's not black." George said.

"Well, it's fairly likely then." Lucius sniggered, "he wore green and silver at his wedding."

"Someone actually married that big bat." Smith sneered.

"Careful Zachy-boy, you might just get scratched by a kitty-cat, or seven." Hermione said sweetly, glaring at the blond.

"I think we all want to know what idiot would think about marrying him." Smith sneered, not noticing the glares he was receiving from Harry and his friends, the five from the past, Snape and Minerva. Even James and Lily were glaring, because despite the fact that James didn't like Snape, and Lily was disappointed in him for becoming a Death Eater, they knew that they were obviously missing something and had to keep their minds open.

"Twenty points from Hufflepuff Mr Smith." Snape snapped, "who I married is none of your business."

"Whoever she is is a traitor, because you're a traitor." Smith shrugged, "so I think it is our business."

"Think again you little ponce." Draco snorted mirthlessly.

"Gred, Forge, you might want to use that pointy thing on him when we've finished." Harry grinned.

"Of course." The twins nodded.

"Are we ever gonna find out who he married?" Lavender asked, "I want to know who got lucky enough to get her hands on such a fine example of walking sex."

"Lav, dear, your brain ran away again." Fay giggled, "although I must admit, he is ruggedly handsome, just not my type."

"Thanks Fay." Lavender grinned, "anyway, will we find out who the lucky woman is?"

"You might do." Minerva smiled.

"You'll definitely know when Catrina and Caratacus arrive." Harry grinned, "Catrina's almost a clone of their mother, but has his eyes, and Caratacus looks exactly like the professor but has their mother's eyes."

"I … had children in your time?" Snape whispered, staring at Harry with wide eyes.

"Oh yes." Lucius smiled.

"Unbelievable." Snape murmured.

"You also had grandchildren." Harry grinned.

"Merlin." Snape mumbled incredulously.

**waving his hat as he left the room. Hestia followed him. Dudley gently released himself from his mother's clutches and walked towards Harry, who had to repress the urge to threaten him with magic. Then Dudley held out his large, pink hand.**

"**Blimey, Dudley," said Harry over Aunt Petunia's renewed sobs, "did the Dementors blow a different personality into you?"**

"That's not possible, but someone's personality will change after being near a Dementor." Remus sighed, remembering how much Sirius had changed after twelve years in Azkaban.

"**Dunno," muttered Dudley. "See you, Harry."**

"**Yeah …" said Harry, taking Dudley's hand and shaking it. "Maybe. Take care, Big D."**

**Dudley nearly smiled, then lumbered from the room. Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the gravelled driveway, and then a car door slammed.**

**Aunt Petunia, whose face had been buried in her handkerchief, looked around at the sound. She did not seem to have expected to find herself along with Harry.**

"Yes, and now he will turn you into a gerbil." Dennis said.

"A gerbil, _really_?" Harry snorted, wondering where Dennis got that idea from.

"Well, it's a possibility." Dennis shrugged.

"If I was going to turn her into an animal, I'd go for a horse, or a giraffe." Harry sniggered.

"I think I would too." Lily agreed, "she's already got the long neck, and horse-like face, so there wouldn't be much left to do."

**Hastily stowing her wet handkerchief into her pocket, she said, "Well – good-bye," and marched toward the door without looking at him.**

"At least she said good-bye." Dean shrugged.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"**Good-bye," said Harry.**

**She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry had the strangest feeling that she wanted to say something to him: She gave him an odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out of the room after her husband and son. **

"That was the end of the chapter." Flitwick sighed, closing the book in relief. It was hard for him to read about how truly dreadful Harry's relatives were.

"Now, I know you would like to continue with the next chapter, but I think it would be a good time to have a break." Dumbledore said, to cries of shock, "if all those who answer to Mr Black, Miss Granger, Miss Daphne Greengrass, Miss Parkinson, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, the three Malfoy gentlemen, Lord Caruso Lestrange, the older Mr and Mrs Potter as well as Mr and Mrs Weasley would care to follow me to my office, we will be able to sort out some of the things that have come up today."

The sixteen who were named stood up and followed the headmaster out of the hall while the rest of the students stayed behind to discuss what they had read, and Snape slipped away to the dungeons so he could organise the potions he thought would be useful during the course of the book.


	6. Chapter 6

**Interlude**

As soon as the group with Albus approached the gargoyle guarding his office, it moved aside without needing a password, which confused many, but the ten from the future knew exactly what was going on.

"Odd." Albus muttered, but then decided not to worry too much. He remembered reading something about how the castle would obey the heir to one of the founders if she liked them, but he couldn't work out who the heir was, though he did know that whoever was heir, would eventually reveal themselves, though he really had no idea about how a computer programme could have emotions like a human.

The group entered Albus' office whereupon the headmaster conjured enough seats for everyone. Sadly, for everyone's sanity, all the seats were, while comfortable-looking, covered with strange patterns. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Pansy, Daphne and Draco took the best that they could see, while Lucius decided to not risk burning his eyeballs out and avoided looking before sitting in a seat to Harry's immediate left. Abraxas did the same, while wondering why so many people were there.

"Now, I know that people will protest, but I would like to offer Harry, Daphne, Pansy, Ron, Hermione and Draco membership of the Order." Albus said, mentally bracing himself for the argument that was sure to come, especially from the Weasley matriarch.

"They're too young, they're only sixteen." Mrs Weasley said immediately. Mr Weasley disagreed, but because he was wary of Mrs Weasley's temper, he didn't say anything. He truly thought that Harry had more right to be in the Order than anyone else, and no one was going to convince him otherwise. Not even Dorea and Charlus agreed with the woman, because they remembered how professional and mature their grandson had acted when replacing them with the replicas, despite the fact that he had flown the spacecraft at a reckless speed during the return journey, and pretended to be Abraxas.

"I know they may appear young, but do not forget that they have the souls of their older selves." Albus sighed, "I think that they have as much right to be members as anyone, and that we ought to let them decide for themselves, without telling them what to do."

"Oh very well." Mrs Weasley huffed, folding her arms, "I still don't like it."

"I know Molly, but I am offering, and would like it if people didn't try making decisions for them. They are old enough to make their own decisions." Albus said. He turned back to the teens and asked, "would you like to be Order members?"

The six glanced at each other before Draco turned back to the headmaster and said, "very well, but please remember that we are also working to restore the Alteran Empire."

"Do you have a proper plan?" Snape asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "it will involve talking to the ministry in the hope that they will allow us to operate in certain areas without interference."

"Though we don't have to talk about that now." Draco added.

"What areas?" Snape asked curiously, strangely eager to know what was going to happen.

"There are two Ancient city-ships hidden on earth, and we hope that the bigger one, that we call Iona, can be moved, either to a slightly less populated part of the world or to a different planet entirely, but that will take time, given the fact that it is mostly submerged in the North Sea." Harry replied.

"If it is not fully submerged, how come no one has found it?" Mr Weasley asked, "I mean, surely something like a city would be difficult to hide."

"Not for the Ancients." Daphne giggled, "they had the power to hide entire solar systems."

"And destroy them." Lucius grinned, "but Iona _is_ well-hidden. Even if you were standing inside it, and didn't know what to look for, you would never know. It has some of the most powerful shields on it, including an illusion, to hide its true nature."

"What does it look like then?" Charlus frowned, wondering what magical place was not as it seemed.

"A mouldy old fortress." Draco said, "and, as we've already mentioned to Professor Dumbledore, is currently known as Azkaban. That's why we will need to talk to the ministry if we want to relocate it and use it for its original purpose."

"I understand." Charlus said, before looking at the clock on his desk and summoning a house-elf and requesting their lunch.

"What was Iona's original purpose?" Mr Weasley asked, after taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Ship-building." Cygnus replied, "Iona was built as a small manoeuvrable auxiliary shipyard. The Ancients had massive shipyards in space, but they wanted something that they could take with them when they went somewhere. The shipyards in space are currently inaccessible, so we want to relocate Iona, and produce at least one or two warships so that we can protect Earth properly."

"Interesting." Albus muttered.

"So where are the space-based shipyards?" Dorea wondered.

"They are in the most dangerous places known to any race." Orion grinned, "the two we know about, are surrounded on all sides by exploding stars and black holes, which provides a hell of a lot of raw materials and energy."

"That sounds dangerous." Dorea murmured.

"Oh it is, the centre of a galaxy is extremely dangerous." Harry smirked.

"They're at the centre of the galaxy?" Snape squeaked.

"Yes, the one known as Volcano's Heart is in the galactic core of the Milky Way, and the one known as Vulcan's Forge, is in the Pegasus galaxy's core." Hermione nodded.

"The four of us can try and get the permission we need." Cygnus said, indicating himself, Orion, Abraxas and Caruso, "I don't think the Minister will want to risk going against our political might."

"Indeed not." Abraxas grinned, "we can make life very difficult for him, without even trying."

"If you are going to return the descendants of the Ancients to the stars, what about the Muggle-borns?" Regulus asked, knowing that no one had mentioned that.

"We will invite the families of any Muggle-born students to join us." Orion replied, "we do not want to take children away from their parents or siblings, unless the families cannot handle the fact that their children have magic. Everyone who gets invited, can contribute in some way, so they won't be getting something for nothing, even if they're just secretaries or personal assistants, they will be involved."

"Indeed." Hermione nodded, "when we started this, in the original time, my parents enjoyed helping out, they joined our medical staff, and in their spare time they documented everything we were doing, for posterity."

"Other parents helped by teaching all the children and anyone who asked, how to cook, so people could be self-sufficient without relying on others to provide food." Harry added, "and yet others taught people the things non-magical schools teach, which most witches and wizards aren't taught. We became a society, with people contributing to the best of their ability, without discriminating against anyone. Everyone had something to do, so no one was left out or pushed aside."

"It does sound interesting." Mr Weasley allowed, "I have another question, why does no one in the magical world know about the Ancients?"

"Someone cursed the position of History professor." Hermione sighed, "have you never wondered why Binns hasn't been fired?"

"It's because there is something making sure that none of the people who have the authority to hire and fire teachers, literally can't consider it." Harry continued.

"Do you know when the position was cursed?" Albus asked.

"Sometime between sixteen-thirty and seventeen-twenty-eight." Daphne said, "whoever cursed it, cursed Binns too. He cannot leave, whether he wants to or not, which might be why every year he just lectures on goblin rebellions, pretends not to know who anyone is, and doesn't care that students can't concentrate in his lessons."

"How do we get passed the curse?" Pansy asked, placing her empty plate back on the tray and refilling her cup of tea. "It would be nice to have a History teacher who not only wanted to teach, but also could keep the students interested. I know I would like the subject more if I could stay awake in the lessons."

"It sounds like the only ones who would have the ability to do anything are the heirs of the Founders." Albus replied, "the curse seems to be tied into the wards and can only be by-passed by someone with the blood of a Founder running through their veins connecting to the wards and removing it themselves. That will only work if the heir is not a teacher or a member of the Board of Governors, especially since we know that I can't do anything, and the Board can't either."

"That will be difficult to deal with." Mr Weasley said, "the only heir to a Founder that we know is currently alive, is You-Know-Who. He's the Heir of Slytherin, and I doubt that he would be willing to help us."

"The Department of Mysteries has kept an eye on the lines of the Founders, but I don't really know why, and Hufflepuff's line is the only one that has died out." Lucius said, sticking his oar in, "Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's lines are exactly the same, because they were married, and there are three families that carry their blood, but only one can claim the title of Heir of Gryffindor, by virtue of being the descendants of Ethelred Gryffindor, the only son of Godric and Rowena whose children survived to adulthood, while the other two are descended from Ethelred's younger sister Magdalene. Their older sister doesn't have any descendants, because she died childless, though no one is sure what happened, and Ethelred's brother Hertlief had four children, none of whom lived beyond their tenth birthday."

"Who are the descendants of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?" Snape asked.

"The Weasleys, the Longbottoms …" Charlus grinned, "and us, the Potters."

"How come no one knew?" Mr Weasley asked curiously, "I'm sure that would be something that couldn't be kept secret."

"We have kept the secret of our ancestry for centuries, so that no one goes after us to try and wipe the family out." Charlus smiled, "I'm a little shocked to notice that Harry doesn't seem to be surprised about the knowledge though."

"I knew about our ancestry already." Harry smiled, "I also know that Voldemort has no right to claim that he is the heir of Slytherin. He may be a descendant, on his mother's side, but his mother's older brother had a daughter, whose descendants hold the title."

"Unfortunately that line seems to be untraceable." Albus sighed, "I did find out about Tom's first cousin, but I couldn't find any information about her, not even her name."

"So if You-Know-Who isn't the heir of Slytherin, how do we find out who is?" Mr Weasley asked, "and how do we find them when we know who they are?"

"I have another question." Regulus said, "who was the Dark Lord's mother, and what happened to her?"

"Voldemort, born Tom Marvolo Riddle, was the son of Merope Gaunt, younger child of Marvolo Gaunt." Albus replied, "I haven't been able to discover much, but I do know that Merope died an hour after Tom was born. Other than that, I only know that Marvolo Gaunt was given six months in Azkaban and died in nineteen-twenty-six, a few months before Tom was born, and Merope's brother, Morfin, died in fifty-nine, after Tom framed him for the murder of three Muggles."

"So when was You-Know-Who's first cousin born, and how do we go about looking for her?" Pansy wondered.

"There's no need." Harry grinned, "I know exactly who she was and what happened to her. Jeanette Gardner was the result of a one-night stand between her mother and Morfin Gaunt. She was born in April nineteen-twenty-five, and after attending Beauxbatons, due to the fact that she had moved to France when she was three, she moved back to Britain, marrying a former soldier named Matthew Evans. They had one daughter, who was non-magical, for some reason, but then in fifty-nine, Jeanette was raped, and her second daughter, who went on to become one of the brightest witches Hogwarts has ever seen, was born in January nineteen-sixty."

"If Jeanette's second daughter was a witch, was she in the same year as James?" Dorea asked curiously.

"Yes." Harry grinned.

"Who was she?" Charlus queried.

"The only redhead in that year." Harry replied, staring meaningfully at Regulus, who had been friends with Snape, and therefore would know who he meant.

"Lily Evans, your mother." Regulus whispered, "that's where her ability to speak Parseltongue came from. She and Severus always wondered, but they could never work it out."

"It would appear that we don't need to do any searching for the Heirs." Albus said dryly, "Harry is the Heir, so once he comes of age, he can remove the curse, and thereby get rid of Binns."

"He would have to claim the inheritance before doing so." Charlus pointed out, "I think the only way for an heir to connect to the wards is to use the family ring."

"We still have to wait nine months for him to come of age to do so." Albus sighed, slightly worried about how much strain Harry was going to be under.

"Not necessarily." Abraxas said, "if the heir of a family is orphaned, he or she can take control of the family at fourteen, and therefore would be considered a legal adult."

"That is a wise move, because then the families wouldn't go headless for too long, and therefore certain family affairs wouldn't be left without being managed." Mr Weasley nodded.

"So I think we need to organise a trip to Gringotts for young Mr Potter to take control of the Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Potter family lines." Albus said.

"Already been done." Harry smirked, "did it on Saturday, just after we arrived. The goblins are now dealing with everything on their end, so we should be able to get the curse and Binns removed once the book is over."

"Well it would appear that you all have everything well in hand." Albus muttered, shaking his head in amazement as everyone fell silent, contemplating everything that had been said.

The silence that had fallen was suddenly broken by the Sorting hat, "ah, Mr Potter, if I could have a word."

"Of course Gabriel." Harry grinned, putting the hat on and knowing what it wanted, "what can I do for you?"

"It's more a question of what I can do for you, my Lord." The hat said.

"Gabriel, it's just Harry." Harry snapped, irritated.

"Of course my Lord." The hat smirked, "anyway, you have already gained what Godric left for his heir, but now it is time for me to pass on to you, what Salazar and Rowena left for their heirs. You might want to take me off first."

"Thank you Gabriel." Harry said audibly.

Harry nodded and taking the hat off, reached inside it to bring out two rather fancy blades that had emeralds inlaid in the hilts and a small dagger with a raven engraved on the pommel. He thanked the hat, and used the dagger to slice his palm before dripping a few drops of blood on the largest emeralds on the strange blades and then smearing a drop on the raven.

"What are you doing?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Binding them to myself, so that I can call for them when I need them." Harry replied, "it just means that I don't have to carry them everywhere."

"But who's were they, and how did you get them out of the hat?" Albus wondered.

"The dagger originally belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, while the other two blades, also known as Sai, were Salazar Slytherin's," Harry smirked, "they, like Gryffindor's sword, were put in the hat to protect them, and so the hat could decide which heir, or heirs, were worthy to possess them."

"Incredible." Regulus murmured.

"Let's get back to the hall and continue reading." Ron suggested.

"A wise idea." Albus nodded, leading the way out of the office, having completely forgotten that there were others he had also planned on asking about whether they wanted to join the Order too.

"Are we going to meet the people who sent the book or not?" Charlus asked Harry as they strode down the main staircase.

"At some point yes." Harry grinned, turning to face his grandfather and watching in amusement as the phoenix that had brought Lucius from Malfoy Manor to Hogwarts fluttered over and landed on Charlus' head.

"What the –?" Charlus spluttered at the sudden weight and pinpricks he felt.

"Sceadu, what have I told about landing on people's heads?" Harry snapped at the shadow phoenix.

The bird chirped at him, seemingly not caring at all that his talons were drawing blood.

"Come here you daft bird." Hermione giggled, wandlessly summoning some cranberries from the grounds and placing them upon her shoulder. The phoenix tilted its head to one side, staring at Hermione in consideration, before making a decision and taking off, aiming directly for her shoulder. Almost everyone watched amusedly as he overshot and nearly crashed into the wall, but Harry merely rolled his eyes, knowing that the bird had done exactly what he intended to do.

"Hermione, he got the berries on his way past." Harry sighed, "your idea of getting him to actually land on your shoulder was a failure."

"Damn." Hermione grumbled at the bird that was now trying to land on Lucius' head, "Sceadu you cheeky bird."

"Whose is he?" Albus asked.

"Mine." Harry replied, "That's Sceadu, the shadow phoenix I mentioned earlier. Of course, he's a phoenix, so he's supposed to be dignified and mature, but he isn't, annoyingly enough."

"Fawkes is similar." Albus stage-whispered, "he has some irritating habits too."

Lucius finally managed to get the bird to land on his shoulder instead of his head, and winced as it squeezed tightly, before flying off again and disappearing back into the great hall.

"What was he doing?" Dorea asked curiously.

"I think he wanted to introduce himself." Harry replied dryly, "I never do know what goes on in that birdbrain's brain. I'm not even sure he knows either."

"Oh dear." Mrs Weasley muttered as they all returned to their seats in the slightly emptier hall.

"Are we ready to continue reading?" Albus asked once the last few stragglers had returned to their seats and no one was missing.

"I think we are." Scrimgeour replied, wondering what the headmaster had discussed with the group he'd summoned to his office.

"Who would like to read?" Albus asked with a nod.

"I might as well, get it over with." Snape sighed, picking the book back up again and turning to the right page.

He was about to begin reading when he was interrupted by the great hall doors swinging open to admit a woman who looked very like Dorea Potter-Black, carrying a large bag on her left shoulder, and also quite clearly pregnant, though only those who knew anything about pregnancies could tell that she wasn't much more than six months along.

"I'm sorry, but who are you and what are you doing here?" Albus asked, standing up and making sure that his wand was within easy reach.

"Oh I'm DC, and I'm only here to deliver some stuff to Dad." The woman said.

"That wasn't at all confusing." Snape muttered sarcastically, remembering one of his mother's lessons while growing up in the Muggle world, and he was pretty sure that no sane person would name their child, Direct Current of all things.

"Sorry." DC shrugged, not sounding sorry at all.

"So what is your real name?" Dorea asked curiously.

"If you really must know, my real name is Dorea Christine, and I was named after my great-grandmother." DC sighed.

"So you're Harry's daughter?" Charlus asked, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Mrs Weasley was staring at DC, obviously wanting the answer to that question herself, though he wasn't quite sure why.

"Yep, and I have nine sisters, six brothers and one half-brother." DC nodded.

"Blimey, fifteen full-siblings and one half-sibling." James whistled, not remembering what Draco had said about the number of half-siblings he had, and therefore not realising what the fact that DC had fifteen brothers and sisters meant, "that's gotta be fun."

"Not really, I mean, I love them all, but they can be idiots at times." DC said.

"Harry, how did you manage to have so many children?" Lily asked, looking between her son and Lucius.

"Erm … " Harry waffled, before his daughter cut in.

"The lollipop with blonde hair forgot the contraception charms." DC giggled, pointing at Lucius, who was bright red with embarrassment. The brightness of his complexion drew all attention towards him, and those who had had no idea that he and Harry were even remotely attracted to each other were shocked, while the others were nodding, having seen the signs. It also had the effect of drawing attention away from Mrs Weasley, who was beginning to sniffle slightly, realising that her dream of having Harry as her son in law, and therefore a real member of her family, had disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"_What_?" James hissed angrily, glaring at Lucius, and attempted to lunge out of his seat to strangle the blond, only to be stopped by the sticking charm Lily had cast to keep him in his seat.

"You can't be happy about this." James growled, after casting a silencing charm to keep their argument private.

"I am." Lily said, "you haven't seen the way they look at each other. Lucius looks at Harry like he's his entire world. Your parents look at each other in the same way."

"Is that why you're not angry?" James asked, almost pleading with her.

"Yes." Lily nodded, "the love between them is truly amazing, and you need to remember that Lucius is part-Veela, and you did tell me about the Sirens who married into the Potter family in the past. The fact that they have children means that they are mated, and meant to be together."

"But the age gap." James whispered in shock.

"Age is just a number, and while I wouldn't be as happy if there were fifty years between them, do remember how long the natural life-span of a witch or wizard is." Lily snapped, "plus there's the fact that a Veela with a younger mate will be de-aged once they've completed the bond."

"And nothing will separate them." James sighed despondently.

"Exactly." Lily frowned taking down the silencing charm and allowing the rest of the hall to once again hear them, "so don't even bother trying."

"Everything sorted?" DC asked, knowing that she'd landed her Dad in hot water with her grandparents.

"I think so." Lily nodded, smiling at her grand-daughter.

"Right." DC said, looking at her watch, "time is running away, you've got a book to read and enjoy, I've got a job to do and a bag-full of goodies to deliver."

"How did you get here?" Albus queried curiously.

"The Valkyrie." DC replied, "a fully functional, enormously powerful, enormously huge Alteran warship. We brought both it, and another one, exactly the same, through a rift we created between our dimension and this one. As soon as I've finished delivering these goodies, I'll be returning to the ship and setting out to construct a satellite network spanning the entire galaxy. "

"You said the ship is enormously huge. Just how big is it?" Flitwick asked.

"Nearly a mile long, a thousand feet wide and four hundred feet tall." DC replied dryly, "it isn't the biggest ship in the fleet, but there was no way we were bringing the Vespasian."

"How big is that one then?" Alicia inquired nervously.

"Four times the size." Caruso grinned, "though it is actually a space-station with extremely powerful defensive weapons, so we use it more as a mobile command post rather than a warship."

"That's big." Katie muttered in awe.

"Did you also bring the Scorpion and Ulysses like we suggested?" Hermione asked.

"We brought the Thunderchild and Yellowstone instead." DC shrugged, "the Scorpion and Ulysses were unavailable, and we knew that you'd want a fast-attack craft and a cargo vessel, even if we couldn't bring the ones you'd named."

"Ah." Lucius nodded in understanding.

"So what are these so-called 'goodies' you're delivering?" Dorea asked.

"Objects that my rather forgetful brother failed to remember to put in the Jumper we sent two days ago." DC responded, taking the bag off her shoulder and opening it to reveal two metallic objects that looked like large insects, sitting on top of five crystalline orbs and seven small vials of something that glowed green. The moment the bag was fully open, the two insect-like objects scuttled out of it, clambered up the legs of the middle table and scurried to where Harry and Lucius were sitting, where they stopped and seemingly became immobile.

"What the hell are they?" Sprout asked, staring at them in horror, along with almost everyone else in the hall.

"Constructor bots." Lucius grinned, "very useful things. Once we've programmed them, they can replicate themselves, until there are enough of them to build a ship like the Valkyrie in the space of about two weeks, as long as the required materials are available."

"Impressive." Pince commented.

"Oh, Madam Pince, catch." DC grinned, tossing one of the four crystalline orbs at the woman.

"What is this?" Pince asked quizzically, peering at the thing.

"Crack it on your head and you'll see." DC smirked.

"I'm not doing that, it looks expensive." Pince snorted, making DC roll her eyes, as she wandlessly levitated the orb above the librarian's head and fired a reducto at it, again wandlessly.

No one really knew what to say when they realised that she had just cast two spells completely wandlessly, as well as utterly silently, but they were distracted by the blue glow that surrounded the librarian as soon as the orb shattered.

"What did you do?" Dorea asked sternly, being the only one of those who hadn't experienced anything like that blue glow before who was capable of rational thought.

"Just allowed a copy of her soul to merge with her body." DC replied casually, picking the remaining four orbs up and gently floating them to Harry and Lucius.

"You're not going to do that again are you?" Albus asked hopefully.

"Nope, I'll leave that in Dad's capable hands." DC grinned as the blue glow died down, "besides, the people those four soul copies belong to aren't actually here at the moment."

"So what precisely was the orb?" Flitwick queried.

"The shell was made of nanites, programmed to disperse and enter the body and take over the normal functions of the vital organs, while the souls are transferred." Harry explained, "that is the simplified explanation, the actual process is far more complicated, and unless you have the equivalent of a Mastery in nanotechnology, then I doubt you'd understand it."

"I'll defer to your expertise." Flitwick muttered.

"So when you hit it with that, impressively wandless spell, you didn't actually cause any damage at all." Charlus whispered.

"Exactly." DC nodded, "not only are the individual nanites far too small to be seen with the naked eye, they are also just as robust as cockroaches. They can survive pretty much anything."

"Are they dangerous to her health?" Pomfrey wondered, the healer part of her coming to the fore.

"No." Harry said, shaking his head, "they are the complete opposite. If we decide to programme them in the right way, they can regrow any part of a human body, but most of the time, they are completely inert. Once they've done what they were programmed to do, they will shut down, and wait for new programming. That's how we designed them, they can't learn and adapt, they truly do need every tiny little detail to be programmed into them. So we have to make sure we don't miss anything."

"Incredible." Pomfrey whispered, looking at DC with awe in her eyes, "and what's the potion you have in your bag?"

"It's not a potion." DC grinned, removing the seven glowing green vials and placing them in front of Harry, who wandlessly conjured several syringes and began to fill them with the strange substance.

"It's actually a mineral that doesn't exist on earth, not naturally." Lucius said, grabbing one of the syringes and injecting himself in the arm, "we discovered that this mineral, when liquidised and injected into the bloodstream, will increase the connection a magical person has with their magic, allowing them to do away with the need for a wand."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Pomfrey asked, watching the others who had had their souls sent back do the same.

"No." Hermione replied, "not the tiny amount we use. We did do several thousand experiments when we discovered the link between the mineral and magic, and we determined that there is no significant danger associated with injecting ourselves."

"Plus, we found out that the Goa'uld have this mineral, called Naquadah, in their blood." Harry continued, "and when the Goa'uld dies, if the host survives, he or she is left with a trace amount of it in their bloodstream."

"Interesting." Sprout mumbled, noticing that Harry had levitated a syringe of the glowing green liquid up to the librarian, who injected herself. "Why is it green?"

"We don't know." Draco said, "that is one thing that we have wondered about since we found out that Naquadah could be liquidised. In its natural state, it's dark grey, like most other rocks, and when it's been refined, it's black."

"What can it be used for?" Snape inquired, wondering if the liquid version could be used in potions.

"Pretty much anything." Hermione replied, "it is similar to quartz, and is extremely dense, so dense that if this table were made of it, thirty people would struggle to lift it."

"Merlin." Minerva whispered, "so my dear, why did you bring a copy of Irma's soul?"

"Because she decided she wanted to be more involved." DC shrugged easily, "anyway, I'll let you carry on, and hopefully, by the time you finish reading, the satellite network will be up and running."

"Good luck." Harry said.

"Thank you Commander." DC nodded, snapping off a quick salute before disappearing in a flash of white light.

"H-how?" Albus stuttered, blinking away the spots in his vision.

"Alteran transporter." Draco grinned, "extremely useful things. Wards are useless against them."

"Right." Albus murmured, then because he'd completely forgotten that he'd already asked and been given an answer, said, "now who would like to read next?"

"Are students allowed to read?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"I don't see a problem, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said with a smile.

Hermione nodded in acceptance, and summoned the book towards herself, wandlessly, though only a few people noticed that.

"Is everyone ready for me to start the next chapter?" Hermione asked, eager to get on with it.

"That might be a wise move." Charlus said, staring in fascination at how eager Hermione was, while Dorea gaped slightly, not quite believing that someone could enjoy reading as much as Hermione appeared to. Neither had known her long enough to realise that she was a self-confessed bookworm.


	7. Chapter 7

A.N:- Thanks to guest who sent in this review:

_Isn't he dead 5/13/13 . chapter 7 _

_"But this is mad, there's no need –"_

_ "Yes there is." {SIRIUS} said, "if the greasy git hadn't told Voldemort when you were leaving, the plan would still be a good one. The main thing about it is that the greasy stain couldn't tell Voldemort about the Polyjuice, because he didn't know about it, so there's an extra layer of safety."_

I missed that, so many thanks, and I have now changed it. :)

* * *

**The Seven Potters**

"**The Seven Potters**," Hermione read.

"I'm pretty sure the five of us are the only ones left." James said, scratching his head in confusion as he indicated his family to show just what he meant.

"If you don't interrupt too much, we may find out why the chapter has that title." Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

**Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at the window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging out of the drive and off up the road. Dedalus's top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the back-seat. The car turned right at the end of Privet Drive, its windows burned scarlet for a moment in the now setting sun, and then it was gone.**

"Good riddance to bad bloody rubbish." Lily snarled.

"OK, no need to shock everyone so much they have heart attacks." James said soothingly, "I don't like it either, but we just have to stay calm and remember that everything worked out all right."

"I still wish our Will hadn't been ignored." Lily grumbled.

**Harry picked up Hedwig's cage, his Firebolt, **

"New broom?" James asked, going from concerned about Lily's state of mind to excited in the blink of an eye.

"Yes, it's currently the fastest on the market." Draco grinned, "wish I had one."

"Please remember that I beat you when you were using the Two Thousand and one, while I only had a Two Thousand." Harry smirked.

"Yeah, but you're a maniac." Draco snorted, "you do all those stunts that no sane man would ever consider."

"Oh Merlin, I wish I was there to see that." Charlus said with Regulus nodding in agreement.

"We may have time for an exhibition match, once the book has been finished." Albus smiled.

**and his rucksack, gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last sweeping look, and then made his ungainly way back downstairs to the hall, where he deposited cage, broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs.**

"I'm still not happy about you not returning to Hogwarts, but I can understand why." Dorea sighed.

**The light was fading rapidly, the hall full of shadows in the evening light. It felt most strange to stand here in the silence and know that he was about to leave the house for the last time. Long ago, when he had been left alone while the Dursleys went out to enjoy themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare treat. Pausing only to sneak something tasty from the fridge, he had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley's computer, or put on the television and flicked through the channels to his heart's content. It gave him an odd, empty feeling remembering those times; it was like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost.**

"That's so sad." Lily sighed, beginning to cry again.

"I can't believe they didn't take you anywhere." James said.

"They did take me to the zoo on Dudley's eleventh birthday." Harry grinned in remembrance, "of course the whole trip came to an abrupt end when I accidentally vanished the glass on the front of a cage."

"What?" Abraxas asked, not having heard that story before, "what was in the cage?"

"A boa constrictor." Harry replied.

"Blimey." Theo muttered to Blaise, "that's scary."

"That boa was a hell of a lot more polite than Sanasha." Harry shrugged, "he actually thanked me for freeing him."

"Yeah, but wasn't Sanasha, you know, starving and completely senile?" Hermione asked.

"True." Harry nodded.

"You're a Parselmouth?" James squeaked, "as far as I know I'm not, and I'm pretty sure your mother's not, so how are you one?"

"Actually James." Lily said softly, "I am a Parselmouth. Mum told me that she was as well, and she knew that the man who raped her was a Parselmouth, because she heard him order a snake to hold her down while he raped her."

"Why didn't you tell me?" James asked, holding his wife closer as she cried.

"I didn't know how." Lily replied sadly, "I knew I was a Parselmouth in first year, Sev told me, but we kept it secret because people would automatically call me Dark."

"Well, I don't care." James said, "it doesn't change who you are."

"That is a wise attitude to have." Albus smiled.

"Well I can't really call the woman I love Dark just because she has a rare ability." James shrugged, "I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I did, one of my best friends is a werewolf, and he's one of the nicest blokes I know."

"Thanks." Remus mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

"So Dumbledore was wrong when he said that he thought your ability to speak Parseltongue was caused by the bouncing curse." Seamus said, remembering what their group had talked about in second year.

"Yeah, but no one knew at the time, and that seemed like the most reasonable explanation." Harry shrugged. "Oh, and by the way, Dad, you might well be a Parselmouth too, given the fact that your great grandmother was Allana Prince, descendant of Septimus Prince and Sylvia Slytherin, Salazar's sister. Plus there's the fact that Ethelred Potter's wife was Daria Slytherin, Salazar's daughter."

"I did not know that." James muttered, while Regulus stared at Harry in undisguised confusion.

"I only found out when I looked at the family tree, and spoke to some of the portraits." Harry grinned, "they do have interesting stories to tell."

"They do indeed." Charlus nodded with a smile.

"Shall we continue?" Scrimgeour suggested, "and we can maybe find out how to make sure the war ends sooner. We can finish this discussion later."

"A very good idea." Minerva nodded.

"**Don't you want to take a last look at the place?" he asked Hedwig, who was still sulking with her head under her wing.**

"No, I think she just wants to fly." Daphne giggled, making Ron jump, because he had thought that she'd fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder.

"**We'll never be here again. Don't you want to remember all the good times? I mean, look at this doormat. What memories …**

"I think you've lost it." Draco whispered in awe.

"Honey, he never had it." Hermione giggled.

**Dudley puked on it after I saved him from the Dementors …**

"I meant to ask earlier, but what the hell were Dementors doing attacking you?" James asked, clenching his fist to try and hold the anger in.

"Dolores Umbridge, former Under-secretary to the former Minister sent them." Harry replied.

"Two more questions, why did she send them, and how the hell did you escape?" James growled.

"She wanted to shut me up, because she refused to believe that Voldemort had returned, and I used a Patronus." Harry said, rolling his eyes when both James and Lily flinched at the name.

"You'll have to get used to hearing the name, Harry has never had a problem saying it." Hermione advised, "in fact, getting him to _not_ say it, is difficult."

"Oh god." Lily groaned.

"I refuse to give that thing power over me by being afraid of a rather ridiculous name." Harry shrugged.

"Wise." Caruso nodded.

"I agree." Cygnus said.

"Besides, we've been using it since the beginning of the book, and this is the first time you've flinched." Harry pointed out.

"I hadn't noticed." Lily grimaced.

**Turns out he was grateful after all, can you believe it? … And last summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door …"**

"I wonder what he was doing there." Minerva mused, not having known about what Harry and Albus got up to that summer.

"He needed my help." Harry grinned, "there was an old teacher that he was trying to get out of retirement, and thought that I could persuade him."

"And were you successful?" Dean asked.

"He was very persuasive, otherwise I wouldn't be here." Slughorn snorted.

"I didn't think you liked DADA, so why are you teaching it?" Lily asked.

"I'm not, I'm teaching potions again." Slughorn grinned.

"I'm this year's DADA professor." Snape smiled, "I dread to think what the curse will do to me."

"What happened to the previous teachers then?" Regulus asked curiously, noticing that he wasn't the only person to want the answer to that question.

"The first teacher was possessed by Voldemort and got burnt to a cinder." Harry replied, "the second Obliviated himself, the third resigned, the fourth spent nine months locked in his trunk while a Death Eater impersonated him. The Death Eater then had his soul sucked out, and the fifth was caught and tortured by the centaurs after calling them filthy half-breeds, and trying to order them around."

"Wow." James whistled in shock. He couldn't believe that anyone would be so stupid as to insult the centaurs like that.

"Why haven't any of your teachers lasted more than a year?" Dorea wondered, "it's been puzzling me for a while."

"Someone who wanted the post but was rejected cursed it." Lucius replied.

"Interesting." Charlus muttered.

**Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a moment and Hedwig did nothing to help him retrieve it, but continued to sit with her head under her wing. Harry turned his back on the front door.**

"**And under here, Hedwig –" **

"Bugger." Harry mumbled, making sure no one could hear him.

**Harry pulled open a door under the stairs "– is where I used to sleep! **

"WHAT?" Everyone yelled, though Minerva and, surprisingly for some, Snape, were the loudest.

Pomfrey grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment, and began to write things down on it. She had decided that she was going to give Harry a full check-up, and was beginning to make a list of things to look for. Regulus stared at Harry in surprise. He remembered Snape telling him about his childhood, and could not believe that there was anyone who had a worse one.

"I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU THAT WAS THE WORST PLACE, AND YOU IGNORED ME. NOW WE HAVE IT, PROOF THAT I WAS RIGHT!" Minerva screamed, with her wand held tightly in her clenched fist and sparks flying from the tip.

"Did you know?" Snape growled at Albus, just as angry as everyone else, though by far the angriest were Harry's parents and grand-parents, and they all wanted the answer to that.

"No." Albus whispered broken-heartedly, "if I had known, I would not have allowed him to return."

"Well, he's never going back there again, not if we have something to say about it." James and Lily snarled, utterly furious that their son was so badly mistreated.

"I know." Albus nodded, "I'm so sorry Harry."

"Apology accepted." Harry smiled. Many students wondered how on earth he was able to forgive so easily, but then they went over all their memories of interacting with Harry, and realised that he was not a person who would hold a grudge. They also realised that there must have been a reason for Harry being placed with the Dursleys, and that it would be a good enough reason to forgive the old man.

"I am in awe." Regulus whispered, "I don't know how anyone could have a worse childhood than Severus', and still turn out as good as you clearly are."

**You never knew me then – Blimey, it's small, I'd forgotten …"**

**Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas remembering how he used to wake every morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, which was more often than not adorned with a spider or two.**

"That just sounds worse." Lily sobbed into James shoulder.

**Those had been the days before he had known anything about his true identity; before he had found out how his parents had died or why such strange things often happened around him. But Harry could still remember the dreams that had dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes of green light and once – Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car when Harry had recounted it – a flying motorbike … **

"You remember Sirius' bike?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Yep." Harry grinned.

"Only Sirius would have a flying motorbike." Regulus sighed exasperatedly, though only those sitting close to him heard.

"That's incredible." Minerva whispered, "I did not expect anyone to remember anything from that far back."

"I think we're going to discover that young Mr Potter is rather unique." Scrimgeour muttered.

"Harry is definitely one of a kind." Remus grinned, "his first words were a shock to us all."

"What were his first words?" Regulus asked, while a lot of other people leaned over to listen in.

"They were …" James started, but was halted by the non-verbal _Silencio_ Harry hit him with.

"Now I really want to know." Pansy giggled, knowing that if Harry didn't want people told, then it was going to be good.

"Well, I'm too far away for him to stop me, so I can tell you." Remus smirked, dodging the silent hex that Harry sent his way.

"Remus, if you even think about revealing what my first words were, you will be put in a full body-bind and left in a rabbit warren." Harry said to Remus with a scarily sweet smile on his face.

"You wouldn't dare." Remus hissed, going very pale at the thought.

"I would." Harry smirked.

"That's just cruel." Remus whined.

"What's wrong Lupin?" Snape asked with a slightly malicious grin, "don't like rabbits?"

"He's terrified of them." Lucius sniggered, "absolutely wets-himself scared to death of them."

"How so very weird." Neville muttered, staring at Remus in utter confusion.

"Harry's first two words were totally unexpected, because I'm pretty sure none of us had ever mentioned Lucius in his presence." Lily said, getting fed up of the way Harry and Lucius were teasing Remus about his fear of rabbits.

"Were Harry's first two words really Lucius' name?" Abraxas asked squeakily.

"Yes." Remus grinned, deciding to join in after being embarrassed so much, "and he pronounced it pretty damn accurately, which was a bit of a surprise, given that we all expected him to stumble over certain letters."

"Incredible." Caruso whispered, staring at Harry in undisguised confusion with no small amount of awe, along with almost everyone else in the Great Hall.

**There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door frame.**

"That's happened before." Hermione giggled.

"We've all done it." Draco grimaced.

**Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle Vernon's choicest swear words, **

"Harry, watch your language." Lily scolded.

"_Wow, you're being a bit of a hypocrite_." Harry muttered in Parseltongue.

"_Well, I thought that since you have been without a proper mother since you were one, I ought to get a bit of mothering in before you don't need me any more_." Lily giggled, in the same language.

"Oh Merlin." Harry mumbled, "that's not good. _Besides, do remember that I was the one who brought you here, and despite the fact that I don't want mothering, with only my body being sixteen, you do get the chance to have another child, so you won't be completely bereft of someone to mother_."

"Harry, I understood every word of that, and I don't understand why." James said.

"You're a Parselmouth." Harry grinned, "I thought you might be."

"And what did you mean when you said only your body was sixteen?" James asked, having forgotten that he had been told the previous night after being fetched from the past.

"A copy of my soul was sent back in time." Harry replied.

"Oh." James muttered.

**he staggered back into the kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden.**

**The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black side-car attached. **

**All around him other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses.**

"What are they?" Andrew Kirke, one of the beaters Harry had chosen for the Gryffindor team, asked nervously.

"Thestrals." Abraxas replied gently, "they pull the school carriages and are invisible to everyone who has not seen someone die."

"Apart from that, they are relatives of ordinary horses, but have an exceptionally good sense of direction." Regulus added, "they're just not easy to ride, especially when you can't see them."

"Brooms are much better." Harry agreed, "and more comfortable, despite being thin sticks of wood."

"With a broom, you don't get seasick from going up and down, which is what happens when riding a thestral or Hippogriff." Ron laughed.

**Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped him on the back, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?"**

"**Definitely," said Harry, beaming around at them all. "But I wasn't expecting this many of you!"**

"**Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity.**

"Paranoid man." Tonks muttered, her hair turning blue again.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed, making several people jump, and causing others to roll their eyes.

"Oh good god." Slughorn mumbled to himself, holding his hand over his right ear, "I really wish he would stop doing that. I may be a hundred and ten, but I don't want to go deaf."

"**Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."**

**Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia's gleaming work surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless appliances;**

"Harry." Hermione whined, having read ahead, "why are your descriptions so brutal?"

"I don't know." Harry shrugged.

**Ron, long and lanky;**

"Long and lanky?" Ron grimaced, "how nice."

"Well, you are lanky." Harry sniggered, "what was it your wife called you the year before you got around to proposing to her? Oh yes, the stringy orange tree."

"How odd." Theo muttered, blinking rapidly in confusion, while Daphne buried her head in her hands in embarrassment.

"Definitely." Blaise agreed.

**Hermione, her bushy hair tied back in a long plait; **

"It got less bushy as the years went by." Draco grinned, "but I like it."

"The bushiness depends on the stress of the situation." Harry sniggered, "Hermione's hair got frizzier and frizzier the closer we got to exams."

"And the closer we got to exams, the more likely it was that she would hex someone." Seamus added helpfully.

"Usually you Seamus." Dean snorted.

"I think I'm glad there were no girls like that in my year." Regulus said, suppressing a shudder at the thought.

"Lucky you." Charlus grimaced, "there were five like that when I was a student, all in Slytherin, and of course, there wasn't so much hatred between Gryffindor and Slytherin at that point, so the Gryffindors suffered just as much as the Slytherins did."

"You obviously weren't all that bothered about being around those girls." Cygnus pointed out, "you did go and marry one."

"Very true." Charlus nodded, smiling at Dorea with such love in his eyes that those who saw it began to cry.

"What happened to the others?" Katie asked.

"Anwen Davies, who was in the same year as us, married George Potter, one of Charlus' brothers,, Charis married Casper Crouch, Lucretia married Ignatius Prewett and Cedrella married Septimus Weasley." Dorea smirked, "her grandsons are all sitting at this table."

"Gran was a Slytherin." Fred whistled, "now I know why the hat considered us for Slytherin."

"Don't forget your uncle Bilius was also a Slytherin." Arthur smiled, "odd man that he was."

"Did any of them, apart from you and gran, have children?" Bill asked.

"Charis and Casper were Barty Crouch senior's parents, Lucretia was barren, so she and Ignatius didn't have any children, and Anwen and George had one son, Alfred." Dorea nodded.

"Wow." Charlie whistled.

**Fred and George, grinning identically; **

"Wahoo." The twins yelled, jumping onto the table and bowing to everyone.

"WEASLEYS, SIT DOWN!" Minerva barked.

**Bill, badly scarred and long-haired; **

"What happened?" Mrs Weasley asked, clutching her face and staring at Bill, as if she could see the scars that were mentioned.

"I don't know." Bill replied, "it must have happened in the next year or so."

"Do you know what happened?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Greyback happened." Lucius sighed, "he wasn't transformed, but he had somehow managed to become more wolf-like even when there was no full moon."

"My God." Regulus whispered, "a werewolf is one of the few creatures that can leave scars that won't disappear. And Greyback is one of the most vicious werewolves out there."

**Mr Weasley, kind-faced, balding, his spectacles a little awry;**

"That was a nice one." Mr Weasley smiled, "it's a pity that the fact that I'm going bald was mentioned, but oh well."

"Your father also went bald." Dorea smiled, "he liked it though."

"Dad definitely is a bit strange." Mr Weasley said.

"Maybe that's why Cousin Cedrella married him." Cygnus mused, "she is also fairly peculiar."

"Pardon?" George asked.

"Your grandmother, Cedrella Weasley, was born Cedrella Black." Dorea giggled, "she's my first cousin because our fathers were brothers. It is quite surprising how large the Black family is. I had two brothers and a sister, my father had three brothers and a sister, each one of whom had several children."

"Blimey." Bill muttered.

**Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one-legged, his bright blue magical eye whizzing in its socket;**

"Typical Moody." Tonks said fondly.

**Tonks, whose short hair was her favourite shade of bright pink; **

"It suits you." Remus said, smiling shyly.

"At least he didn't use my first name." Tonks grinned.

"Why? I like the name Nymphadora." Remus asked.

"You're the only one other than my fool of a mother." Tonks grumbled.

"Andromeda decided that if she had to live with a crap name, then you could too." Cygnus snorted.

"You said the same thing after calling your daughter, Cassiopeia." Harry sniggered.

"Crap." Tonks muttered.

"We Black women are nothing if not highly vindictive." Dorea giggled.

"Why are you named after constellations?" Justin asked, "I've been wondering since the beginning of the book."

"It seems to be a family tradition." Dorea replied dryly, "our entire family seems to like naming children after stars and constellations, apart from Narcissa, who is named after a flower, for some unknown reason."

"Her mother chose it." Cygnus grimaced, "I wasn't allowed any input."

"Oh dear." Parvati mumbled.

**Lupin, greyer, more lined;**

"At least Moony's still around." James said, shaking his head at the way the Marauders had fallen apart.

**Fleur, slender and beautiful, with her long silvery blonde hair; **

"What's she doing there?" Fred asked.

"Er … she wanted to be there to help." Ron replied, "and she felt that she owed Harry for saving her sister in the lake."

**Kingsley, bald and broad-shouldered;**

"Why mention my lack of hair?" Kingsley whined.

"It's one of your distinctive features." Harry grinned.

**Hagrid, with his wild hair and beard, standing hunchbacked to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling;**

"Poor Hagrid." Sprout whispered.

**and Mundungus Fletcher, small, dirty, and hangdog, with his droopy beady hound's eyes and matted hair. **

"What a lovely description." Remus smirked.

**Harry's heart seemed to expand and glow at the sight: he felt incredibly fond of all of them, even Mundungus, whom he had tried to strangle the last time they had met.**

"Why?" George asked, "Dung is cool."

"He's a cowardly little squit." Harry snorted, "and he had stolen some of my stuff."

"I agree." Regulus nodded, "Mundungus Fletcher is not to be trusted with anything dangerous or valuable."

"**Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?" he called across the room.**

"**He can get along without me for one night," said Kingsley. "You're more important."**

"Thanks." Harry muttered sarcastically.

"**Harry, guess what?" said Tonks from her perch on top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at him; a ring glistened there.**

"**You got married?" Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin.**

"**I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet."**

"You should have had him there." James sighed.

"We will this time." Remus smiled, "it hasn't happened yet."

"**That's brilliant, congrat –"**

"**All right, all right, we'll have time for a cosy catch-up later," roared Moody over the hubbub, **

"Not all of us." Ron whispered sadly.

**and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped the sacks at his feet and turned to Harry.**

"Did he really drop his trousers?" Draco asked, having heard the word 'slacks' instead of sacks.

"No." Harry replied, "Hermione just read it wrong."

"If he had dropped his trousers, we would have been scarred for life." Hermione said, going slightly green at the image, like most of the people in the hall.

"You were the one who said slacks, dear." Dorea giggled.

"I meant _SACKS_." Hermione yelled.

"Right, that makes much more sense." Orion grinned as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"**As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offence to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. **

"What charm?" Lily asked.

"When Voldemort attacked, he gave your replica a chance to move aside." Harry replied, "I was his target all along, and he was going to spare your/her life if you/she let him kill me, but because you/she didn't, it gave me some kind of protection against him."

"I'm not surprised she didn't move aside." Lily said, "she is or was me, and if she had, I don't think she'd have been able to live with herself."

"If she had, she would have created a paradox." Harry pointed out, "and there would have been ripples in time, affecting everything. We did programme the replica to do everything you would have done, and made sure that there was no chance that she could develop a personality of her own."

"That would have been way too dangerous." Lucius sighed, "if we had created a consciousness and personality from scratch, then there would have been the possibility that the replica would go on a rampage and destroy everything."

"Why did he give her the choice anyway?" Regulus wondered, trying to get off the subject of the creepy replicas Harry and Lucius had created, "that's not the way he works."

"Someone asked him to spare her." Harry replied, "the same person who gave him a reason to target us in the first place."

Snape, who had closed his eyes when Harry told Lily a bit of what happened, opened them again and glanced at Harry in shock. He couldn't believe that Harry knew about his role in the events of that Halloween, yet wasn't getting angry at him. That was one thing he had avoided mentioning during their training sessions, because he had truly dreaded losing the trust and respect Harry had for him.

**What he's really done is to stop you getting out of here safely."**

"**Second problem: you're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you."**

"**I don't –"**

"You don't know much do you?" Pansy giggled, coming to see the black-haired boy as a brotherly figure, instead of just seeing him as a friend, because he was just so very likeable. It didn't hurt that he was a gorgeous specimen of manhood, in her eyes.

"I knew there was a way of detecting underage magic, I just didn't know what it was called." Harry retorted, "and since no one had told me the name, I thought it didn't have one."

"That's a good point." Pansy sighed, "there's no easy way to find out about things like that. Especially with something as vague as the Trace."

"**The Trace, the Trace!" said Mad-Eye impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters."**

"**We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short, Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper."**

"So what are you going to do?" Charlus asked nervously, enjoying the fact that he was getting to know his grandson not only through the book, but also through listening to him talk.

"You'll see." Harry grinned.

**Harry could not help but agree with the unknown Thicknesse.**

"**So what are we going to do?"**

"**We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."**

"You're going to fly out." James cheered, "are you a good flyer?"

"He was the youngest Seeker in a century, and the only match he has lost was because of Dementors." Draco grumbled.

"You got on the team in your _first_ year?" Charlus squeaked in awe.

"Yep." Harry smirked, "sadly, Gryffindor didn't win the Quidditch cup until my third year, but there were extenuating circumstances. In first year, I was unconscious in the hospital wing, so I missed the last match, and in second, the tournament was cancelled."

"Merlin." James whispered.

"That's incredible." Dorea said, "why was the tournament cancelled?"

"The Chamber of Secrets was reopened." Harry replied while Mr and Mrs Weasley hugged Ginny, who had gone very pale, "fortunately nobody died, but it was close."

"How close?" Regulus asked, noticing the fact that the Weasley parents were hugging their daughter, who was pale and shaky for some reason.

"The one who opened the Chamber was being possessed and nearly had her life-force completely drained out of her. Fortunately the process was slow enough that after Fawkes pecked the monster's eyes and I'd stabbed its brains out, I was able to destroy the object controlling her." Harry said.

"Was it like the locket?" Regulus wondered.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "it was exactly like that, only far more insidious, being something that could be written in, with a powerful compulsion charm on it to make sure that whoever had it was going to write in it."

"Merlin." Regulus muttered, "he made more than one of those things."

"He made six." Harry said.

"Bloody fuck." Regulus grimaced, earning a cuff around the head from his father.

"What the hell are you two on about?" James asked, getting fed up of not understanding.

"You'll see." Harry grinned, "it will be explained in the book."

**Harry could see flaws in this plan; however, he held his tongue to give Mad-Eye the chance to address them.**

"**Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or –" Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen "– you no longer call this place home.**

"I never did." Harry snorted, "not even when it was the only place I knew."

Albus couldn't believe how much he had failed Harry, and vowed to do everything he could to make it up.

**You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?"**

"Good." Lily smiled.

**Harry nodded.**

"**So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We're choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen.**

"Should have just gone by side-along Apparition the moment the clock struck twelve." Harry grumbled, "would have been a lot safer."

"**The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. **

"Actually he does." Smith shouted, "the traitor told him. I knew we should never have trusted you, you bastard."

"Don't call him a bastard." Pince snapped, speaking for the first time since the copy of her soul merged, and glaring fiercely at the blond, "his parents _were _married when he was born."

"You didn't deny that he's a traitor." Smith said smugly.

"I didn't think I would have to." She shrugged, "because you've been told at least three times, that he is not a traitor, he's a spy, and has to tell You-Know-Who vital information so he doesn't blow his cover."

"If you don't start thinking before you speak, Hermione will do to you what she did to me in third year." Draco added.

"What did she do?" James asked.

"Slapped me." Draco replied.

"You deserved it." Hermione snorted, "mocking someone who was grieving."

"You may have gathered that I was a bit of a prat back then." Draco shrugged.

"Oh no." Abraxas grimaced, "it's a trait of Malfoy men, we act like right prats as teenagers."

"It seems to be a trait of the males in the Black family too." Regulus said, "I'm ashamed to say that I was a bit of a prat when I was a kid too."

**We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: they think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case.**

"And the group he used included several who don't like heights." Lucius smirked, "it was rather amusing watching Yaxley and Antonin Dolohov turning strange colours as they took off."

"Why did you just use Dolohov's first name?" Bill asked, "we all know who he is."

"I used it because I've met his children and grandchildren, all of whom absolutely hate his guts." Lucius shrugged, "it is incredible just how much unadulterated hatred they all have for him."

"I'm not really surprised, since he killed Bogdan and Adleta's mother so she couldn't teach them respect and tolerance." Hermione snorted.

"Merlin." Charlie whistled.

**So, we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's – you get the idea."**

"Poor Tonks, ending up with Muriel Prewett." Hermione muttered.

"Oh god, her." Mr Weasley shuddered, "she may not be as obsessed with heritage, but she's about as bad as that irritating portrait at HQ."

"That's a nasty thought." Regulus muttered.

"I cannot imagine anyone as bad as Walburga." Orion said flatly, suppressing a shiver of revulsion.

"Oh I don't know, Druella was pretty bad." Cygnus shrugged.

"Druella was a Rosier." Dorea pointed out, "and you know what the Rosiers were like."

"True." Cygnus mumbled.

"**Yeah," said Harry, not entirely truthfully, because he could still spot a gaping hole in the plan.**

"**You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"**

"How will you keep the destination secret if all fourteen of you are going to fly there?" Lily wondered.

"You'll see." Harry said.

"That answer is really _really_ beginning to irritate me." Remus muttered, "and we're barely half-way through chapter four."

"**Er – yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once –" he performed a quick headcount "– fourteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents?"**

"**Ah," said Moody, "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."**

"I understand now." James nodded, along with most of the other adults in the room.

"I don't." Dennis whined, "what are they going to do?"

"Polyjuice." Regulus replied.

"What's that?" Malcolm asked.

"A Potion that will turn you into someone else for about an hour." Abraxas explained, "it's very complicated to brew, and takes at least a month. Most seventh years have trouble with it, but it is an incredibly useful potion."

"Wow." Dennis whistled.

**From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud.**

"That sounds horrible." Colin said.

"It is horrible, and to work properly requires a piece of the person you're turning into, like a hair." Hermione smiled, "the taste varies depending on who's hair is used."

"So what did it taste like with Harry's hair?" James asked.

"Coffee." Hermione replied, "with a touch of lemon."

"That reminds me," Draco said, "I never asked, what did it taste like when we did that project during our N.E. , mine tasted of very strong tea?"

"Same here." Daphne giggled.

"Mine tasted of pine." Hermione smiled.

"Mine tasted like orange flavoured chocolate." Ron sniggered.

"What about yours Harry?" Draco asked.

"Vanilla and white chocolate." Harry grinned, trying not to drool.

"What are you on about?" Lily asked, getting annoyed.

"After the events in this book, the six of us who had been getting extra training were offered the chance to do our N.E.W.T exams." Hermione explained, "for our Potions grade, we had to do a project, which involved brewing Polyjuice, and spending a day as someone else. The idea was to see whether we could brew the potion and whether anyone could tell that we weren't actually who we looked like. It was great fun, but definitely odd."

"Once we'd brewed the Polyjuice, we then asked for volunteers to give us a few hairs." Draco continued, "several people volunteered, including Kingsley, Mr Weasley, all bar two of the professors, Dad, and Bill and Fleur."

"There were more volunteers than we needed, and we weren't allowed to choose who's hair we used, but the examiner tried to make sure that we each had someone who was different enough that we had to work hard to fool people." Harry said.

"Wow, so who's hair did you use?" James asked.

"I ended up turning into Mr Weasley. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about his job." Draco sighed, "I don't know how I managed to fool anyone, but somehow I did, though I suppose the fact that I was obsessed with model trains helped."

"I turned into Madam Hooch." Hermione smiled, "which was rather irritating, because I am absolutely terrified of heights."

"I was Kingsley." Ron grinned, "though I could have lived quite happily without knowing what it's like to be bored stiff doing all that paperwork."

"What about you Harry?" Lily asked.

"I ended up turning into Draco's dad." Harry grinned.

"Wow, what was that like?" Remus wondered.

"Very very weird, but it was nice to escape the drooling girls." Harry smirked, "well, most of them."

"Harry did exceptionally well." Lucius commented, "no one could tell the difference, not even me, and I was there when he took the polyjuice."

"So what about Daphne and Pansy?" Dorea asked.

"Pansy was given Fleur's hair." Draco replied, "and Daph became a mini Minnie."

"So she became Minerva for a day?" Charlus grinned.

"Yep." Hermione nodded.

"What did you all do when they were pretending to be you that day?" James asked.

"I had a day to relax." Lucius grinned, then grimaced, remembering what had happened, "but ended up wanting to bash my head in after talking to an American senator who wanted to seize control of a top-secret US Air Force project that I was involved with."

"Poor you." Lily said.

"How the hell did a Brit get involved in an American project?" Regulus asked.

"The project may have been run by the US Air Force, but it was started by, and part of the funding came from, the Department of Mysteries." Lucius replied, "some of the personnel were Unspeakables too."

"Does the project have a proper name?" Flitwick wondered.

"Yes, the base is called StarGate Command, or SGC for short." Lucius nodded.

"What is a Star Gate?" Sprout queried.

"It is a rather incredible piece of technology, that was created by the Ancients." Harry explained, "I don't know how many Stargates there are in the galaxy, in total, but I do know that the Ancients placed one on every planet that was inhabitable when they were colonising, and each one was allocated a certain address."

"As we mentioned earlier, the Stargate network is similar in principle to the Floo network, but far more advanced and powerful." Lucius added, "the addresses are unique to the planets the gates are on, and each one contains seven symbols, which refer to constellations. To connect one gate to another, all we have to do is use a device known as a DHD, or Dial-Home-Device, to dial the seven symbols of the destination address, in the right order, at which point, the embarkation gate with create a stable, artificial wormhole between it and the destination gate, and to travel, just step through."

"How fast is the journey?" Snape wondered, not really understanding the explanation, despite knowing that Lucius and Harry were trying their best to keep it simple.

"Three point two seconds." Harry replied.

"That's fast." Pomfrey muttered.

**There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately.**

"**No!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. "No way!"**

"If he's got my stubbornness, this is going to take a while." Lily sighed.

"Oh it did." Hermione giggled, "Harry's so stubborn it's ridiculous, but sometimes, that stubbornness is a good thing."

"It irritated Voldemort to no end." Harry smirked, pretending not to notice the way Lily and almost the entire student body flinched at Voldemort's name.

"**I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione with a hint of complacency.**

"**If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives –!"**

"– **because it's the first time for all of us," said Ron.**

"**This is different, pretending to be me –"**

"**Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever."**

Everyone burst out laughing, except the teachers, and the Weasley parents, who thought that was a pretty poor joke, in pretty poor taste.

"James, you look just like him, why are you laughing?" Remus asked.

James stopped and glared at the werewolf, who merely smirked.

"You look like him too dear." Dorea said, struggling to contain her laughter at Charlus' miffed expression.

**Harry did not smile.**

"Why not?" George whined.

"It wasn't a very good joke." Harry snorted.

"**You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you some hair."**

"**Well, that's the plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."**

"**Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance," said Fred.**

"Don't forget you can't use magic either." Abraxas pointed out.

"And if you wanted to get physical, you'd have to catch me first." Harry sniggered.

"I'm glad we didn't." Hermione sighed, "you may be extremely skinny, but you can be fast when you want to be. Then again, that might be because your legs are never-ending."

"And you would know that how?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not only did I get to feel what it was like wearing your body, I was also there when you were measured for the robes you wore at your wedding." Hermione giggled, "and the seamstress was complaining about the fact that she couldn't find trousers that were long enough."

"Yes, she had to make a pair from scratch, which she did not enjoy, because she couldn't use the templates she had." Lucius sniggered.

"**Funny," said Harry, "really amusing."**

"**If it has to come to force, then it will," growled Moody, his magical eye now quivering a little in its socket as he glared at Harry. "Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk."**

**Mundungus shrugged and grimaced; the magical eye swerved sideways to glance at him out of the side of Moody's head.**

"I don't think he is, and I don't like it." McGonagall said.

"**Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, boy, now."**

"**But this is mad, there's no need –"**

"Yes there is." James said, "if the greasy git hadn't told Voldemort when you were leaving, the plan would still be a good one. The main thing about it is that the greasy stain couldn't tell Voldemort about the Polyjuice, because he didn't know about it, so there's an extra layer of safety."

"He did know about it." Harry grinned, "as I keep saying, it was his idea, but he didn't tell Voldemort about the polyjuice."

"**No need!" snarled Moody. "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side?**

"This is sounding really bad." Scrimgeour muttered, refraining from burying his head in his hands as he wondered how the hell this was going to be stopped before it started.

**Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven."**

**Harry caught Hermione's eye and looked away at once.**

No one, other than the three teachers who had been told, those who had been sent back or had had to learn about the Darkest magic around, had understood that reference, but they all knew they would find out eventually, so didn't bother asking. Even Regulus hadn't quite believed that Voldemort would make so many, but he had at least been aware that the Dark Lord had made more than one.

"**So, Potter – some of your hair, if you please."**

**Harry glanced at Ron, who grimaced at him in a just-do-it sort of way.**

"**Now!" barked Moody.**

**With all of their eyes upon him, Harry reached up to the top of his head, grabbed a hank of hair, and pulled.**

"I bet that hurt." James grimaced.

"I've had worse." Harry shrugged, "I barely noticed it."

"**Good," said Moody, limping forward as he pulled the stopper out of the flask of potion. "Straight in here, if you please."**

**Harry dropped the hair into the mud-like liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.**

"Bloody hell." Charlus whistled.

"What does that mean?" Dennis asked.

"The closer to gold, the more pure the soul of the witch or wizard is." Dorea replied, a note of awe in her voice.

"I don't understand." Colin said, "does that mean a witch or wizard with a pure soul can't use dark magic?"

"No, it has absolutely nothing to do with that." Cygnus sighed, "magic is neutral, that is the most important thing to know, the intent behind every spell is what makes it good or evil. Someone with as pure a soul as Harry, can use so-called dark magic, just as easily as someone with a completely corrupted soul, but their reasons for using it are completely different."

"So what does it mean if a dose of polyjuice turns black?" Hermione wondered, never having thought of that.

"Either the witch or wizard's soul is utterly vile, or they're being controlled and forced to do unspeakable things by someone whose soul is utterly vile." Dorea replied, confused as to why Hermione would want the answer to that question.

"Interesting." Ron murmured.

"**Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry," said Hermione, **

"Do you know how wrong that sounded?" Draco asked.

"I did realise, after I'd said it." Hermione mumbled.

**before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, "Oh, you know what I mean – Goyle's potion tasted like bogeys."**

"How the hell would you know that?" James yelped.

"We brewed Polyjuice in second year." Harry replied.

"Are you out of your minds?" Mrs Weasley shouted angrily, "do you know how dangerous that was if it went wrong?"

"We were well aware of that." Harry said coolly, "but it was no more dangerous than doing nothing, we had to try something because there was no way we were going to ignore what was going on."

"It was my idea anyway." Hermione sighed, "I was just so scared that I was going to be killed, just for being a Muggle-born, and I felt that I couldn't just sit back and let others handle it."

Draco and Dorea gently wrapped their arms around Hermione's shoulders to try and comfort her while the others who either remembered that year or who had been told about it, and were sitting at the middle table, glared at anyone who seemed like they were going to laugh.

"Plus the teachers who were training us knew what we were doing, and had not only given us permission, but also supervised some of it." Daphne added after Hermione had calmed down slightly.

"Why you had to choose a bathroom to brew it in, I'll never know." Snape murmured.

"No one was likely to pry." Harry grinned.

"Good point." Snape sighed.

"**Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please," said Moody.**

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur lined up in front of Aunt Petunia's gleaming sink.**

"**We're one short," said Lupin.**

"**Here," said Hagrid gruffly, and he lifted Mundungus by the scruff of the neck and dropped him down beside Fleur, who wrinkled her nose pointedly and moved along to stand between Fred and George instead.**

"What a snob." Lily sniffed.

"She's French, and quarter Veela." Harry grinned.

"She can also tell who's trustworthy and who isn't." Hermione added, "she knew not to trust Dung with anything."

"Is she a relative of Claude Delacour?" Abraxas wondered.

"Yes, she's his oldest grand-daughter." Ron smiled.

"I did wonder." Abraxas said, "the Delacours have always kept close ties with the French Veela population, marrying a Veela every couple of generations or thereabouts. I'm actually surprised that only one of her grandparents was a Veela."

"I am rather surprised as well." Dorea nodded, "as far as I know, Claude Delacour's grandmother was a Veela too, so I would have expected him to marry one, to keep their tradition going."

"Interesting." Regulus muttered.

"**I've toldjer, I'd sooner be a protector," said Mundungus.**

"**Shut it," growled Moody. "As I've already told you, you spineless worm,**

"Good description of him." Draco smirked.

**any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who would want to finish Potter in person. It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters'll want to kill them."**

"But then the fake Harrys will be in more danger, especially when the Polyjuice wears off." Regulus sighed.

**Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but Moody was already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one.**

"**Altogether, then …"**

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion hit their throats; at once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax.**

"It sounds really unpleasant." Dennis shuddered.

"It is." Caruso nodded, making Abraxas and Cygnus jump because he hadn't spoken for a while, "but extremely useful."

**Hermione and Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking; their hair was darkening, Hermione's and Fleur's appearing to shoot backward into their skulls.**

**Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him.**

**Fred and George turned to each other and said together, "Wow – we're identical!"**

"Really not a good time to joke." Lily muttered.

"**I dunno, though, I think I'm still better-looking," said Fred, examining his reflection in the kettle.**

"**Bah," said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, "Bill, don't look at me – I'm 'ideous."**

"Why would she care what Bill thinks?" George asked.

"We're engaged." Bill grinned, "if you two bothered to pay a visit occasionally, then you'd know already."

"I still think you're too young." Mrs Weasley said, "and it's too soon. You've only known each other for one year."

"Mum, we're not children any more, it's time you saw that and let us live our lives the way we want to." Charlie sighed.

"But you are children, all of you." Mrs Weasley exclaimed, unwilling to see her twenty-odd year-old sons as anything other than babies, "you're all too young to be living away from home."

"Molly, it's up to them." Lily said softly, "I was only twenty when I had Harry, and I wouldn't give him up for anything. I've only seen you here for the last few hours, but having heard what your sons are saying, I can tell that while you only want your children to have the best lives they can, you need to let them make their own decisions, make their own mistakes without trying to run their lives for them."

"What do you know, you didn't get much chance to learn how to be a parent." Mrs Weasley snapped, angry that someone younger than her was telling her what to do.

"My daughter-in-law may not, but I certainly did." Dorea snarled, "and I agree with her. Cut those apron strings you seem to be trying to strangle your children with, and let them decide what they want to do. Your sons are all old enough to be able to make sensible decisions by now, they can look after themselves without you trying to butt in and shelter them from something that they don't need to be sheltered from any more."

"That's why we all moved out as soon as we could." Bill nodded.

"It's also why we chose the jobs we have, we enjoy the danger." Charlie agreed, "Mum wants us all to work in the Ministry, but we know that, apart from Percy, we wouldn't do well working behind desks. Heck, I'm much happier outside, seeing and experiencing the weather the Earth can throw at me when I'm working with the dragons on the reserve."

"They're right Molly, Bill is twenty-five, he's old enough to be getting married." Mr Weasley said softly, "you do keep saying that you want lots of grandchildren, but the way you seem to be treating our sons, if they do provide us with grandchildren, we're unlikely to know them. If you continue going on the way you have, our sons are unlikely to want to introduce you to any children they might have."

"Merlin." Mrs Weasley whimpered, horrified at what her sons thought of her.

"**Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. Don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack."**

**The real Harry thought that this might just be the most bizarre thing he had ever seen, and he had seen some extremely odd things. **

"I bet it would look odd." Charlie grinned, "though I wish I was involved, instead of Dung."

"Well, you shouldn't have gone to Romania then." Fred sniggered.

"You know exactly why I went there." Charlie snorted, "and it had nothing to do with the dragons, because I had been offered a job at the Welsh reserve."

**He watched as his six doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling out sets of clothes, putting on glasses, stuffing their own things away. He felt like asking them to show a little more respect for his privacy as they all began stripping off with impunity, clearly more at ease with displaying his body than they would have been with their own.**

Hermione paused and looking at Harry, said, "sorry."

"People generally are more at ease showing off someone else's body, than they are showing off their own." Charlus grinned.

"**I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo," said Ron, looking down at his bare chest.**

"What tattoo, and why would she know about it?" George asked, staring at Harry, along with the other Weasley boys apart from Ron, while Ginny looked at him curiously. She knew that Harry wasn't the one for her, but she wouldn't have minded going on a few dates with him.

"We'll explain that later." Harry said, ignoring Mrs Weasley's sniffling, "it would take too long now, and we don't have much time."

"**Harry, your eyesight really is awful," said Hermione, as she put on glasses.**

"Yes, Hermione, why do you think I wear glasses?" Harry asked amusedly.

"How did you know it was Hermione?" Regulus wondered.

"Because that was definitely a Hermione thing to say." Harry grinned.

**Once dressed, the fake Harrys took rucksacks and owl cages, each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from the second sack.**

"**Good," said Moody, as at last seven dressed, bespectacled, and luggage-laden Harrys faced him. "The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be travelling with me, by broom –"**

"**Why'm I with you?" grunted the Harry nearest the back door.**

"Because he's the one that needs watching." Moody growled, glaring at the book with his good eye while the other whirled around crazily.

"**Because you're the one that needs watching," growled Moody, and sure enough, his magical eye did not waver from Mundungus as he continued, "Arthur and Fred –"**

"**I'm George," said the twin at whom Moody was pointing. "Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?"**

"That joke is so old." Harry grumbled, "and that was actually Fred who said it."

"You are one of the few who can tell them apart." Draco said, "I can't. My father, the lucky sod, could tell them apart the first time he met them."

"How did you manage that?" Charlus asked curiously.

"I have no idea." Lucius replied with a shrug.

"**Sorry, George –"**

"**I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really –"**

"**Enough messing around!" snarled Moody. "The other one – George or Fred or whoever you are –**

"Good one." Charlie sniggered.

**you're with Remus. Miss Delacour –"**

"**I'm taking Fleur on a thestral," said Bill. "She's not that fond of brooms."**

"More like she's absolutely terrified of heights." Bill mumbled.

**Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, slavish look that Harry hoped with all his heart would never appear on his face again.**

"Er, if it's the expression I think it is, then sadly, it has appeared on your face." Draco said sheepishly.

"Oh I'm sure it did." Harry snorted, "you've worn it too, when pleading with your hormonal wife."

"Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but when she was pregnant, she was an absolute nightmare." Draco grimaced.

"At least her cravings were not as weird as Cissy's." Lucius said, smirking slightly.

"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked, "Hermione did repeatedly liquefy various flavours of Bertie Bott's beans, and then drink the result."

"True, but she didn't spend three months eating nothing but red kidney beans." Lucius snorted, "I couldn't stand the sight of those things by the end of that."

"I feel sorry for you." Mr Weasley said, trying to get past his hatred of the blond, which was made easier by the fact that Harry, Ron and Hermione were comfortable around him and the extreme difference in the man's behaviour.

"I think I'd prefer it if someone had had a craving for red kidney beans." Draco said, "at least I wouldn't have had to watch Dad pouring chilli sauce on his pancakes."

"Don't forget the day he ate nothing but pea soup, dunking a deep-fried Mars bar into it." Harry grinned.

"Pregnant people are weird." Dennis muttered.

"Let's carry on reading." Albus suggested, trying not to think of the strange foods Lucius seemed to have eaten.

"**Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral –"**

**Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile; Harry knew that Hermione too lacked confidence on a broomstick. **

"Did you have to mention that?" Hermione asked, glaring at Harry.

"I didn't write it, but it is an important thing to mention." Harry replied.

"It is interesting that a lot of bookworms aren't exactly happy on brooms." Regulus commented, "I never understood why though."

"Someone will have to do some research into that then." Cygnus smiled.

"I was a bookworm, and I love Quidditch, so I don't think that many bookworms are against flying." Dorea pointed out.

"Yeah, you were part of that utterly unbeatable Slytherin team that thrashed us every year." Charlus nodded, slightly disappointedly, "but then again, our Chasers were useless."

"Which position did you play?" Fred asked curiously.

"Seeker." Charlus grinned.

"I appear to be the odd one out in our family." James smirked, "I was a Chaser."

"Wow." The Weasley twins drooled.

"Merlin, could you two act any more ape-like?" Angelina Johnson groused, entering the hall with Oliver Wood in tow, and joining the Gryffindor table. "Sorry we're late, training went on longer than we'd hoped."

The twins stuck their tongues out at her in response to her comment about how they acted, as Albus nodded, "no worries my dears, you're here now, and you haven't missed too much."

"Thank you sir." Angelina nodded, sitting next to Alicia, who had returned to Hogwarts to train with Flitwick, before travelling to Austria to join the World Duelling circuit.

"**Which leaves you and me, Ron!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him.**

"Still as clumsy as ever." Ron sniggered.

"I think it's adorable." Remus muttered.

**Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione.**

"**An' you're with me, Harry. That all righ'?" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."**

"**That's great," said Harry, not altogether truthfully.**

"**We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom," said Moody, **

"Good point." Remus said.

"Well I would have preferred a broom." Harry snorted.

**who seemed to guess how Harry was feeling. "Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before,**

"I still can't believe he became a Death Eater." Lily sighed.

"You did break his heart." Harry pointed out, "after you broke off your friendship with him, he felt he had nothing to lose, he'd already lost it all, but then Voldemort targeted us, and he realised that he'd made a big mistake, so became a spy for the Order."

"How do you know?" Regulus asked.

"Because I got to know him." Harry replied, "during many of our training sessions, we talked about anything and everything, and I got to know the man behind the mask. He told me exactly what happened between you and how much your refusal to accept his apology hurt him."

"Merlin." Lily murmured sadly while Regulus was looking at Snape speculatively, still not exactly certain he knew what the man's true personality was like, even after knowing him since they were eleven and twelve.

**so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who looks at home on a broomstick. All right then," he went on, tying up the sack with the fake Potters' clothes in it and leading the way back to the door, "I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking. Come on …"**

"I agree that a locked door wouldn't stop the Death Eaters, and would possibly alert them." Cygnus nodded.

**Harry hurried to gather his rucksack, Firebolt, and Hedwig's cage and followed the group to the dark back garden.**

**On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, **

"That wasn't exactly easy." She mumbled, "I still couldn't see the darn thing."

"I can't imagine trying to fly on something I can't see." Dorea shuddered.

**Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the motorbike, goggles on.**

"**Is this it? Is this Sirius's bike?"**

"Yes." James nodded.

"Unfortunately for my sanity, it was the only thing that could get you to sleep." Lily added with a grimace, "for some reason you found the sound of the engine soothing."

"**The very same," said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. "An' the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh in one hand!"**

The students and a few guests couldn't help but coo at the thought. Many didn't because they could see how embarrassed Harry was, while Minerva and Albus began to sniffle slightly at the memory of the little baby boy who had grabbed onto their heartstrings and never let go.

"You were such a cute baby." Lily whispered in her son's ear, enjoying the way he blushed, wishing there would be no more mentions of him as a baby.

**Harry could not help but feel a little humiliated as he got into the side-car. It placed him several feet below everybody else: Ron smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car. Harry stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet and rammed Hedwig's cage between his knees. He was extremely uncomfortable.**

"That's why I would have preferred a broom." Harry grumbled.

"**Arthur's done a bit o' tinkerin'," said Hagrid, quite oblivious to Harry's discomfort.**

"He always has been fairly oblivious, but that's one of his endearing qualities." Angelina said.

**He settled himself astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. "It's got a few tricks up its sleeves now. Tha' one was my idea." He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the speedometer.**

"**Please be careful, Hagrid." said Mr Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. "I'm still not sure that was advisable and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies."**

"That doesn't sound good." Lily fretted.

"**All right, then." said Moody. "Everyone ready, please. I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."**

**Everybody mounted their brooms.**

"**Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on each side of her waist.**

"Aww, he doesn't want to get on Moony's bad side." James sniggered.

"No male wants to get on the wrong side of a married man, especially by touching the man's wife in the wrong way." Regulus sniggered.

"The same goes for gay men and women's husbands." Charlus grinned.

"Unless of course, the husband is also gay and the marriage was arranged." Lucius pointed out.

"Very true." Dorea nodded, "in that case, it would be all right."

"Yeah, the marriage could be annulled and the husband could then get married to his lover." Draco sniggered, "or if both have enough creature blood in them, and they discovered that they were soul mates, then no one would be able to interfere."

"But that is a very rare occurrence." Charlus said, "as far as I know, Harry's bonding is the first union like that since my great-great-great-great-grandfather, who's soul-mate was a Siren."

"Who was that?" Scrimgeour wondered.

"The second Henry in the family." Charlus replied, "his soul-mate was Georgios Botsaris, a seaman who died during the Chios Massacre of the Greek War of Independence."

"Wow." Flitwick whistled.

"Wouldn't his soul-mate have died with him?" Minerva queried.

"Henry was already dead." Charlus grimaced, "he died during the Battle of Waterloo. Georgios only survived after Henry's death because of their son, who was nine at the time of the battle."

"Merlin." Pomfrey whispered, "what happened to their son?"

"He lived to eighty-three, which was quite old for the time." Charlus replied, "he even managed to survive a major outbreak of cholera, as did his two children, my great-great-grandfather, and his sister Camilla, though unfortunately, his wife did not."

"Cholera, like plague, is one of those diseases that doesn't just affect non-magical people." Pomfrey said sadly, "the magical world has suffered just as much during outbreaks of both diseases."

**Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life: it roared like a dragon, and the side-car began to vibrate.**

"**Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. **

"Not everyone." Harry murmured.

**On the count of three. One … two … THREE."**

**There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry felt the side-car give a nasty lurch: he was rising through the air fast, his eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off his face. Around him brooms were soaring upward too; the long black tail of a thestral flicked past. His legs, jammed into the side-car by Hedwig's cage and his rucksack, were already sore and starting to go numb.**

"Not pleasant." James muttered.

"Definitely not." Harry agreed, "that's part of why I hated the plan."

**So great was his discomfort that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number four Privet Drive. By the time he looked over the edge of the side-car he could no longer tell which one it was.**

**And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. **

"Damn." A fair few students mumbled.

"Damn you Snape." James roared, completely losing it and attempting to leap out of his seat to strangle the potions master, but couldn't because Harry had had the good sense to cast a sticking charm on him.

"Leave. Him. Be." Harry hissed angrily, not quite slipping into Parseltongue, but there was definitely a serpentine quality to his voice. "Not everything iss ass it sseemss, sso do not judge him for what you do not know."

"I know enough." James growled, still trying to get up, and still failing.

"You know nothing." Harry snapped, causing James, and everyone else who thought he hated the professor, to stare at him in shock. None of them had truly believed what Harry had said during the first chapter, but hearing him now made them wonder whether it actually was true.

**At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in mid-air, formed a vast circle in the middle of which the Order members had risen, oblivious –**

**Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yell and the motorbike rolled over. Harry lost any sense of where they were. Streetlights above him, yells around him, he was clinging to the side-car for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and his rucksack slipped from beneath his knees –**

"**No – HEDWIG!"**

**The broomstick spun to the earth, but he just managed to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the cage.**

"Poor owl." Lily sobbed.

"She had a great life." Hermione said, a few tears dripping down her cheeks, "I think you spoiled her."

"She was my only link to the magical world when I went back to being Vernon's slave." Harry sighed, "of course I spoiled her."

"**No – NO!"**

**The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle.**

"**Hedwig – _Hedwig_ –"**

"It's just an owl." Smith sneered, "you can get another one."

"You don't have an animal, so you don't understand the bond between a wizard and his pet." Orion snapped, "a wizard's personal post owl, is more than just an owl, it's a friend, a companion."

"I don't know what your parents taught you, or how you ended up in Hufflepuff, but you act more like a Death Eater than anything." George said, glaring at Smith.

"I'm not." Smith yelled.

"You act like one." Fred snorted.

**But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage. He could not take it in, and his terror for the others was paramount. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were –**

"**Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled **

"That's suicidal." Dorea snapped, "you could get hurt, or even killed."

"I didn't care at the time." Harry said, "all I cared about was whether my friends were safe."

"Admirable, but definitely not a good time." Cygnus pointed out.

**over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out his wand, ramming Hedwig's cage into the floor, refusing to believe that she was dead. "Hagrid, TURN ROUND!"**

"I hope he doesn't." Mrs Weasley said.

"He didn't." Harry growled angrily, "I wished he had."

"**My job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, and he opened the throttle.**

"**Stop – STOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid's broad back. Hagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping up with the bike; more curses shot after them, and Harry had to sink low into the side-car to avoid them. Wriggling around he cried, "_Stupefy_!" and a red bolt of light shot from his own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it.**

"Pity it didn't hit one." James muttered, very pale and nervous, like almost everyone in the hall. The only ones who weren't were the ones who supported Voldemort, and the small group who'd had their souls sent back. Even the five from the past were nervous, despite the fact that they knew in their minds that Harry had survived, but their hearts were over-riding all sense of logic.

"**Hold on, Harry, this'll do for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and Harry looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger into a green button near the fuel gauge.**

**A wall, a solid black wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipe.**

"That's impressive." Minerva whispered, unable to speak more loudly due to her fear.

**Craning his neck, Harry saw it expand into being in mid-air. **

**Three of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky; He vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder from behind it, his broomstick broken into pieces. **

"Sounds like what happened to your Nimbus in third year." Draco grinned.

"It's pretty much exactly what happened to the Nimbus." Harry snorted, "only the Nimbus didn't just meet a solid and unmoving object, it hit the Whomping Willow."

"How are you so calm?" James asked, glaring at the pair, but still concerned about Harry's safety.

"We've already lived through all of this." Draco replied, "for us, the events we're reading about were forty-eight years ago."

"Oh." Lily mumbled, trying desperately to calm down and stop panicking so much.

**One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they and the airborne wall were swallowed by darkness as Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up.**

**More Killing Curses flew past Harry's head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for Hagrid. Harry responded with further Stunning Spells: red and green collided in mid-air in a shower of multicoloured sparks, and Harry thought wildly of fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no idea what was happening –**

"Don't think about that." James said, "focus on what you're doing."

"I _was_ focused." Harry said, "I was also trying to take my mind off the fact that my friends might have been dead or dying and there was nothing I could do to save them."

"**Here we go again, Harry, hold on!" yelled Hagrid, and he jabbed at a second button. This time a great net burst from the bike's exhaust, but the Death Eaters were ready for it. Not only did they swerve to avoid it, but the companion who had slowed to save their unconscious friend had caught up: he bloomed suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing the motorbike, all shooting curses after it.**

"How on earth did you survive?" Regulus asked.

"You'll see." Harry grinned.

"**This'll do it, Harry, hold on tight!" yelled Hagrid, and Harry saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple button beside the speedometer.**

**With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire burst from the exhaust, white-hot and blue, and the motorbike shot forward like a bullet with a sound of wrenching metal. **

"Oh that is useful." Charlie said, almost drooling at the thought of something spewing dragon-fire.

"What's with him?" Regulus asked, staring at the daydreaming red-head nervously.

"He's obsessed with dragons." Orion said, "he was a dragon-handler on the reserve in Romania, and refused to get any other job, until we gave him the opportunity to convert an entire planet into a dragon sanctuary."

"Odd." Charlus mumbled.

"His son was just as mad about dragons." Lucius sniggered, "and had been since he was five."

"Very odd." Regulus muttered.

**Harry saw the Death Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame, and at the same time felt the side-car sway ominously: its metal connections to the bike had splintered with the force of acceleration.**

"That sounds ominous." Snape muttered, surprising everyone with his concern for the younger Potter. None of them remembered that he had been one of the teachers giving Harry extra training, and therefore his attitude in class had just been a cover for his true feelings.

"**It's all righ', Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat onto the back by the surge of speed; nobody was steering now, and the side-car was starting to twist violently in the bike's slipstream.**

"**I'm on it, Harry, don' worry!" Hagrid yelled, and from inside his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink umbrella.**

"Hagrid." Minerva moaned, "let him do it himself."

"**Hagrid! No! Let me!"**

"**REPARO!"**

**There was a deafening bang and the side-car broke away from the bike completely:**

"Bugger." Dean said.

**Harry sped forward, propelled by the impetus of the bike's flight, then the side-car began to lose height –**

**In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the side-car and shouted, "_Wingardium Leviosa_!"**

"Useful spell." Lily whispered, practically crawling into Harry's lap, and grabbing him into a hug in terror. Everyone stared at her, wide-eyed at the way she had almost shoved poor Harry out of his seat, and was crushing his head to her chest while Lucius had to duck to avoid being hit by her elbows.

**The side-car rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least still airborne: he had but a split second's relief, however, as more curses streaked past him: The three Death Eaters were closing in.**

"**I'm comin', Harry!" Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the side-car beginning to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, "_Impedimenta_!"**

**The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest:**

"Good aim." James said, periodically glancing from the book in Hermione's hands, to Harry, because he was unable to reach his son, and needed reassurance that Harry was safe and sound, despite the fact that he was having to hug the limpet Lily had become.

**for a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in mid-air as though he had hit an invisible barrier: one of his fellows almost collided with him –**

**Then the side-car began to fall in earnest, and the remaining Death Eater shot a curse so close to Harry that he had to duck below the rim of the car, knocking out a tooth on the edge of his seat –**

"Ouch." Regulus winced.

"I didn't notice." Harry snorted, grimacing slightly as Lily's grip got tighter and forced his face even further into her chest.

"**I'm comin', Harry, I'm comin'!"**

**A huge hand seized the back of Harry's robes and hoisted him out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry pulled his rucksack with him as he dragged himself onto the motorbike's seat and found himself back to back with Hagrid. As they soared upward, away from the two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out of his mouth, pointed his wand at the falling side-car, and yelled, "_Confringo_!"**

**He knew a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig as it exploded; **

"She wouldn't have wanted you to not do that." Draco said, "she has always loved you."

**the Death Eater nearest it was blasted off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished.**

"**Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," moaned Hagrid, "I shouldn'ta tried ter repair it meself – yeh've got no room –"**

"**It's not a problem, just keep flying!" Harry shouted back, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing closer.**

**As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, Hagrid swerved and zigzagged: Harry knew that Hagrid did not dare use the dragon-fire button again, with Harry seated so insecurely.**

"Good." Lily mumbled into Harry's hair.

**Harry sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at their pursuers, barely holding them off. He shot another blocking jinx at them: the closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and his hood slipped, and by the red light of his next Stunning Spell, Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike – Stan –**

"What? The Knight Bus conductor? _He_'s a Death Eater?" Pansy asked incredulously.

"He could have been Imperiused." Albus sighed, "we already know that the Death Eaters are willing to use it on people in the Ministry, so they wouldn't have any reservations about using it on anyone else."

"I still don't get why they'd choose him though." Pansy snorted, "he's not exactly the most useful person for them to have."

"He is the conductor of the Knight Bus, which means that if he truly is under the Imperius, then he can provide the Death Eaters with an untraceable and free method of transport, especially when they can't use brooms or the Floo." Snape pointed out, "that might be why they chose him."

"Oh." Pansy subsided, realising that her head of house was right, and that having someone in that position on their side would help the Death Eaters.

"**_Expelliarmus_!" Harry yelled.**

"You shouldn't have done that." Remus groaned.

"I'm glad I did." Harry said in a hard voice, though he still had his mother sitting on his lap, so it was slightly muffled.

"**That's him, it's him, it's the real one!"**

**The hooded Death Eater's shout reached Harry even above the thunder of the motorbike's engine: next moment, both pursuers had fallen back and disappeared from view.**

"**Harry, what's happened?" bellowed Hagrid. "Where've they gone?"**

"**I don't know!"**

"They went to tell Voldemort." Lucius sighed quietly, "they wanted the honour of showing him where Harry was."

**But Harry was afraid: the hooded Death Eater had shouted, "it's the real one"; how had he known? He gazed around at the apparently empty darkness and felt its menace. Where were they?**

**He clambered around on the seat to face forward and seized hold of the back of Hagrid's jacket.**

"**Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let's get out of here!"**

"Not a good idea." Dorea moaned, clutching Charlus' hand just as hard as Lily was clutching Harry.

"**Hold on tight, then, Harry!"**

**There was a deafening, screeching roar again and the white-blue fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt himself slipping backwards off what little of the seat he had. Hagrid flung backward upon him, barely maintaining his grip on the handlebars –**

"**I think we've lost 'em Harry, I think we've done it!" yelled Hagrid.**

**But Harry was not convinced; fear lapped at him as he looked left and right for pursuers he was sure would come … why had they fallen back? One of them had still had a wand … _It's him, it's the real one_ … they had said it right after he had tried to Disarm Stan …**

"**We're nearly there, Harry, we've nearly made it!" shouted Hagrid.**

"We weren't out of the woods yet." Harry said, rolling his eyes at Lily's fearful whimper and trying not to get too much of her bust in his mouth.

**Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars.**

**Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire: **

"Wait what?" Most of the people in the hall asked.

"It means that Voldemort is there." Albus sighed, "the night he tried to kill Harry the first time, some kind of connection was formed between them, so Harry can occasionally see into Voldemort's mind, and vice versa."

"It's not pleasant, but it means he can't sneak up on me." Harry said, turning his face to one side and pushing his mother's hair away from his mouth so he could breathe properly.

**as a Death Eater appeared on either side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry by millimetres, cast from behind –**

**And then Harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, **

"That. Is. Not. Possible." Remus breathed.

"It actually is." Snape muttered, "I taught him, before I switched sides."

**his snake-like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again –**

**Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the motorbike into a vertical dive. Clinging on for dear life, Harry sent Stunning Spells flying at random into the whirling night. He saw a body fly past him and knew he had hit one of them, but then he heard a bang and saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike spiralled through the air, completely out of control –**

"Oh no." Lily wailed, really getting into the story, and beginning to irritate her son, who's lap she was still sitting in.

**Green jets of light shot past them again. Harry had no idea which way was up, which down: His scar was still burning; he expected to die at any second. A hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from him, he saw it raise its arm –**

"**NO!"**

**With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the bike at the Death Eater; **

"Don't you dare die Hagrid." All the students who liked the half-giant yelled.

**to his horror, Harry saw both Hagrid and the Death Eater, falling out of sight, their combined weight too much for the broomstick –**

**Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry heard Voldemort scream, "_Mine_!"**

"Is it just me or does that put strange images in my head?" Fred wondered.

"It's not just you." Cygnus shuddered, going slightly green.

**It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, "_Avada_ –"**

**As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accord. **

"What? That makes no sense." The students said, and the Ravenclaws put their heads together to try and figure it out.

"I believe it might have something to do with the connection between Harry and Voldemort, but I'm not entirely sure." Albus said.

"It's also to do with our wands." Harry added, "seeing as both have the same core."

"What is the core?" Lisa Turpin asked.

"Phoenix feather." Harry replied, "and both are from Fawkes. The wands, while made from different wood, are brothers and will not work properly against each other."

"Interesting." Regulus muttered, looking at Harry and seemingly trying to understand him.

**He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a _crack_ and a scream of fury. **

"What was the crack?" Lucius asked, having not heard that part of the story before.

"That would be your poor elm and dragon-heartstring wand going snap, crackle and pop." Harry replied.

"Oh dear." Lucius mumbled, "that's what happened to it. Nice to know."

**The remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, "NO!" Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the ground.**

"Not a good idea." James said.

"**Hagrid!" Harry called, holding on to the bike for dear life. "Hagrid – _accio Hagrid_!"**

"That won't work, you'll just go to him faster." Blaise said.

"That was the idea." Harry grinned.

**The motorbike sped up, sucked towards the earth. Face level with the handlebars, Harry could see nothing but distant lights growing nearer and nearer: he was going to crash and there was nothing he could do about it. Behind him came another scream –**

"**_Your wand, Selwyn, give me your wand_!"**

**He felt Voldemort before he saw him. Looking sideways, he stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing he ever saw: Voldemort preparing to curse him once more –**

**And then Voldemort vanished. **

"Huh?" Many students and some of the guests said.

"You're safe." Tonks sighed, "you're at my parents house."

**Harry looked down and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with an ear-splitting, ground trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond. **

"Well, at least you got there." James said.

"That was the end of the chapter." Hermione sighed, marking the page and putting the book down in relief. She regretted getting the chapter with the Battle of Little Whinging in it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Fallen Warrior**

"Who would like to read?" Albus asked after everyone had been allowed five minutes to relax and recover.

"I might as well, get it over with." Snape sighed, summoning the book from in front of Hermione. "**Fallen Warrior**." He read as soon as he had the book in his hands and turned to the right page.

"**Hagrid?"**

"Please say the fallen warrior isn't Hagrid." Minerva whispered pleadingly.

"It wasn't." Hermione said, smiling sadly.

**Harry struggled to raise himself out of the debris of metal and leather that surrounded him: his hands sank into inches of muddy water as he tried to stand.**

"That was unpleasant." Harry grimaced, "the bike's fuel tank had ruptured, and I'm pretty sure there were koi carp in the pond."

"Oh dear. That does sound disgusting." Charlus said.

**He could not understand where Voldemort had gone and expected him to swoop out of the darkness at any moment. Something hot and wet was trickling down his chin and from his forehead. He crawled out of the pond and stumbled toward the great dark mass on the ground that was Hagrid.**

"**Hagrid? Hagrid, talk to me –"**

**But the dark mass did not stir.**

"I hope he's all right." Alicia said, worried for the friendly gamekeeper.

"**Who's there? Is it Potter? Are you Harry Potter?"**

**Harry did not recognize the man's voice. Then a woman shouted, "They've crashed, Ted! **

"I think that's my Mum." Tonks smiled.

**Crashed in the garden!"**

**Harry's head was swimming.**

"**Hagrid." he repeated stupidly, and his knees buckled.**

"I would assume you had a minor concussion." Pomfrey muttered, mentally going through her knowledge of head injuries and their symptoms.

**The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on what felt like cushions, with a burning sensation in his ribs and right arm. His missing tooth had been re-grown. The scar on his forehead was still throbbing.**

"**Hagrid?"**

**He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a sofa in an unfamiliar, lamplit sitting room. His rucksack lay on the floor a short distance away, wed and muddy. A fair-haired, big-bellied man was watching Harry anxiously.**

"Wow, Ted has really let himself go." James whistled

"He's addicted to chocolate." Cygnus sniggered, "Andromeda told me that the amount he eats in one month, would make a life-size sculpture of a dragon. Apparently she's lost count of the number of diets she's put him on."

"He doesn't eat as much chocolate as Moony eats, that would make a life-size sculpture of Hogwarts, with the Forest and grounds included." James grinned.

"That's it, you're going on a diet Remus." Dorea said sternly, causing the werewolf to whine sadly and pout.

"**Hagrid's fine, son," said the man, "the wife's seeing to him now. How are you feeling? Anything else broken? I've fixed your ribs, your tooth, and your arm. I'm Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks – Dora's father."**

"I can't believe you were injured that badly." Lily whispered.

"I didn't even notice that my arm was broken." Harry shrugged.

**Harry sat up too quickly: lights popped in front of his eyes and he felt sick and giddy.**

"Definitely a minor concussion." Pomfrey said.

"**Voldemort –"**

"**Easy, now," said Ted Tonks, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushing him back against the cushions. **

"That's not going to work." Hermione giggled, "Harry's too stubborn to lie around doing nothing."

"**That was a nasty crash you just had. What happened, anyway? Something go wrong with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and his Muggle contraptions?"**

"Yes." Mrs Weasley nodded, while her husband cowered and tried not to look too offended.

"**No," said Harry, as his scar pulsed like an open wound. "Death Eaters, loads of them – we were chased –"**

"**Death eaters?" said Ted sharply. "What d'you mean, Death Eaters? I thought they didn't know you were being moved tonight, I thought –"**

"**They knew," said Harry.**

"Yeah, thanks to the greasy stain." James muttered.

"It has been said, many many times, that he is our spy, and therefore has to give certain information away, so that he doesn't blow his cover." Tonks pointed out, "and if you don't stop complaining, then your son is likely to hex you."

"Oh." James mumbled, glancing fearfully in Harry's direction, and cowering slightly as he saw the slightly feral grin on his son's face.

**Ted Tonks looked up at the ceiling as though he could see through to the sky above.**

"**Well, we know our protective charms hold, then, don't we? They shouldn't be able to get within a hundred yards of the place in any direction."**

**Now Harry understood why Voldemort had vanished; it had been at the point when the motorbike crossed the barrier of the Order's charms. He only hoped they would continue to work: he imagined Voldemort, a hundred yards above them as they spoke, looking for a way to penetrate what Harry visualized as a great transparent bubble.**

"You have a strange mind." Pansy blinked.

"The wards would look like that if they were visible though." Remus shrugged, "but they are a lot stronger than a bubble."

**He swung his legs off the sofa; he needed to see Hagrid with his own eyes before he would believe that he was alive. He had barely stood up, however, when a door opened and Hagrid squeezed through it, his face covered in mud and blood, limping a little but miraculously alive.**

"Oh thank Merlin." Fred and George said.

"**Harry!" Knocking over two delicate tables and an aspidistra,**

"Oh Mum." Tonks groaned, "you just had to put those back after I moved out."

"Why?" Dennis asked.

"She'd hidden them away so I didn't trip over them, and only put them out when I was at school." Tonks replied, "she knows how clumsy I am. I just hope my kids aren't as clumsy."

"Cassie is but her brother isn't." Harry smiled, "fortunately, your grandchildren didn't inherit it."

"Oh thank Merlin for that." Tonks said, breathing a sigh of relief.

**he covered the floor between them in two strides and pulled Harry into a hug that nearly cracked his newly repaired ribs.**

"That's not good." Angelina muttered.

"**Blimey, Harry, how did yeh get out o' that? I thought we were both goners."**

"**Yeah, me too. I can't believe –"**

**Harry broke off. He had just noticed the woman who had entered the room behind Hagrid.**

"Oh no." Regulus said, "Andy looks a lot like Bellatrix."

"It does get confusing sometimes." Cygnus nodded, "if I didn't know that Andromeda was a year younger than Bellatrix, then I would think they were twins, they so alike."

"**You!" he shouted, and he thrust his hand into his pocket, but it was empty.**

"**Your wand's here, son," said Ted, tapping it on Harry's arm. "It fell right beside you, I picked it up. And that's my wife you're shouting at."**

"**Oh, I'm – I'm sorry."**

**As she moved forward into the room, Mrs Tonks's resemblance to her sister Bellatrix became much less pronounced:**

"You're not the only one who got the two mixed up." Lucius grimaced, "I did once, and Andy gave me donkey ears."

"How odd." Charlus muttered.

"I wonder why." James added with a grin.

"She was pregnant." Lucius grumbled, "and knowing what pregnant Black women are like, I would guess that she was rather full of hormones."

**her hair was a light, soft brown and her eyes were wider and kinder. Nevertheless, she looked a little haughty after Harry's exclamation.**

"No wonder." Hermione giggled, "having Harry yell at you is not a laughing matter."

"I bet she was also having flashbacks to when he was born." Lily said with a wry grin, "Harry definitely seems to have inherited my temper, and from what you've said, and what I've seen so far today, he's also inherited his grandmother's."

"Yes, definitely not a very pleasant mixture." Cygnus grimaced, remembering Narcissa's sixth birthday, when Dorea had lost her temper completely.

"The explosion from when Cissy was six was nothing compared to the one she had on Halloween in seventy." Regulus snorted while Dorea blushed slightly, "Andy, Cissy and Bella were at school at the time, but Siri and I were there, and if Cousin Cedrella hadn't taken her wand, the bitch we were forced to call Auntie Dru would have been a mere smear on the wall by the time she'd finished with her. She was that furious."

"Merlin, I'm glad I missed that." Orion shuddered, "I thought it was pretty bad when she just yelled at me. Dorea, why _were_ you yelling at Druella anyway?"

"Because she had written that blasted marriage contract for Bellatrix and Rodolphus." Caruso replied, "she coerced me into signing it, without telling me that she'd tied the Imperius to it, and everything Bellatrix and Rodolphus have suffered since then, can be traced back to her."

"If that was your reaction to that marriage contract, what was your reaction to the one she wrote and persuaded me to sign?" Abraxas asked nervously.

"I was just glad that you were able to withstand her manipulations." Dorea smiled, "I knew that despite my dislike of marriage contracts, it was a good match, both from a financial point of view, and from an emotional point of view."

"Oh good." Abraxas said with a sigh of relief.

"**What happened to our daughter?" she asked. "Hagrid said you were ambushed; where is Nymphadora?"**

"Why won't she stop calling me that?" Tonks yelled, as her hair turned red and her eyes flashed orange.

"She likes the name, and I do too." Remus said softly, blushing as he did so.

"**I don't know," said Harry. "We don't know what happened to anyone else."**

**She and Ted exchanged looks. A mixture of fear and guilt gripped Harry at the sight of their expressions; if any of the other had died, it was his fault, all his fault. He had consented to the plan, given them his hair …**

"No, it's not your fault." Minerva said, "don't blame yourself for the choices of others."

"**The Portkey," he said, remembering all of a sudden. "We've got to get back to the Burrow and find out – then we'll be able to send word, or – or Tonks will, once she's –"**

"**Dora'll be okay,'Dromeda," said Ted. "She knows her stuff, she's been in plenty of tight spots with the Aurors. The Portkey's through here," he added to Harry. "It's supposed to leave in three minutes, if you want to take it."**

"Take the Portkey." The students who supported Harry yelled.

"**Yeah, we do," said Harry. He seized his rucksack, swung it onto his shoulders. "I –"**

**He looked at Mrs Tonks, wanting to apologize for the state of fear in which he left her and for which he felt so terribly responsible, but no words occurred to him that did not seem hollow and insincere.**

"Well, it's clear that you didn't get your dad's way with the ladies." Remus smiled.

"That is a good thing." Lily said.

"Besides, that fact that I'm no good with women, doesn't really matter to me." Harry shrugged, "I have a distinct lack of interest in them. Do remember that I'm not exactly straight." The girls who had hoped that he would pay them some attention burst into tears because he was completely out of their reach. They had all forgotten about the fact that he had sixteen children with Lucius.

"Wow, I guess having your soul sent back helped with your confidence." Remus blinked.

"It really did." Minerva nodded.

"**I'll tell Tonks – Dora – to send word, when she …**

"She's not Tonks any more." Draco sniggered, "she's Lupin."

"That's right." Tonks cheered, "that damn wolf finally said yes."

"It took him a year, and being reamed out by both Mrs Weasley and Fleur." Hermione giggled.

**Thanks for patching us up, thanks for everything. I –"**

**He was glad to leave the room and follow Ted Tonks along a short hallway and into a bedroom. Hagrid came after them, bending low to avoid hitting his head on the door lintel.**

"**There you go, son. That's the Portkey."**

**Mr Tonks was pointing to a small, silver-backed hairbrush lying on the dressing table. **

"That's the only hairbrush I haven't managed to lose, or break." Tonks said, blushing all over, including her hair.

"You're clumsier than I was in first year." Neville whistled, "I didn't think that was possible."

"Who's he, he looks familiar?" Charlus asked quietly.

"Augusta Longbottom's grandson." Lucius replied.

"And an absolute lunatic when it comes to plants." Harry added.

"You mean William Longbottom was actually willing to put up with the stick up her arse?" Charlus snorted, "wow. I met him a few times, when I went to visit his father, who taught me about the Wizengamot because my father was busy, and he always struck me as the kind of guy who avoided women like Augusta, despite his habits of flirting with just about any woman who crossed his path."

"I will admit that I may have been a bit of a womaniser when I was at school, but even _I_ refused to go anywhere near Augusta." Abraxas added, wanting to get that little bit out into the open.

"She did mellow a bit." Minerva said, "and you were more than _a bit_ of a womaniser, Abraxas. You had gained a reputation for being a Libertine, by the end of your fifth year."

"**Thanks," said Harry, reaching out to place a finger on it, ready to leave.**

"**Wait a moment," said Hagrid, looking around. "Harry, where's Hedwig?"**

"That was a mistake." Dean winced, "that was the wrong time to ask that question."

"**She … she got hit," said Harry.**

**The realization crashed over him: he felt ashamed of himself as the tears stung his eyes.**

A few students sneered and started sniggering at him, but everyone else glared at them, so they stopped quickly.

"Five points from everyone who laughed. Death is not something to laugh about." Snape snapped, "no matter whose it is."

**The owl had been his companion, his one great link with the magical world whenever he had been forced to return to the Dursleys.**

**Hagrid reached out a great hand and patted him painfully on the shoulder.**

"**Never mind," he said gruffly. "Never mind. She had a great old life –"**

"**Hagrid!" said Ted Tonks warningly, as the hairbrush glowed bright blue, and Hagrid only just got his forefinger to it in time.**

**With a jerk behind the navel as though an invisible hook and line had dragged him forward, **

"Good description." Remus smiled.

**Harry was pulled into nothingness, spinning uncontrollably, his finger glued to the Portkey as he and Hagrid hurtled away from Mr Tonks. Seconds later Harry's feet slammed into hard ground and he fell onto his hands and knees in the yard of the Burrow.**

"You always land in an ungainly heap when taking Portkeys." Fred and George sniggered.

"So do you." Harry snorted, "or have you forgotten the way you two got tangled up when we went to the World Cup?"

"No, we hadn't forgotten it, we had hoped you would though." George mumbled, "observant git."

**He heard screams.**

"Oh no, what happened now?" Mrs Weasley asked frantically.

"Don't worry, nothing happened, you were just screaming at our sudden arrival." Harry smiled, wondering how he was going to refrain from shoving a calming draught down the woman's throat to prevent her over-reacting to the more dangerous parts of the book.

**Throwing aside the no longer glowing hairbrush, Harry stood up, swaying slightly, and saw Mrs Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by the back door as Hagrid, who had also collapsed on landing, clambered laboriously to his feet.**

"**Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?" cried Mrs Weasley.**

"**What d'you mean? Isn't anyone else back?" Harry panted.**

"Oh dear Merlin." Mrs Weasley groaned, burying her head in Mr Weasley's shoulder and trying her hardest not to cry.

**The answer was clearly etched in Mrs Weasley's pale face.**

"**The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry told her. "We were surrounded the moment we took off—they knew it was tonight – I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us –"**

**He could hear the self-justifying note in his voice, the pleas for her to understand why he did not know what had happened to her sons, but –**

"**Thank goodness you're all right," she said, pulling him into a hug he did not feel he deserved.**

"Everyone needs a hug occasionally." Luna said, speaking for the first time, "even Professor Snape and Uncle Lucy."

Lucius was unable to prevent a small whine escaping, and asked Harry quietly, "why do people insist on calling me that?"

"Because they like it." Harry replied, just as quietly.

"Wait, Loony Lovegood's a Malfoy?" Smith asked incredulously.

"Yes Zacharias." Luna replied dreamily, "my mother was born Octavia Malfoy, Uncle Lucy's younger sister."

"Bloody hell." Smith muttered.

"So Octavia found someone just as strange as she was." Lily whispered, remembering her rather peculiar room-mate, "I didn't think that was possible."

"**Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" asked Hagrid a little shakily. "Fer medicinal purposes?"**

"Medicinal purposes, yeah right." Theo snorted, without sounding mean.

"Brandy does actually have medicinal properties." Dorea said, "it's good at cleaning wounds and preventing infection, and it's a pretty good painkiller. In fact, it is one of the best substances to use when there isn't anything else available, the alcohol in it will kill off any germs or bacteria pretty damn quickly."

"Oh." Theo muttered.

**She could have summoned it by magic, but as she hurried back towards the crooked house, Harry knew that she wanted to hide her face. He turned to Ginny and she answered his unspoken plea for information at once.**

"Ginny's always been pretty good at answering questions that haven't been asked." Bill grinned.

"**Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them." she said,**

"Blame Muriel." Harry grimaced.

**pointing at a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby. "And that one," she pointed at an ancient plimsoll, "should have been Dad and Fred's, they were supposed to be second.**

"Oh no." Lily whispered, "where are they then?"

"Kingsley forgot to give them the keys to his house, so they couldn't get to the Portkey, which was inside." Harry sniggered, "they were stuck outside, watching as it disappeared, and it took them another two hours to get to the Burrow, flying at top speed."

"Whoops." Kingsley muttered, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment.

"I've done that before." Abraxas murmured, "told someone to go to my house when I wasn't there, and then forgot to make sure they could get in."

**You and Hagrid were third and," she checked her watch, "if they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute."**

**Mrs Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy, which she handed to Hagrid. He uncorked it and drank it straight down in one. **

"**Mum!" shouted Ginny, pointing to a spot several feet away. A blue light had appeared in the darkness; It grew larger and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared, spinning and then falling. **

"Oh thank Merlin." Tonks sighed in relief.

**Harry knew immediately that there was something wrong: Lupin was supporting George, who was unconscious and whose face was covered in blood.**

"MY BABY!" Mrs Weasley screamed, running down the length of the table and engulfing poor George in a hug.

**Harry ran forward and seized George's legs. Together, he and Lupin carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the sitting room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Ginny gasped and Harry's stomach lurched; one of George's ears was missing.**

"What happened to my baby?" Mrs Weasley yelled, causing many of the older students to stifle sniggers at George's mortified expression. The younger students had gone green so were in no condition to laugh.

**The side of his head and neck was drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood.**

**No sooner had Mrs Weasley bent over her son than Lupin grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, back into the kitchen, **

"What the hell are you doing to my son Remus?" Lily roared, raising her wand threateningly, and scaring almost everyone around her.

"He was just making sure that Harry really was Harry." Hermione smiled.

**where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door.**

"**Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly. "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"**

**Lupin ignored him.**

"**What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?"**

"Grindylow." Harry grinned.

**he said, giving Harry a small shake. "Answer me!"**

"**A – a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?"**

**Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard.**

"**Wha' was that' about?" roared Hagrid.**

"**I'm sorry Harry, but I had to check," said Lupin tersely. "We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor."**

"Not everyone who knew of the plan was directly involved though." James said, glaring at Snape, but jumped in shock when Harry turned his hair into green and silver snakes. He wailed when he felt the snakes flicking their tongues at him, "my hair!"

"That's what you get." Hermione giggled, "you deserve that, and a lot more, and no, we won't take the jinx off."

"If you don't shut up, we'll silence you." Harry added, "then hand you to Wobble, who missed scolding you."

"Please don't give me to that crazy fish-wielding house-elf." James begged, trying to give Harry the puppy-dog eyes.

"What's got him so scared?" Seamus asked.

"One of the Potter house-elves is called Wobble, and she has a habit of stringing people up by the ankles and then slapping them with fish." Remus sniggered, "and both James and Sirius regularly got on her bad side during our school years."

"I don't think we had a week during the summers without either one or the other being strung up by the ankles and smacked with fish." Dorea said reminiscently.

"**So why aren' you checkin' me?" panted Hagrid, still struggling with the door.**

"**You're half – giant," said Lupin, looking up at Hagrid. "The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only."**

"**None of the Order would have told Voldemort we were moving tonight," said Harry. The idea was dreadful to him, he could not believe it of any of them.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody yelled, as loudly as he could.

"OH SHUT UP YOU CRAZY-EYED MADMAN!" Remus bellowed, fed up of the man's paranoia.

"Go Moony." James said, trying to ignore the snakes that were still flicking their tongues at him.

"**Voldemort only caught up with me toward the end, he didn't know which one I was in the beginning. If he'd been in on the plan he'd have known from the start I was the one with Hagrid."**

"**Voldemort caught up with you?" said Lupin sharply. "What happened? How did you escape?"**

"His wand did something strange." Tonks said, dead-pan.

"That sounded rather wrong." Caruso muttered, trying not to laugh.

"Mind. Gutter. Out." Cygnus snorted.

"Please." Abraxas begged, gaining a slightly green to his skin, which did not go well with his blond hair.

**Harry explained briefly how the Death Eaters pursuing them had seemed to recognize him as the true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how they must have summoned Voldemort, who had appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the sanctuary of Tonks's parents.**

"**They recognized you? But how? What had you done?"**

"**I …" Harry tried to remember; the whole journey seemed like a blur of panic and confusion. "I saw Stan Shunpike. … You know, the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm him instead of – well, he doesn't know what he's doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!"**

**Lupin looked aghast.**

"Remus, you are never going to convince me that I did the wrong thing." Harry said flatly, "so, just remember, don't bother trying."

"**Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!"**

"**We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself and if I stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used _Avada Kedavra_! _Expelliarmus_ saved me from Voldemort two years ago," Harry added defiantly. **

"_What?_" James screamed.

"It was at the end of fourth year." Harry replied, "someone had entered me into the Triwizard Tournament, as the fourth contestant, and he had turned the Triwizard cup into a Portkey, which took both myself and Cedric Diggory to a graveyard. Cedric was killed and Voldemort came back that night. I duelled with him, and escaped again."

"You didn't mention the fact that he used the Cruciatus on you, twice, then put you under the Imperius to get you to beg, but you didn't." Remus added.

"Wait, _what_?" James yelped, "HE DID WHAT?"

"We'll explain later." Harry said, "it would take too long now."

**Lupin was reminding him of the sneering Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry for wanting to teach Dumbledore's Army how to Disarm. **

"What is this Dumbledore's Army?" Scrimgeour asked.

"It's a Defence club we set up last year, where we could actually learn how to defend ourselves." Hermione replied, "because in DADA we weren't learning anything, we weren't even allowed to practise the spells."

"I told you to not do it." Mrs Weasley yelled angrily, glaring at both Harry and Hermione.

"You're not our mother, so you can't tell us what to do." Hermione said coolly, "my parents were rather proud that I was doing something to make sure I actually got an education, though they would have preferred the teacher to do her job."

"Oh definitely." Lily nodded, "I think actually learning something is far more important than the risk of expulsion, so if there's a teacher who isn't actually teaching anything, then the students should get together and learn the material on their own, especially during O.W.L and N.E.W.T years."

"**Yes, Harry," said Lupin with painful restraint, "and a great number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual move then, under imminent threat of death. Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!"**

"**So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?" said Harry angrily.**

"**Of course not," said Lupin, "but the Death Eaters – frankly, most people! – would have expected you to attack back! _Expelliarmus_ is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"**

"I couldn't have said it better." Remus said.

"And as I said earlier, there is no way you are going to convince me that I did the wrong thing." Harry grinned.

**Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a grain of defiance inside him.**

"You get that from your mother." Sirius smirked.

"**I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there." said Harry. "That's Voldemort's job."**

"Brilliant." James grinned.

**Lupin's retort was lost; finally succeeding in squeezing through the door, Hagrid staggered to a chair and sat down; it collapsed beneath him. Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry addressed Lupin again.**

"**Will George be okay?"**

"I hope so." Fred said.

**All Lupin's frustration with Harry seemed to drain away at the question. "I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off –"**

"Whoever cursed my baby, will pay." Mrs Weasley snarled angrily.

Many people shifted uncomfortably when they saw how angry she was, but Harry and Lucius looked at each other nervously, wondering what was going to happen when everyone found out that Snape was the one.

**There was a scuffling from outside. Lupin dived for the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard.**

"You got there first." Hermione giggled.

"What d'you expect?" Draco asked, "he must have rockets attached to his feet."

"That might explain why he managed to beat you in that race you challenged him to." Lucius smirked, "even when you were flying."

"Maybe." Draco shrugged, "why did I suggest that race anyway?"

"You were drunk." Hermione said.

"Now I remember, it was my twenty-first." Draco muttered, going slightly pink in embarrassment while Harry and Lucius sniggered at him.

**Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry ran toward them he realized they were Hermione, now returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley, both clutching a bent coat hanger.**

"Thank Merlin you're safe." Remus said.

"We might not have been if Dedalus' wife hadn't been expecting us and let us in." Hermione snorted, "I dreaded the thought of getting back on the Thestral and flying to the Burrow. I hate flying."

"You did all right when we were blasting those asteroids." Harry grinned.

"Flying in space is very different." Hermione retorted.

"It is, it's much more fun." Draco smirked.

**Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms, **

Seamus winked at Harry, then wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Do remember what I said earlier, about how I'm not exactly straight." Harry smirked, interlacing his fingers with Lucius' as the blond slid slightly closer to him.

**but Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them.**

**Over Hermione's shoulder Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin's chest.**

"**The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!"**

"'**_Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'_" said Lupin calmly.**

"No pressure." Susan giggled.

**Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, "It's him, I've checked!"**

"**All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak. "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"**

"**So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys."**

"Small comfort." Kingsley muttered.

"**Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley. "Who else is back?"**

"**Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me."**

**Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand.**

"**What happened to you?" Lupin asked Kingsley.**

"**Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off,**

"Did he?" Remus asked.

"Yes, well I assume so." Hermione replied, "I don't know whether I saw a Death Eater die, or the fallen warrior, but after that, I could see the Thestral."

"**and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can –"**

"**Fly," supplied Harry. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me."**

"**So that's why he left, to follow you!" said Kingsley. "I couldn't understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?"**

"**Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," said Lupin.**

"**Stan?" repeated Hermione. "But I thought he was in Azkaban?"**

"Oh look, someone else who was innocent was thrown in Azkaban." Harry said, "how many other innocents have been put in Azkaban?"

"I do not know." Kingsley replied, "but I will be finding out."

"This is why everyone should have a trial, with Veritaserum, to make sure that they aren't accidentally put in prison when innocent." Abraxas sighed.

**Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh.**

"**Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the Ministry has hushed up. **

"A second one." Lucius muttered, "and he took the Dementors. I was happy when they left, but I wished he could have left me behind."

**Travers's hood fell off when I cursed him, he's supposed to be inside too. But what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?"**

"**He lost an ear," said Lupin.**

"**Lost an –?" repeated Hermione in a high voice.**

"**Snape's work," said Lupin.**

"WHAT?" Mrs Weasley screamed, attempting to stand up and curse him, but she couldn't, because Harry and Lucius had had the foresight to use a sticking charm on her.

"I'll kill you." Mr Weasley whispered, drawing his wand and shedding his mild-mannered attitude, finally showing why many people would never want to get him angry. People could almost see his magic surrounding him in a red and orange flickering aura. It wasn't as powerful as Harry's had been, but it was still quite palpable, and many of the younger years cowered, as did most of the teachers, even Snape, who barely managed to get a shield up before the first curse hit.

To the shock of almost everyone in the hall, Snape did not attempt to defend himself by any other method than dodging and shielding. He was one of the few who knew that Arthur Weasley had once been one of the best Hit Wizards around, and because of that, the red-head was a formidable dueller.

"Stop." Albus said, but neither listened to him, and he just gave up, knowing that if they wouldn't listen to an order the first time, they were unlikely to listen a second time.

"Enough." Harry snapped, wandlessly casting two banishing charms, one at each wizard, before Mr Weasley started firing lethal curses at the potions professor.

"Let me kill him." Mr Weasley snarled, "that emotionally repressed bastard hurt my son, he doesn't know what it feels like to see a loved one hurt or dead."

"He does know what it's like." Harry said calmly, "he knows exactly what it's like, and anyway, he wasn't aiming at George, he was aiming at the wand hand of another Death Eater."

"You mean it was an accident?" George asked.

"He missed his target, which is hardly surprising, hitting a target is difficult in the air, even for someone who played Quidditch." Harry replied.

"Oh." Mr Weasley mumbled apologetically, ignoring the fact that Oliver Wood had started drooling at the mention of Quidditch.

"I suggest that we wait until the end of the book before judging people." Albus said, "we can all learn from this, so please, stay calm and don't get angry at things that have not happened yet."

"**_Snape_?" shouted Harry, "You didn't say –"**

"**He lost his hood during the chase. _Sectumsempra_ was always a speciality of Snape's.**

Snape briefly closed his eyes, regretting the fact that he'd ever created that spell, and vowing to never use it again.

**I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood."**

**Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus?**

"Oh no." Ginny whispered, "that's not good."

"**Harry, give us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck again. **

"Honestly, Hagrid has about as much luck with doors as you do in general, Harry." Hermione giggled.

**Glad of something to do, Harry pulled him free, then headed through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting room, where Mrs Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean, gaping hole where George's ear had been.**

"**How is he?"**

**Mrs Weasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic. But it could have been so much worse … he's alive."**

"Thank Merlin for that." Percy mumbled, not wanting to hear about the future death of a member of his family, and wondering how he was going to apologise to them for everything. Then he realised that the one person he really needed to apologise to was Harry, and having seen how scary Harry was when he was angry, that was one thing Percy needed to think about.

"**Yeah," said Harry. "Thank God."**

"**Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked.**

"**Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry.**

"**Thank goodness," Ginny whispered. They looked at each other. Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her;**

"You two would be so sweet together." Mrs Weasley whispered happily.

"I don't think so." Harry grinned, "Ginny's too female for me, and she's like a sister to me, plus we're too closely related even if I wasn't as straight as a rainbow."

"So you know." Mrs Weasley sighed.

"Know what?" Ginny asked.

"Three months after you were born, you were adopted, because your birth parents were sent to Azkaban." Lucius replied, when Mrs Weasley wouldn't answer.

"So I'm not a Weasley by blood?" Ginny whispered, sounding calm, but those who knew her could tell that she was getting angry.

"No." Mr Weasley sighed, "not originally, we argued about whether to blood adopt you, but we decided against, because even though we wanted to protect you from any enemies of your birth parents, we also wanted to tell you when you came of age and let you make your own decision."

"Why wait?" Fred asked, "what is so terrible that you have to keep something like that secret, not just from Ginny, but from the rest of us as well?"

"Because of who my birth parents are I would guess." Ginny said, "am I right?"

"Yes." Mrs Weasley whispered, hating the fact that her fourteen-year-old baby was going to be burdened with the knowledge.

"Who are they then?" George asked curiously.

"Bella and Rodolphus." Cygnus replied sadly.

"We didn't want to burden you with that knowledge." Mr Weasley said, watching Ginny closely to see what her reaction would be.

"I'm not all that surprised." Ginny said thoughtfully, "I've always felt that there was something different about me, that couldn't be explained away by me being a girl with six brothers. Now that I know the truth, I'm relieved."

"You're taking this better than we expected." Bill said, vaguely remembering the letter his parents had sent him, telling him that they had adopted a baby girl.

"I was angry, at first, because I was kept in the dark about it." Ginny shrugged, "but now that I know what was kept from me, I can kinda understand why. If we hadn't heard what happened to my birth parents, then I would probably be wanting to blast them out of existence, but knowing what has been said about them being cursed to do all those nasty things, I don't know. I guess I want to cleanse the Lestrange name. I mean, just because my biological grandmothers were nasty bitches, doesn't mean that the rest of my ancestors were as well."

"A very wise and mature answer, my dear girl." Albus smiled.

"I just want to know, did you put a glamour on me to make me look like a blood Weasley?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Yes, we used a Glamouri Potion." Mr Weasley replied, "that was just an added layer of protection, so there was no way anyone would know that you were the daughter of Death Eaters."

"Is there a way to take it off, so I can see what I look like under it?" Ginny asked, doing one of the few things she hated, and putting on her best puppy dog eyes expression.

"A genealogy potion would be the best." Lucius suggested.

Ginny turned her puppy dog eyes on Snape, who shuddered at how much her expression resembled Sirius' puppy dog eyes despite the different appearance, before he summoned a house-elf and quietly requested the potion. When the house-elf returned, he pointed towards Ginny, and told the house-elf to give it to her.

The little red-head took the potion she was offered with a nod of thanks, and without a second thought, knocked it back, gaining a slightly green tinge to her skin and gagging at the taste.

The changes she went through were as shocking as they were expected. Everyone had expected Ginny's appearance to change, because neither Bellatrix nor Rodolphus had red hair, but that was the extent of the expected changes. By the time Ginny had stopped changing, she was taller with purple eyes like her birth mother and long silky black hair, while the freckles that had once adorned her face had disappeared and she had gained a larger bust.

"Blimey." Fred and George whispered.

"She really does look like Bella." Regulus said, "it is such a shame that Bella isn't here to see her daughter, alive and well."

"She will do." Harry smiled, "we are going to try and find a way to free her of the curse so that she can hopefully get the help she needs."

"Good." Regulus nodded.

"So if Ginny's too female, and too closely related for you to feel like anything other than siblings, who did she marry?" Dean asked, wondering whether he would have a chance with the feisty former-redhead.

"Colin." Hermione giggled, watching the mousy little boy squeak and shrink away from the glares of the Weasley males who hadn't known.

"Nice." Ginny purred, already seeming to have got used to her new appearance.

"Why don't we let Ginny sit up here so she can start to get to know her grandfathers?" Abraxas suggested quietly.

"Good idea." Caruso agreed happily, budging slightly closer to the pale blond and shoving Cygnus in the opposite direction, before indicating that Ginny could sit between them, opposite Fred.

**he did not even care much that Mrs Weasley was there, but before he could act on the impulse there was a great crash from the kitchen.**

"**I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"**

"Well dad, I think that just proved who you were." Fred grinned, trying to forget about the fact that Colin had married the girl he had thought was his baby sister, only to find out that she was his third cousin once removed instead.

**Harry had never heard Mr Weasley shout like that before. He burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured.**

"**Arthur!" sobbed Mrs Weasley. "Oh thank goodness!"**

"**How is he?"**

**Mr Weasley dropped to his knees beside George. For the first time since Harry had known him, Fred seemed to be lost for words. He gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin's wound as if he could not believe what he was seeing.**

**Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their father's arrival, George stirred.**

"**How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs Weasley.**

**George's fingers groped at the side of his head.**

"**Saint-like," he murmured.**

"Oh I think I can see where this is going." James said, "and if it is going the way I think it is, it's pathetic."

"**What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified. "Is his mind affected?"**

"No more than it already was." Lee sniggered.

"**Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. "You see … I'm holy. _Holey_, Fred, geddit?"**

"That. Was. Pathetic." Remus said.

**Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Colour flooded Fred's pale face.**

"**Pathetic," he told George. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humour before you, you go for _holey_?"**

"**Ah well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."**

"I'd much rather have you whole than be able to tell you apart." Mrs Weasley whispered.

**He looked around.**

"**Hi, Harry – you are Harry, right?"**

"**Yeah, I am," said Harry, moving closer to the sofa.**

"**Well, at least we got you back OK," said George. "Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"**

"**They're not back yet, George," said Mrs Weasley. George's grin faded.**

"No wonder." Susan muttered.

**Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned her to accompany him back outside. As they walked through the kitchen she said in a low voice, "Ron and Tonks should be back by now. They didn't have a long journey; Auntie Muriel's not that far from here."**

"I pity you both." Dorea said, mock-sadly.

"I really do feel sorry for you Tonks." Mrs Weasley mumbled, "that _woman_ can be a bit much at times."

**Harry said nothing. He had been trying to keep fear at bay ever since reaching the Burrow, but now it enveloped him, seeming to crawl over his skin, throbbing in his chest, clogging his throat. As they walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny took his hand.**

**Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing up at the sky every time he turned. Harry was reminded of Uncle Vernon pacing the living room a million years ago. Hagrid, Hermione, and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing upward in silence. None of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined their silent vigil.**

"It must have been hard to just sit and wait, knowing that there's nothing you can do." Lily said softly.

"It's unbelievable how difficult it was." Harry said.

"Especially for people who don't like sitting around doing nothing when people are in danger." Hermione added.

"Not many people like sitting around doing nothing." Ginny agreed, trying to ignore how big her boobs now were, though that was made more difficult by the fact that her shirt buttons were straining slightly.

**The minutes stretched into what might as well have been years. The slightest breath of wind made them all jump and turn toward the whispering bush or tree in the hope that one of the missing Order members might leap unscathed from its leaves –**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE." Tonks bellowed, pre-empting Mad-Eye, who glared at her for stealing his thunder.

**And then a broom materialized directly above them and streaked toward the ground –**

"Thank Merlin you're safe Mrs Moony." James yelled, practically throwing himself at the poor metamorphmagus, nearly knocking them both to the floor.

"Wait, Moony ..." George started, not quite believing his ears, even though James had mentioned that name before.

"As in the Marauders?" Fred finished, also completely stunned.

"Yes." Remus nodded nervously, wondering where this was going.

"I can't believe we were taught by one of the greatest pranksters ever." George said.

"Did you know about it Harry?" Fred asked.

"Yep." Harry smirked, "I found out at the end of third year."

"So who are the other marauders?" George asked.

"I'm Prongs and Sirius was Padfoot." James grinned, " and knowing what I do now, I don't consider Wormtail, also known as Peter Pettigrew, to be a Marauder any more."

"Harry's the heir of the marauders?" Fred squealed.

"Oh yes." Remus nodded.

"We are not worthy." The twins chanted, running around the table and trying to bow to Harry, James and Remus simultaneously.

"Weasleys, sit down." Minerva said sternly.

"I'm sorry if people think I'm an idiot, but who are the marauders?" Seamus asked.

"We were a group of pranksters." James replied, "we got our nicknames from our animagus forms and pranked everyone."

"I wish there had been a group like that when I was at school." Abraxas said wistfully.

"There was." Irma Pince snorted, "or did you forget about Monster Min and Pestilential Poppy?"

"Oh god." Abraxas groaned, "them."

"Don't groan, even though they locked you in a broom closet in your sixth year, you did finally admit that you had feelings for the little third year you were locked in with." Irma smirked.

"Of course we did." Minerva giggled, shocking everyone who had thought she couldn't be relaxed and mischievous.

"I bet she was relieved to find out why he was drooling every time he saw her." Caruso grinned.

"Definitely." Irma nodded.

"How do you know?" Dean wondered.

"Because it was me he drooled over." Irma replied.

"Wait-a-minute." Dorea said suspiciously, "I don't remember Alphard ever mentioned a girl called Irma starting when he was a fourth year, so who are you really?"

"Someone who supposedly died in seventy-seven." Irma replied, removing the glamour she had been wearing for nearly twenty years to reveal a thin and slightly sallow face that greatly resembled Snape's.

"Eileen." Dorea whispered, closing her eyes as she remembered the sullen-looking girl she had met for the first time on platform nine and thee quarters, when she was helping her brother get her nephews and niece to school two years after she herself had graduated.

"Mum." Snape murmured, hating the fact that he was showing weakness by being emotional, but he was unable to keep his mask up after the revelation that his mother hadn't died all those years ago.

"It's me." Irma, now Eileen, smiled, "I couldn't stay with your father after you turned seventeen, so I faked my death and changed my name."

"Merlin." Snape whispered, dropping the book and breaking down as he hugged his mother.

"Would you like someone else to continue?" Dumbledore asked softly, not really wanting to interrupt the reunion.

"Please." Eileen nodded sadly, wishing there was some way she could ease her son's pain.

"**It's them!" screamed Hermione.**

**Tonks landed in a long skid that sent earth and pebbles everywhere.**

"**Remus!" Tonks cried as she staggered off the broom into Lupin's arms.**

"Awwww." Charlus cooed, "how cute."

**His face was set and white: he seemed unable to speak. Ron tripped dazedly toward Harry and Hermione.**

"**You're okay," he mumbled, before Hermione flew at him and hugged him tightly.**

"Are you two together, or have we all got the signals wrong?" Bill asked.

"No we're not together either." Hermione said, "we probably would have been in a relationship if we hadn't discovered that we were also more like siblings with a rather intense sibling rivalry."

"Merlin." Bill muttered, "we all thought you were made for each other."

"**I thought – I thought –"**

"**'M all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "'M fine."**

"**Ron was great," said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head,**

"Never pleasant." Draco grimaced.

"Yes, well, you did tell your poor suffering wife that she was exaggerating the pain of labour." Harry sniggered.

"She then showed me exactly how painful it was." Draco sighed, "she crushed all the bones in my hand."

"Don't worry, the same thing happened to me." Lucius commiserated, "a dose of skele-gro cleared it right up."

"So did vanishing the bones beforehand." Draco grinned.

"I wish I'd thought of that." Lucius muttered.

"I think a lot of people do." Charlus said.

**and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying broom –"**

"**You did?" said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her arms still around his neck.**

"**Always the tone of surprise," he said a little grumpily, breaking free. "Are we the last back?"**

"**No," said Ginny, "we're still waiting for Bill and Fleur and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I'm going to tell Mum and Dad you're okay, Ron –"**

**She ran back inside.**

"**So what kept you? What happened?" Lupin sounded almost angry with Tonks.**

"**Bellatrix," said Tonks. "She wants me quite as much as she wants Harry, Remus, she tried very hard to kill me. I just wish I'd got her. I owe Bellatrix.**

"What for?" Charlus asked.

"I felt that if I had just been better at duelling, then Sirius wouldn't have ended up falling through the Veil." Tonks sighed, "it's my fault he had to take over."

"No it isn't." Cygnus said, "even when she was a teenager, Bellatrix was a vicious dueller, taking her opponents down in the shortest time possible. She didn't particularly care about what spells she used, but did restrict herself to using non-lethal ones. I'm sure that being controlled by Voldemort, she wouldn't have restricted herself, and anyone would be lucky to escape alive."

"Besides, for the last twenty-seven years, since Druella put her under the Imperius, she's used mainly the Unforgivables, which are almost impossible to shield against." Caruso added, "I think, with the way she acts due to being controlled, that you were lucky to survive that encounter."

"Oh don't scare her." Orion snorted, "we don't want to traumatise the poor girl."

"I'm just telling it like it is." Caruso shrugged, "I don't see the point in sugar-coating it."

"I'm glad about that." Tonks nodded, "at least I know what to expect, and won't underestimate her."

"But that doesn't mean that the children should be told." Mrs Weasley said loudly, indicating Harry and his friends, "they're too young to understand, and they'll be terrified."

"If you think that's terror, then you seriously need to learn what different facial expressions mean." Dorea snorted, looking at Harry's raised eyebrow and the smirk that he was trying to restrain.

"You seem to have forgotten that while we may have our sixteen-year-old bodies, we are in fact, a hell of a lot older." Ron sniggered, "we have faced far worse than Voldemort."

"Indeed, to us, he's nothing more than an annoying insect to be squashed." Harry nodded, finally letting the smirk make its way onto his face.

"I still don't like it." Mrs Weasley muttered, giving up for the moment.

**But we definitely injured Rodolphus … then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we'd missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us –"**

"Oh Merlin." Tonks said, "why send us to her, why not someone else?"

"No one knows." Hermione said.

**A muscle was jumping in Lupin's jaw. He nodded, but seemed unable to say anything else.**

"**So what happened to you lot?" Tonks asked, turning to Harry, Hermione, and Kingsley.**

**They recounted the stories of their own journeys, but all the time the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad-eye, and Mundungus seemed to lie upon them like a frost, its icy bite harder and harder to ignore.**

"**I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should have been there an hour ago," said **

"Poor you, playing bodyguard to the Muggle Prime Minister, can't be fun." Bill said.

**Kingsley finally, after a last sweeping gaze at the sky. "Let me know when they're back."**

**Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley walked away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry thought he heard the faintest pop as Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow's boundaries.**

**Mr and Mrs Weasley came racing down the back steps, Ginny behind them. Both parents hugged Ron before turning to Lupin and Tonks.**

"**Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley, "for our sons."**

"**Don't be silly, Molly," said Tonks at once.**

"**How's George?" asked Lupin.**

"**What's wrong with him?" piped up Ron.**

"**He's lost –"**

"Yes I know, I'm half lugless." George muttered, "I wish people would stop bringing it up."

**But the end of Mrs. Weasley's sentence was drowned in a general outcry: a thestral had just soared into sight and landed a few feet from them. Bill and Fleur slid from its back, windswept but unhurt.**

"Thank Merlin for that." Lily said.

"That means that either Mad-Eye or Mundungus is the fallen warrior." One of the first years whispered fearfully.

"**Bill! Thank God, thank God –"**

**Mrs Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed upon her was perfunctory. Looking directly at his father, he said, "Mad-Eye's dead."**

"NO!" Tonks cried, unable to believe that her mentor, the only Auror who had faith in her ability, could be dead.

The other Order members and everyone who knew Mad-Eye all bowed their heads as a sign of respect, but Mad-Eye wasn't having any of it. "If it was my time to die, then so be it, I just hope I took a few of those scum with me," he growled.

**Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Harry felt as though something inside him was falling, falling through the earth, leaving him forever.**

"**We saw it," said Bill; Fleur nodded, tear tracks glittering on her cheeks in the light from the kitchen window. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by use, they were heading north too, Voldemort – he can fly – went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated. **

"BLOODY COWARD!" James roared, joined by many others who all knew Mundungus.

"I can't understand how he was a Gryffindor." Minerva sighed.

"He was a Gryff?" Fred yelled.

"Indeed, he was a fourth year, when I was a first year." Lucius nodded, "he's always been a bit of a coward, but he's good at getting information from less-savoury characters."

**Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and – there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail –"**

"Well then, don't blame yourselves." Mad-Eye snapped, "there was nothing you could have done, and even if there was, you did the right thing."

**Bill's voice broke.**

"**Of course you couldn't have done anything," said Lupin.**

**They all stood looking at each other. Harry could not quite comprehend it. Mad-Eye's dead; it could not be … Mad-Eye, so tough, so brave, the consummate survivor …**

**At last it seemed to dawn on everyone, though nobody said it, that there was no point waiting in the yard any more, and in silence they followed Mr and Mrs Weasley back into the Burrow, and into the living room, where Fred and George were laughing together.**

"We don't know what's been happening." Fred sighed, "it's gonna be a shock."

"**What's wrong?" said Fred, scanning their faces as they entered. "What happened? Who's –?"**

"**Mad-Eye," said Mr Weasley. "Dead."**

**The twins' grins turned to grimaces of shock. Nobody seemed to know what to do. Tonks was crying silently into a handkerchief; she had been close to Mad-Eye, Harry knew, his favourite and his protégé at the Ministry of Magic.**

**Hagrid, who had sat down on the floor in the corner where he had most space, was dabbing at his eyes with his tablecloth-sized handkerchief.**

"It's nice to know that I will be missed, but don't let that stop you." Mad-Eye said, sounding slightly embarrassed.

**Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of firewhisky and some glasses.**

"**Here," he said, and with a wave of his want he sent twelve full glasses soaring through the room to each of them, holding the thirteenth aloft. "Mad-Eye,"**

"To Mad-Eye." Those students that liked the scarred Auror yelled, raising the glasses of pumpkin juice they had all poured themselves.

"To a true warrior." Those at the middle table added, nodding respectfully, not wanting to embarrass the man.

"Well, thanks." Mad-Eye said, lowering his head in acknowledgement of their respect, but still wishing they'd just get on with their lives without mourning him.

"**Mad-Eye," they all said, and drank.**

"**Mad-Eye," echoed Hagrid, a little late, with a hiccup.**

**The firewhisky seared Harry's throat. It seemed to burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense of unreality, filling him with something that was like courage.**

"**So Mundungus disappeared?" said Lupin, who had drained his own glass in one.**

"I doubt he would be a traitor." Flitwick squeaked, "he's not that cowardly."

"We all thought the same about Peter though, and look what he went and did." Remus snorted.

"True." Minerva nodded sadly.

**The atmosphere changed at once. Everybody looked tense, watching Lupin, both wanting him to go on, it seemed to Harry, and slightly afraid of what they might hear.**

"**I know what you're thinking," said Bill, "and I wondered that too, one the way back here, because they seemed to be expecting us, didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't know there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the moment we appeared, and in case you've forgotten, it was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of skullduggery. **

"Wait a minute, what?" Seamus asked, "if this Mundungus bloke is so cowardly how come he was the one to come up with such a reckless plan?"

"Simple answer, it wasn't his idea." Harry sniggered, "it was actually Professor Snape's."

"What the hell?" Lee exclaimed.

"You'll see, later in the book." Hermione giggled.

**Why wouldn't he have told them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made him, and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough to make anyone panic."**

"Well, anyone who doesn't have nerves of solid steel." George grinned, "meaning anyone who isn't Harry."

"Brave man." Dorea whistled.

"**You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to," sniffed Tonks, "Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley …"**

"Which means I'm doubly glad that I disarmed Stan." Harry said, while Lucius, having been told who had spoken next, quickly and discretely cast a spell to give Sinistra, who had taken over for Snape, a French accent.

"**Yes, and zat eez all very good," snapped Fleur,**

"What ze 'ell?" Sinistra asked confusedly, unable to stop speaking with the accent.

"We thought we would give people an idea of what Fleur's accent really sounds like." Draco smirked.

"And you did not zink I could do zat myself?" Sinistra asked.

"Oh we knew you probably could, but whether you would is up for debate." Lucius sniggered.

Snape groaned, knowing that something had made his best friend revert to his teenage years, and although he was grateful that the blond was back to his fun-loving self, he was rather annoyed at the same time.

"**but still eet does not explain 'ow zey knew we were moving 'Arry tonight, does eet? Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. Eet ees ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not ze 'ole plan."**

"It's not the only explanation, but it is the most viable." Charlus sighed.

"True, but we have a lot more information than in the book." Harry pointed out, "we know how Voldemort found out, purely because we read the first chapter, but no one in the book knows what went on during that meeting."

**She glared around at them all, tear tracks still etched on her beautiful face, silently daring any of them to contradict her. Nobody did. the only sound to break the silence was that of Hagrid hiccoughing from behind his handkerchief.**

**Harry glanced at Hagrid, who had just risked his own life to save Harry's – Hagrid, whom he loved, whom he trusted, who had once been tricked into giving Voldemort crucial information in exchange for a dragon's egg …**

"I don't believe it, there really was a dragon?" Minerva screamed.

"Yep." Harry, Ron and Hermione replied, though Ron's was a bit reluctant. He really didn't want to remember that.

"What happened to the dragon?" Professor Burbage asked, "because I'm pretty sure it's a little difficult to hide something that size."

"She's in Romania." Charlie replied, "Harry and Hermione sent her to me with a few of my friends."

"You knew?" Mrs Weasley screeched, "why on earth didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because I was helping a friend, and I didn't want him to get into trouble." Charlie replied with a shrug, as if the answer was obvious.

"**No," Harry said out loud, and they all looked at him, surprised. The Firewhiskey seemed to have amplified his voice. "I mean … if somebody made a mistake," Harry went on, "and let something slip, I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not their fault," he repeated, again a little louder than he would usually have spoken. "We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort."**

"Nice speech." Hermione said.

"Yeah, from the bloke who thinks he's no good at public speaking." Draco sniggered.

"I'm not a public speaker, never have been." Harry shrugged.

**More silence followed his words. They were all looking at him; Harry felt a little hot again and drank some more firewhisky for something to do. As he drank, he thought of Mad-eye. Mad-Eye had always been scathing about Dumbledore's willingness to trust people.**

"**Well said, Harry," said Fred unexpectedly.**

"**Yeah, 'ear, 'ear," said George, with half a glance at Fred, the corner of whose mouth twitched.**

"Undoubtedly because that was another pathetic joke." Fred said.

**Lupin was wearing an odd expression as he looked at Harry. It was close to pitying.**

"**You think I'm a fool?" demanded Harry.**

"Right, definitely Lily's personality." James grimaced, "did you get anything from me, other than your looks?"

"He got your sense of humour." Remus said, "and your talent at insults, as well as your stubbornness, but as far as I know, that's about it."

"Oh dear Merlin." James groaned, "combining my insults with Lily's cheek and her temper, that's not good."

"No, but it is hilarious watching people trying to work out whether they've just been insulted or not." Lucius grinned, "he's so good at that, insulting people subtly."

"Don't forget he's also apparently inherited my temper." Dorea giggled.

"**No, I think you're like James," said Lupin, "who would have regarded it as the height of dishonour to mistrust his friends."**

**Harry knew what Lupin was getting at: that his father had been betrayed by his friend, Peter Pettigrew.**

"Yeah, and it's still hard to believe that he would do something like that." James sighed, "when did he join the Death Eaters?"

"Christmas, during your fifth year." Lucius replied sadly.

"So Voldemort must have helped him transform." Remus muttered, "that was why he came back having succeeded when he'd left at the beginning of the holiday barely able to transform his hands."

**He felt irrationally angry. He wanted to argue, but Lupin had turned away from him, set down his glass upon a side table, and addressed Bill, "There's work to do, I can ask Kingsley whether –"**

"**No," said Bill at once, "I'll do it, I'll come."**

"**Where are you going?" said Tonks and Fleur together.**

"Wives." Caruso sniggered, earning himself a glare from most of the females in the hall.

"**Mad-Eye's body," said Lupin. "We need to recover it."**

"**Can't it –?" began Mrs Weasley with an appealing look at Bill.**

"**Wait?" said Bill. "Not unless you'd rather the Death Eaters took it?"**

"Good idea." Mad-Eye said.

"Too bad the Death Eaters had already found it." Hermione grimaced.

**Nobody spoke. Lupin and Bill said goodbye and left.**

**The rest of them now dropped into chairs, all except Harry, who remained standing. The suddenness and completeness of death was with them like a presence.**

"**I've got to go, too," said Harry.**

"DON'T YOU BLOODY DARE." Mrs Weasley yelled again.

"There's another thing he got from you James." Remus said, "the extreme nobility and refusal to put others in danger."

"That sounds so like me." Charlus muttered sheepishly, cowering slightly away from his wife's glare.

**Ten pairs of startled eyes looked at him.**

"**Don't be silly, Harry," said Mrs Weasley, "What are you talking about?"**

"**I can't stay here."**

**He rubbed his forehead: it was prickling again; it had not hurt like this for more than a year.**

"What does that mean? I thought that your scar only hurt when he was near." Theo said, beating Lily and James, who also wanted to know the answer.

"It's to do with the connection between us." Harry replied, "after Voldemort tried to possess me at the end of last year, he was weakened when I shoved him out, and he started using Occlumency to prevent me entering his mind. But after a year, he forgot about the connection, and his shields collapsed, leaving the connection open, so I could once again see into his mind and feel his emotions."

"Oh." James muttered.

"Sounds unpleasant." Dorea commented.

"Definitely, but it was useful." Harry nodded.

"**You're all in danger while I'm here. I don't want –"**

"**But don't be so silly!" said Mrs Weasley. "The whole point of tonight was to get you here safely, and thank goodness it worked. And Fleur's agreed to get married**

"So we actually got round to setting a date." Bill muttered.

"Yeah, you chose the day after Harry's birthday." Hermione nodded, quickly silencing Mrs Weasley, so no one had to put up with her shrieking about how her little boys were supposed to be living at home and not getting married.

**here rather than in France, and we've arranged everything so that we can all stay together and look after you –"**

**She did not understand; she was making him feel worse, not better.**

"Oh she knows." Charlie grimaced, "mum is an expert at guilt-trips."

"Mothers always are." Abraxas shrugged.

"**If Voldemort finds out I'm here –"**

"**But why should he?" asked Mrs Weasley.**

"**There are a dozen places you might be now, Harry," said Mr Weasley. "He's got no way of knowing which safe house you're in."**

"He probably will." Parvati said, "everyone knows that Harry always spends time with the Weasleys, so the Burrow will be the first place you-know-who looks."

"We didn't think of that." Bill sighed.

"**It's not me I'm worried for!" said Harry.**

"**We know that," said Mr Weasley quietly, "but it would make our efforts tonight seem rather pointless if you left."**

"**Yer not goin' anywhere," growled Hagrid. "Blimey, Harry, after all we wen' through ter get you here?"**

"**Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?" said George, hoisting himself upon his cushions.**

"**I know that –"**

"**Mad-Eye wouldn't want –"**

"**I KNOW!" Harry bellowed.**

"Oh god, the resurgence of the Harry temper." Hermione groaned.

**He felt beleaguered and blackmailed. Did they think he did not know what they had done for him? Didn't they understand that it was for precisely that reason that he wanted to go now, before they had to suffer any more on his behalf? **

"Oh Merlin." Lily grimaced.

**There was a long and awkward silence in which his scar continued to prickle and throb, and which was broken at last by Mrs Weasley.**

"**Where's Hedwig, Harry?" she said coaxingly. "We can put her up with Pigwidgeon and give her something to eat."**

"Oh, bad timing." Mrs Weasley groaned miserably to herself.

**His insides clenched like a fist. He could not tell her the truth. He drank the last of his firewhisky to avoid answering.**

"**Wait till it gets out yeh did it again, Harry," said Hagrid. "Escaped him, fought him off when he was right on top of yeh!"**

"**It wasn't me," said Harry flatly. "It was my wand. My wand acted of its own accord."**

"They won't believe that." Hannah Abbott giggled.

"It is kind of impossible." Susan added.

"Yeah, but you know me and impossible." Harry laughed.

"That's true." Susan muttered.

**After a few moments, Hermione said gently, "But that's impossible, Harry. You mean that you did magic without meaning to, you reacted instinctively."**

"**No," said Harry. "The bike was falling. I couldn't have told you where Voldemort was, but my wand spun in my hand and found him and shot a spell at him, and it wasn't even a spell I recognized. I've never made gold flames appear before."**

"**Often," said Mr Weasley, "when you're in a pressured situation you can often produce magic you've never dreamed of. Small children often find, before they're trained –"**

"Whatever that was, it was not accidental magic." Flitwick squeaked, "I've never heard of a wizard who does accidental magic after he's bought his wand."

"Then you obviously missed hearing about the fact that Mr Potter accidentally inflated his uncle's sister." Minerva said, "a week after his thirteenth birthday."

"Impressive." Flitwick squeaked, "though I would dearly love to know why."

"I think we all would." Scrimgeour nodded, remembering that that was when the former Minister had first met the young hero.

"She called my father a drunkard, said that my mother was a whore and told me I should have been drowned at birth." Harry replied.

"Wow is she cruel and heartless." Seamus muttered.

"Yeah, she was, but that was only because she believed what Vernon had told her about why I was living at his house." Harry said, "then after Vernon nearly killed Petunia, Marge went and gave him a bollocking because she liked Petunia more than her brother, so she was there when Dolohov and Greyback, who had escaped custody by killing the guards, tortured and killed him, and left Dudley very close to death." Harry said, "Petunia told her everything, and she apologised."

"Incredible." Minerva whispered.

"Were Petunia and Dudley all right after Vernon was killed?" Lily asked nervously.

"Yes, Petunia wasn't there during the attack, because she was still in hospital after the beating Vernon gave her, so she didn't see what Dolohov and Greyback did." Harry replied.

"I hope they were caught." Kingsley frowned, "again."

"It took another seven months to catch up with Dolohov, but Greyback died the night Vernon did." Lucius sighed.

"Thank you." Remus whispered with tears in his eyes.

"What about Dudley?" Lily queried

"He recovered, slowly, and few years afterwards, married a witch." Harry grinned, "interestingly enough, his wife was a former Slytherin, and their children joined Slytherin house as well."

"Who did he marry?" Pansy asked curiously, already planning on trying to set the pair up.

"Wait and see." Draco smirked.

"**It wasn't like that," said Harry, through gritted teeth. His scar was burning. He felt angry and frustrated; he hated the idea that they were all imagining him to have power to match Voldemort's.**

"Except you actually do." Lucius smiled, "you are the only person I know, who can actually control Fiendfyre."

"You what?" James spluttered.

"You can control Fiendfyre?" Charlus asked incredulously, "not even Voldemort has that kind of power. At least, I don't think he does."

"Tom never did." Abraxas said, shaking his head.

"Why do you keep calling him Tom?" Dean asked.

"That's what his mother named him when he was born." Caruso shrugged, "she didn't randomly decide to call him Lord Voldemort when she gave birth."

"I didn't think she would." Seamus grinned, "it is a stupid name."

**No one said anything. He knew that they did not believe him. Now that he came to think of it, he had never heard of a wand performing magic on its own before.**

"No one has."Albus said, "but no one has explored the boundaries of magic as much as Tom did, so there is no way to know for sure what exactly happened."

**His scar seared with pain; it was all he could do not to moan aloud. **

"You didn't make a sound, but your scar was bright red." Hermione sighed, "I'm surprised it didn't split open and bleed."

"That was never likely to happen." Harry smiled, gently rubbing circles in his mother's back to try and keep her calm.

**Muttering about fresh air, he set his glass down and left the room.**

**As he crossed the dark yard, the great skeletal thestral looked up, rustled its enormous bat-like wings, then resumed its grazing. Harry stopped at the gate into the garden, staring out at its overgrown plants, rubbing his pounding forehead and thinking of Dumbledore. **

**Dumbledore would have believed him, he knew it. Dumbledore would have known how and why Harry's wand had acted independently, because Dumbledore always had the answers;**

"Not always." Albus said, "I have theories, but no answers."

**he had known about wands, had explained to Harry the strange connection that existed between his wand and Voldemort's.**

… **But Dumbledore, like Mad-Eye, like Sirius, like his parents, like his poor owl, all were gone where Harry could never talk to them again. He felt a burning in his throat that had nothing to do with Firewhisky …**

**And then, out of nowhere, the pain in his scar peaked. As he clutched his forehead and closed his eyes, a voice screamed inside his head.**

"Ah yes, your occasional forays into Voldemort's head." Draco grimaced, "I don't know how you stayed relatively sane when he was as insane as he was."

"I will admit that my sanity is slightly questionable, but the fact that I could see into his mind was useful." Harry said, "it saved lives, and helped let me know where he was at times."

"**_You told me the problem would be solved by using another's wand!_"**

**And into his mind burst the vision of an emaciated old man lying in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a horrible, drawn-out scream, a scream of unendurable agony …**

"Oh that poor man." Lily said softly, tightening her hold on Harry slightly.

"**No! No! I beg you, I beg you …"**

"**You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!"**

"Merlin." Charlus whispered, horror-struck, "no one should suffer that, not at his age."

"You actually know how old he is?" Fred asked with a slight squeak in his voice.

"No, but I can guess, seeing as he was the one who sold my great-grandfather Stewart his wand." Charlus shrugged, "and my great-grandfather would have been a hundred and forty-four years old this year, so the youngest Ollivander could be is a hundred and fifty, and that's only if he started selling wands at seventeen and my great-grandfather was one of his first customers. It's simple mathematics."

"Ollivander is just over five years older than me, and I'm a hundred and forty-seven." Flitwick said in his squeaky voice.

"How d'you know?" Remus wondered.

"He was a sixth year when I started my first." Flitwick shrugged, "and when I was a student, we Ravenclaws always celebrated each others' birthdays, no matter what year we were in."

"Maybe we should start something like that again." Albus mused, "only instead of just celebrating with just one house, have all the houses together."

"It might help create house unity, especially with the younger years, those who haven't been here long enough to get too immersed in the rivalries." Minerva nodded.

"And of course, having the Golden trio being friendly with the Slytherin Ice Prince will go a long way towards house unity." Snape added.

"There's more than just friendship there." Minerva snorted, "or have you forgotten the extremely hot scene we interrupted two days ago?"

"Of course." Snape sighed.

"What happened?" Lily asked curiously.

"Your son was groping Lucius in the middle of a hallway." Minerva replied.

"I didn't wanna know that." James said weakly, "I was quite happy living in my dream world where Harry was an innocent virgin, and didn't want to know about his sex life."

"That's almost tame compared to what poor Amelia tripped over nearly thirty years ago for us." Hermione giggled.

"Oh dear." Snape mumbled, "I don't think we want to know."

"Good idea." Draco snorted.

"**I did not … I swear I did not …"**

"**You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!"**

"**I swear I did not … I believed a different wand would work …"**

"**Explain, then, what happened. Lucius's wand is destroyed!"**

"**I cannot understand … the connection … exists only … between your two wands …"**

"**_Lies!_"**

"**Please … I beg you …"**

**And Harry saw the white hand raise its wand and felt Voldemort's surge of vicious anger, saw the frail old man on the floor writhe in agony –**

"No one should ever experience that kind of pain." The Bloody Baron said, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Neville had gone pale with clenched teeth.

"Who are you again?" Dorea asked, having forgotten about most of the ghosts at Hogwarts.

"I'm the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin house ghost." The ghost replied with a slight bow.

"Of course." Dorea whispered, now remembering the gaunt, usually silent ghost that haunted the Slytherin common room.

"**Harry?"**

**It was over as quickly as it had come: Harry stood shaking in the darkness, clutching the gate into the garden, his heart racing, his scar still tingling. It was several moments before he realized that Ron and Hermione were at his side.**

"**Harry, come back in the house," Hermione whispered. "You aren't still thinking of leaving?"**

"**Yeah, you've got to stay, mate," said Ron, thumping Harry on the back.**

"**Are you all right?" Hermione asked, close enough now to look into Harry's face. "You look awful!"**

"How tactful." Bill snorted.

"And from what we've read, Harry probably looks a lot better than Ollivander." Abraxas added.

"**Well," said Harry shakily, "I probably look better than Ollivander …"**

"Oh dear." Abraxas mumbled.

**When he had finished telling them what he had seen, Ron looked appalled, but Hermione downright terrified. "But it was supposed to have stopped! Your scar – it wasn't supposed to do this any more! You mustn't let that connection open up again – Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!"**

"Hermione, do you remember what the professors said during our first few training sessions?" Harry asked, "the connection _cannot_ be closed completely, from either side. Even the shields they taught me how to create wouldn't keep him out permanently."

"That's very true, I'd forgotten about that." Hermione sighed.

**When he did not reply, she gripped his arm.**

"**Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the Wizarding world! Don't let him inside your head too!"**

"Good logic, but it's not likely to help." Remus said.

"That was the end of the chapter." Sinistra sighed, "who wants the book now?"

"I might as well." Minerva said, taking the book off her colleague and turning to the next page.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Ghoul in Pyjamas**

"**The Ghoul in Pyjamas**," Minerva read.

**The shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house in the days that followed; Harry kept expecting to see him stumping in through the back door like the other Order members, who passed in and out to relay news. Harry felt that nothing but action would assuage his feelings of guilt and grief and that he ought to set out on his mission to find and destroy Horcruxes as soon as possible.**

"My god." Dorea breathed, turning as white as a sheet, as did Lily, who also understood, "that's how he did it."

"What are Horcruxes?" Colin asked the white-faced red-heads. He was the only one brave enough to ask the question that almost everyone wanted the answer to.

"Something truly horrible." Abraxas said disgustedly, "I can't believe Tom would create one, let alone more."

"How many did he create?" Mr Weasley wondered, also knowing what they were talking about, having been taught when he joined the Department of Mysteries as an undercover operative, before being ordered to infiltrate the Ministry to keep an eye on what was going on there.

"Six." Harry said.

"SIX?" Dorea screamed in shock.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"I can't believe it." Charlus muttered, shakily wiping his face with one hand.

"More about them will be revealed in this chapter." Hermione said softly.

"One question, who here knows what Horcruxes are, and how?" Albus asked, wondering how so many people could have found out about them

"I'm a Black." Dorea sighed, "I was forced to learn about them when I was sixteen."

"Some of us were forced to learn about them by our families." Abraxas agreed, "I don't know about the rest though."

"I was taught how to recognise them, during my training to become an Unspeakable." Lily said.

"As was I." Charlus nodded.

"I'm a Curse-breaker, and was taught how to recognise them by the goblins, who absolutely _hate_ the idea of people cheating death that way." Bill shrugged.

"Let's just say that there are quite a few who know, and for various reasons." Harry grinned.

"Indeed, now if there are no objections, I will continue." Minerva said sternly while everyone who knew about Horcruxes and hadn't known that Voldemort had made some tried to recover their wits.

"**Well, you can't do anything about the –" Ron mouthed the word _Horcruxes_, "'til you're seventeen. You've still got the Trace on you. And we can plan here as well as anywhere, can't we? Or," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "d'you reckon you already know where the you-know-what's are?"**

"Knowing _what_ they are would also be good." Mr Weasley mumbled quietly, still in shock.

"**No," Harry admitted.**

"**I think Hermione's been doing a bit of research," said Ron. "She said she was saving it for when you got here."**

"She's not Hermione when she's not doing research." Draco grinned.

"Might be why she decided to join Daniel's research department when we started working for the SGC." Harry smirked.

"True." Draco sniggered.

"Who's Daniel?" Padma asked curiously.

"Dr Daniel Jackson, an archaeologist who postulated that the Great Pyramid was not built as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh, Khufu, but was instead built as a landing platform for spacecraft." Hermione replied, "he was laughed at by the entire archaeological community, but he was right, the Great Pyramid of Giza was built to land Goa'uld mother-ships on."

"Interesting." Padma muttered.

"Is the size of the pyramid an indication of the size of the spacecraft?" Stephen Cornfoot, one of the sixth year Ravenclaws, who had been sitting listening without commenting, enquired.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "the Great Pyramid fits inside the base of a Goa'uld mother-ship."

"Merlin, that's scary." The younger students whispered.

**They were sitting at the breakfast table; Mr Weasley and Bill had just left for work, Mrs Weasley had gone upstairs to wake Hermione and Ginny, while Fleur had drifted off to take a bath.**

"**The Trace'll break on the thirty-first," said Harry. "That means I only need to stay here four days. Then I can –"**

"**Five days," Ron corrected him firmly. "We've got to stay for the wedding. They'll kill us if we miss it."**

"Yes, they probably would, especially since one of them's a redhead." Charlie snorted.

**Harry understood 'they' to mean Fleur and Mrs Weasley.**

"**It's one extra day," said Ron, when Harry looked mutinous.**

"**Don't they realize how important –?"**

"No, because you haven't told us what you're doing." Mr Weasley said, while Mrs Weasley was shrieking silently, "and while I can understand why not and accept your decision, my wife won't."

"Thank you for understanding." Harry nodded, "I did promise to tell only two people what my mission was, and even though the one I made that promise to was dead, I _never_ break a promise, not if I can help it."

"**'Course they don't," said Ron. "They haven't got a clue. And now you mention it, I want to talk to you about that."**

**Ron glanced toward the door into the hall to check that Mrs Weasley was not returning yet, then leaned in closer to Harry.**

"**Mum's been trying to get it out of Hermione and me. What we're off to do. She'll try you next, so brace yourself. Dad and Lupin've both asked us as well, but when we said Dumbledore told you not to tell anyone except us, they dropped it. Not Mum, though. She's determined."**

"Yeah, but Harry's always been extremely stubborn." Hermione giggled.

"That's a Potter trait." Dorea grumbled.

**Ron's prediction came true within hours. Shortly before lunch, Mrs. Weasley detached Harry from the others by asking him to help identify a lone man's sock that she thought might've come out of his rucksack.**

"Urgh, the lone man's sock routine." Bill grumbled, "we've all fallen for it."

"Except that that was the only time Harry ever fell for it" Hermione snorted, "though I'm not exactly surprised, his socks are way too colourful and distinctive."

"That's a different reaction." Harry grinned, "when you first saw the array of colours, you threw up."

"It was morning sickness." Hermione whined.

"To be fair, I also nearly threw up." Lucius commiserated, "they were stripy blue and yellow with a few that were florescent pink and lime green."

Charlus stared at Harry in disgust at the thought.

"That sounds as bad as Sirius' fashion sense." Regulus grimaced.

"What fashion sense?" Remus asked, "I didn't think he had any."

"I have to agree." Orion nodded, "he does like those hideous Hawaiian shirts, and those horrible shorts, which combined with the crime against fashion that is his lemon yellow sombrero …"

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Pansy moaned, going slightly green as she tried not to picture the outfit.

**Once she had him cornered in the tiny scullery of the kitchen, she started.**

"**Ron and Hermione seem to think that the three of you are dropping out of Hogwarts," she began in a light, casual tone.**

"**Oh," said Harry. "Well, yeah. We are."**

**The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing what looked like one of Mr Weasley's vests.**

"**May I ask why you are abandoning your education?" said Mrs Weasley.**

"**Well, Dumbledore left me … stuff to do," mumbled Harry. "Ron and Hermione know about it, and they want to come too."**

"You mean I turned your hair into a purple chicken if you didn't agree?" Hermione giggled.

"A purple chicken, what an odd thought." Cygnus mumbled.

"**What sort of stuff'?"**

"**I'm sorry, I can't –"**

"**Well, frankly I think Arthur and I have a right to know and I'm sure Mr and Mrs Granger would agree!" said Mrs Weasley.**

"I disagree. While I do think parents would want to know what their children are doing, at seventeen, the children are of age, and considered adults, so the parents don't have a right to know." Lily said, throwing her arms up.

"Besides, you don't actually know for certain that Hermione's parents don't know what she's doing, so there is no reason for you to try and tell either her or Harry that they've got to tell you." Dorea added irritably.

"What about Harry though?" Mrs Weasley asked, "I know that somehow she's alive right now, but in the book, his mother is dead, and he clearly needs a mother, after the way Petunia has treated him."

"Not everyone needs a mother at seventeen." Charlus snorted, "yes people need someone to lean on, but that does not mean that they should tell that person every little thing."

"That didn't answer my question." Mrs Weasley said stubbornly.

"Things might have been different, had I still been alive in the book, but right now, I think Harry has a right to make his own decisions without me interfering, so no, I don't think I would have a right to know, no matter how much I would want to." Lily shrugged, "I don't know what would have happened if I had survived the attack in eighty-one, I only know how I feel about it right now."

"Oh all right." Mrs Weasley huffed, knowing that the three had a point and that she should learn to accept that things didn't always turn out how she would like.

**Harry had been afraid of the 'concerned parent' attack. He forced himself to look directly into her eyes, noticing as he did that they were precisely the same shade of brown as Ginny's. This did not help.**

"**Dumbledore didn't want anyone else to know, Mrs Weasley. I'm sorry, Ron and Hermione don't have to come, it's their choice –"**

"**I don't see that you have to go either!" she snapped, dropping all pretence now.**

"That was not going to stop me." Harry said flatly, "nothing you say will convince me to give up."

"**You're barely of age, any of you! It's utter nonsense, if Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! Harry, you must have misunderstood him. Probably he was telling you something he wanted done, and you took it to mean that he wanted you –"**

"**I didn't misunderstand," said Harry flatly. "It's got to be me."**

**He handed her back the single stock he was supposed to be identifying, which was patterned with golden bulrushes.**

"**And that's not mine, I don't support Puddlemere United."**

"Why not?" Charlus whined, "they're one of the best teams out there."

"Yeah, why don't you suppport the team I play for?" Oliver added.

"Puddlemere aren't as good as the Portsmouth Predators." Harry said.

"Oh." Charlus subsided, "ok."

"Why can't you support my favourite team?" James frowned.

"Which team is that then?" Harry returned.

"The Cannons." James grinned.

"No. Way." Harry said, "they've never been higher than ninth in the league."

"That's really bad." Charlus grimaced, while Ron couldn't help but let out a sad little keening sound.

"That reminds me." Harry grinned, "Oliver, when the book's over, there'll be a contract waiting for your signature."

"What for?" The burly keeper asked.

"If you want it, the Predators want you to play for them, starting keeper." Harry smirked.

"Yes please, I'll actually get to play more than once in a blue moon." Oliver nodded so vigorously that he resembled Dobby.

"**Oh, of course not," said Mrs Weasley with a sudden and rather unnerving return to her casual tone. "I should have realized. Well, Harry, while we've still got you here, you won't mind helping with the preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding, will you? There's still so much to do."**

"**No – I – of course not," said Harry, disconcerted by this sudden change of subject.**

"**Sweet of you," she replied, and she smiled as she left the scullery.**

"Big mistake." Charlie grimaced.

**From that moment on, Mrs Weasley keep Harry, Ron, and Hermione so busy with preparations for the wedding that they hardly had any time to think.**

**The kindest explanation of this behaviour would have been that Mrs Weasley wanted to distract them all from thoughts of Mad-Eye and the terrors of their recent journey. After two days of non-stop cutlery cleaning, of colour-matching favours, ribbons, and flowers, of de-gnoming the garden and helping Mrs Weasley cook vast batches of canapés, however, Harry started to suspect her of a different motive. All the jobs she handed out seems to keep him, Ron, and Hermione away from one another; he had not had a chance to speak to the two of them alone since the first night, when he had told them about Voldemort torturing Ollivander.**

"Yeah, she's trying to stop you going." Bill sighed.

"It's not going to work." Harry said flatly, "I will not stop until I'm dead, and maybe not even then."

"**I think Mum thinks that if she can stop the three of you getting together and planning, she'll be able to delay you leaving," Ginny told Harry in an undertone, as they laid the table for dinner on the third night of his stay.**

"**And then what does she thinks' going to happen?" Harry muttered. "Someone else might kill off Voldemort while she's holding us here making vol-au-vents?"**

"That wasn't the wisest move." Ron sniggered, "but then again, I did the same thing, the next day."

**He had spoken without thinking, and saw Ginny's face whiten.**

"**So it's true?" She said, "That's what you're trying to do?"**

"**I – not – I was joking," said Harry evasively.**

**They stared at each other, and there was something more than shock in Ginny's expression. Suddenly Harry became aware that this was the first time that he had been alone with her since their stolen hours in secluded corners of the Hogwarts grounds.**

"That I presume was before you discovered you were more like siblings." Bill said.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

**He was sure she was remembering them too. Both of them jumped as the door opened, and Mr Weasley, Kingsley, and Bill walked in.**

**Other Order members often joined them for dinner now, because the Burrow had replaced - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - as the headquarters.**

"Where did you say was headquarters?" Dean asked.

"Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you, because it is currently under a Fidelius, and I am not the Secret-Keeper." Minerva replied.

"Professor Dumbledore, I think that while you may not like the idea, it might be wise to reveal the secret to everyone in the hall, especially since the place will be mentioned quite a lot in the book." Hermione said.

"Very well." Albus nodded, "the current headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is Number twelve, Grimmauld Place."

"Where's that then?" Seamus asked.

"If it is where I think it is." Dorea said, "it's one of the Black family's London town-houses. And I never thought that place would be used as the headquarters of a group dedicated to the downfall of Voldemort."

"I would have thought the bitch I was forced to call mother had disowned Sirius and the house would have gone to Bella or Cissy?" Regulus muttered.

"It would have done." Orion said, "if I had actually completed the paperwork and allowed his name to be completely wiped from the family."

"So even though mother had written in her will that Sirius wasn't to get anything, he was the only one who carried the Black name, and would have inherited everything, if he hadn't been sent to Azkaban." Regulus mused.

"Exactly." Orion nodded.

"So what about you two?" Dorea asked, "you both still carry the Black name."

"We faked our deaths and left the British magical world." Cygnus replied, "we went to Paraguay."

"That's a little off the beaten track." Eileen giggled.

"Indeed." Orion nodded with a grin.

**Mr Weasley had explained that after the death of Dumbledore, their Secret-Keeper, each of the people to whom Dumbledore had confided Grimmauld Place's location had become a Secret-Keeper in turn.**

"**And as there are around twenty of us, that greatly dilutes the power of the Fidelius Charm. Twenty times as many opportunities for the Death Eaters to get the secret out of somebody. We can't expect it to hold much longer."**

"**But surely Snape will have told the Death Eaters the address by now?" asked Harry.**

"Obviously no one knows that he's our spy." Flitwick said, "this distrust is what comes of you keeping secrets Albus."

"If too many people know, then Voldemort is more likely to find out." Albus sighed.

"We understand that, but to a lot of people, just having your word, is not enough." Bill pointed out patiently, "you and Harry are the only ones who fully trust Snape, and that's only because you have evidence, but you haven't shared it with us, meaning that we can't trust him. I'm sorry, but trust is a rare commodity, and we can't just trust someone according to the word of one man, not without evidence."

"What you are asking for, is blind trust, which is a mistake." Remus added, "trusting blindly leads to betrayal. I learned that lesson when someone who was supposed to be a trusted friend, betrayed that trust, leading to the worst night of my life."

With every word, Albus was looking more and more morose, the pain that could be seen in his eyes was nearly overwhelming, but it was clear that he was willing to try and let go of his habit of hiding things.

"**Well, Mad-Eye set up a couple of curses against Snape in case he turns up there again. We hope they'll be strong enough both to keep him out and to bind his tongue if he tries to talk about the place, but we can't be sure. **

"Oh god." Snape grimaced, knowing exactly how vindictive Moody could be.

**It would have been insane to keep using the place as headquarters now that its protection has become so shaky."**

**The kitchen was so crowded that evening was difficult to manoeuvre knives and forks. Harry found himself crammed beside Ginny; the unsaid things that had just passed between them made him wish a few more people had separated them. He was trying to hard to avoid brushing her arm he could barely cut his chicken.**

"**No news about Mad-Eye?" Harry asked Bill.**

"**Nothing," replied Bill.**

**They had not been able to hold a funeral for Moody, because Bill and Lupin had failed to recover his body. It had been difficult to know where he might have fallen, given the darkness and the confusion of the battle.**

"That's not good." Dorea muttered, "knowing how paranoid that man is, he's bound to have a lot of useful things in his robes that you don't want the Death Eaters to get hold of."

"They already had." Hermione sighed, "someone collected his remains and went through the pockets, removing everything of use before burning the rest."

"**The _Daily Prophet_ hasn't said a word about him dying or about finding the body," Bill went on. "But that doesn't mean much. It's keeping a lot quiet these days."**

"**And they still haven't called a hearing about all the under-age magic I used escaping the Death Eaters?" Harry called across the table to Mr Weasley, who shook his head. "Because they know I had no choice or because they don't want me to tell the world Voldemort attacked me?"**

"**The latter, I think. Scrimgeour doesn't want to admit that You-Know-Who is as powerful as he is, nor that Azkaban's seen a mass breakout."**

"Wow, it sounds like the Ministry has got worse." Seamus said.

"It sounds like the stress of the position has got to me." Scrimgeour groaned, "and there is the fact that we don't want to worry the public, which could start riots in the streets, thereby causing major problems for the Auror corps and the war effort."

"True." Seamus nodded, "I can see why that would not be desirable."

"**Yeah, why tell the public the truth?" said Harry, clenching his knife so tightly that the faint scars on the back of his right hand stood out, white against his skin: _I must not tell lies_.**

"That sounds like a Blood Quill." Angelina said, "but they were made illegal for anything other than signing contracts two hundred years ago."

"Who the hell would force someone to use a blood quill?" James hissed angrily.

"Someone with no heart." Hermione said.

"But who?" Lily asked, turning her furious glare upon the teachers.

"Umbridge." Lee grimaced from the Gryffindor table, "I don't know how many people had detention with her last year, but every single one of them was forced to write lines with that quill. Harry and I were two of her victims, but I never knew how many others she tortured."

"I hope she is rotting in Azkaban for that." Dorea said in a falsely sweet tone, indicating that she was beyond angry.

"She will be as soon as we get out of here." Kingsley said, "we didn't know, no one mentioned it, so we didn't know that she was doing that, and couldn't do anything."

"We all knew that Fudge had ordered her presence here, and because she had been made High Inquisitor, we didn't want to say anything, because if we had, there was the chance that any teacher we told would get thrown out of the castle and she would put more of Fudge's stooges in their places." Ron sighed, "we knew that any teacher we told, would be furious, and get themselves into trouble, which could have left us with no one to teach us properly, and we would have probably failed all of our exams."

"There's nothing wrong with a little pain and suffering." Filch wheezed, shocking those who had thought he wasn't interested in reading with them. "Oh yes, hard work and pain, damn good teachers."

"Argus." Dumbledore rumbled, "you know my opinion of those methods. There will be no corporal punishment at Hogwarts while I am Headmaster."

"Good." Cygnus said with all the other older purebloods nodding in agreement.

"Why would Fudge condone torture?" Remus asked.

"I don't know." Lily sighed, grabbing Harry's right hand and peering at it closely.

"He's another one we'll have to do something about." Percy grimaced, "I'm building up a veritable army of names of people to be charged with various crimes."

"It'll probably grow as we get further into the book." Kingsley snorted.

"**Isn't anyone at the Ministry prepared to stand up to him?" asked Ron angrily.**

"**Of course, Ron, but people are terrified." Mr Weasley replied, "terrified that they will be next to disappear, their children the next to be attacked! There are nasty rumours going around; I for one don't believe the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts resigned. She hasn't been seen for weeks now.**

"That's because she didn't resign." Rose Zeller, one of the first year Hufflepuffs, muttered.

**Meanwhile Scrimgeour remains shut up in his office all day. I just hope he's working on a plan."**

"Nope." Hermione mumbled, "he was busy trying to work out why Dumbledore left us the things he left us."

"To be fair, the reason was a bit obscure." Harry shrugged.

**There was a pause in which Mrs Weasley magicked her empty plates onto the work surface and served apple tart.**

"**We must decide 'ow you will be disguised,'Arry," said Fleur, once everyone had pudding. "For ze wedding," she added, when he looked confused. "Of course, none of our guests are Death Eaters, but we cannot guarantee zat zey will not let something slip after zey 'aev 'ad champagne."**

**From this, Harry gathered that she still suspected Hagrid.**

"That's really not helping me like her." Dorea said.

"**Yes, good point," said Mrs Weasley from the top of the table, where she sat, spectacles perched on the end of her nose, scanning an immense list of jobs that she had scribbled on a very long piece of parchment. "Now, Ron, have you cleaned out your room yet?"**

"**_Why_?" exclaimed Ron, slamming his spoon down and glaring at his mother. "Why does my room have to be cleaned out? Harry and I are both fine with it the way it is!"**

"You might be, but we will be holding your brother's wedding at the Burrow and the entire house needs to be as neat and tidy as possible." Mr Weasley said calmly, already used to the idea that his oldest son was getting married.

"**We are holding your brother's wedding here in a few days' time, young man –"**

"**And are they getting married in my bedroom?" asked Ron furiously. "No! So why in the name of Merlin's saggy left –"**

"Do you really want to go there?" Abraxas asked curiously.

"Well, I was a bit irritated, so wasn't thinking straight." Ron shrugged.

"**Don't you talk to your mother like that," said Mr Weasley firmly, "And do as you're told."**

**Ron scowled at both his parents, then picked up his spoon and attacked the last few mouthfuls of his apple tart.**

"**I can help, some of it's my mess." Harry told Ron, but Mrs Weasley cut across him.**

"She doesn't want to let you lot get time to plan." Bill said knowingly, "she thinks it'll stop you."

"Nothing would stop me." Harry smirked, "not even death."

"**No, Harry, dear, I'd much rather you helped Arthur muck out the chickens, and Hermione, I'd be ever so grateful if you'd change the sheets for Monsieur and Madame Delacour, you know they're arriving at eleven tomorrow morning."**

**But as it turned out, there was very little to do for the chickens.**

"**There's no need to, er, mention it to Molly," Mr Weasley told Harry, blocking his access to the coop, **

"What have you done now?" Bill asked with a grin while Fred and George inched away from Mrs Weasley, who though her oldest son had cast a silencing spell on her, was getting irritated.

"I have no idea." Mr Weasley replied.

"**but, er, Ted Tonks sent me most of what was left of Sirius's bike, and, er, I'm hiding – that's to say, keeping – it in here. **

"Dad." Percy groaned quietly.

**Fantastic stuff! There's an exhaust gaskin, as I believe it's called, the most magnificent battery, and it'll be a great opportunity to find out how brakes work. I'm going to try and put it all back together again when Molly's not – I mean, when I've got time."**

"Did the bike get put back together eventually?" Regulus asked.

"Yes, but for some reason, it wouldn't fly and would only do circles afterwards." Harry replied.

"Oh dear." Regulus grinned, "that's not good."

"What kind of bike is it?" Euan Abercrombie asked curiously.

"A Triumph T140 Bonneville." Harry said, "a classic of British engineering."

"Well, at least it wasn't a Harley Davidson." Michael Corner shrugged.

"True." Draco nodded, "I think I'd cry if it was a Harley."

"You're not the only one." Hermione giggled, "Sirius would too, especially since it's his bike."

"Sirius has always been a bit over-dramatic." James snorted.

**When they returned to the house, Mrs Weasley was nowhere to be seen, so Harry slipped upstairs to Ron's attic bedroom.**

"**I'm doing it, I'm doing –! Oh, it's you," said Ron in relief, as Harry entered the room. Ron lay back down on the bed, which he had evidently just vacated. **

"Lazy sod." Hermione grumbled, while Daphne gave Ron a smack around the back of the head.

**The room was just as messy as it had been all week; the only change was that Hermione was now sitting in the far corner, her fluffy ginger cat, Crookshanks, at her feet, sorting books, some of which Harry recognized as his own, into two enormous piles.**

"**Hi, Harry," she said, as he sat down on his camp bed.**

"**And how did you manage to get away?"**

"Good one." Bill grinned, making sure that the silencing charm on Mrs Weasley wasn't broken. He knew that she could over-react to certain things, and he did not want to go deaf from her screaming.

"**Oh, Ron's mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change the sheets yesterday," said Hermione. She threw _Numerology and Grammatica_ onto one pile and _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ onto the other.**

"**We were just talking about Mad-Eye," Ron told Harry. "I reckon he might have survived."**

"Either the curse or the fall would have killed him." Abraxas said, "I know that it would be nice if he had survived, but I seriously doubt it."

"**But Bill saw him hit by the Killing Curse," said Harry.**

"**Yeah, but Bill was under attack too," said Ron. "How can he be sure what he saw?"**

"**Even if the Killing curse missed, Mad Eye still fell about a thousand feet," said Hermione, now weighing _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland_ in her hand.**

"While that is a good book, it's not exactly useful." Charlus said.

"**He could have used a Shield Charm –"**

"**Fleur said his wand was blasted out of his hand," said Harry.**

"And the Killing curse is unblockable." Mad-Eye growled.

"**Well, all right, if you want him to be dead," said Ron grumpily, punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape.**

"**Of course we don't want him to be dead!" said Hermione, looking shocked. "It's dreadful that he's dead! But we're being realistic!"**

**For the first time, Harry imagined Mad-Eye's body, broken as Dumbledore's had been, yet with that one eye still whizzing in its socket. He felt a stab of revulsion mixed with a bizarre desire to laugh.**

"You have a very weird mind." Anthony Goldstein muttered.

"**The Death Eaters probably tidied up after themselves, that's why no one's found him," said Ron wisely.**

"**Yeah," said Harry. "Like Barty Crouch, turned into a bone and buried in Hagrid's front garden.**

"Is that what happened to him?" Percy asked.

"Yes, after his son killed him." Harry replied.

"You have just put a very disturbing image in my head." Lisa Turpin mumbled.

**They probably transfigured Moody and stuffed him –"**

"**Don't!" squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked over just in time to see her burst into tears over her copy of _Spellman's Syllabary_.**

"You know, that's only the second time I've ever heard about you bursting into tears?" Draco commented, "you've never struck me as the kind to cry much."

"I'm not, not really." Hermione said.

"**Oh no," said Harry, struggling to get up from the old camp bed. "Hermione, I wasn't trying to upset –"**

**But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket and withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief that he had used to clean out the oven earlier. Hastily pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, "_Tergeo_."**

"That really is revolting." Dean sniggered.

**The wand siphoned off most of the grease. Looking rather pleased with himself, Ron handed the slightly smoking handkerchief to Hermione.**

"**Oh … thanks, Ron … I'm sorry …" She blew her nose and hiccupped. "It's just so awf – ful, isn't it? R – Right after Dumbledore … I j – just n – never imagined Mad-Eye dying, somehow, he seemed so tough!"**

"**Yeah, I know," said Ron, giving her a squeeze. "But you know what he'd say to us if he was here?"**

"Ooh ooh, I know." Tonks said, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Oi, very sensitive ears here." Remus whined while Kingsley and Hooch rubbed their ears due to the fact that Moody had also yelled, "stop shouting, please."

"'**C – Constant vigilance,'" said Hermione, mopping her eyes.**

"**That's right," said Ron, nodding. "He'd tell us to learn from what happened to him. And what I've learned is not to trust that cowardly little squit, Mundungus."**

"That's pretty obvious." Romilda muttered.

**Hermione gave a shaky laugh and leaned forward to pick up two more books. A second later, Ron had snatched his arm back from around her shoulders; she had dropped _The Monster Book of Monsters_ on his foot. The book had broken free from its restraining belt and snapped viciously at Ron's ankle.**

"A book that bites." Charlus said slowly, as if to try and get his head around the idea, "fair enough."

"**I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hermione cried as Harry wrenched the book from Ron's leg and retied it shut.**

"**What are you doing with all those books anyway?" Ron asked, limping back to his bed.**

"**Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Hermione. "When we're looking for the Horcruxes."**

"Of course, you can't go anywhere without about fifty books." Theo sniggered.

"**Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library."**

"Oh Merlin, that was so bad it was good." George groaned.

"**Ha ha," said Hermione, looking down at _Spellman's Syllabary_. "I wonder … will we need to translate runes? It's possible … I think we'd better take it, to be safe."**

"And I was very glad I did take it." Hermione said.

"Yes, otherwise we would never have figured out what Tom was looking for." Harry nodded.

**She dropped the syllabary onto the larger of the two piles and picked up _Hogwarts: A History_.**

"Well, you certainly won't want to leave that behind." Draco snorted.

"I'm surprised she doesn't take it to bed with her." Lucius added, "I don't think I've ever seen her without a copy of that book."

"I don't take it everywhere I go." Hermione whined, earning a short and sweet peck on the forehead from Draco.

"**Listen," said Harry.**

**He had sat up straight. Ron and Hermione looked at him with similar mixtures of resignation and defiance.**

"**I know you said after Dumbledore's funeral that you wanted to come with me," Harry began.**

"**Here he goes," Ron said to Hermione, rolling his eyes.**

"**As we knew he would," she sighed, turning back to the books.**

"Your friends know you well." Regulus commented.

"**You know, I think I will take _Hogwarts: A History_. Even if we're not going back there, I don't think I'd feel right if I didn't have it with –"**

"**Listen!" said Harry again.**

"**No, Harry, _you_ listen," said Hermione. "We're coming with you. That was decided months ago – years, really."**

"**But –"**

"**Shut up," Ron advised him.**

"Good idea." George said.

"– **are you sure you've thought this through?" Harry persisted.**

"**Let's see," said Hermione, slamming _Travels with Trolls_ **

"Why do you still have that pile of crap?" Pansy asked curiously.

"Because it's useful." Hermione said.

"It's a pile of crap." Harry snorted, "it is of absolutely no use whatsoever."

"Yes it is." Hermione retorted.

"No it's not." All the Ravenclaws in fourth year and above yelled.

"Hermione, do remember the fact that the idiot that wrote it managed to Obliviate himself." Harry laughed, "and he was so inept that he couldn't even deal with a cage-full of Cornish pixies."

"Lockhart was an absolute moron." Mr Weasley said flatly, "let's just leave it at that."

"You mean Gilderoy Lockhart wrote a book?" Lily asked incredulously, turning to face Hermione with wide eyes.

"Yes, he wrote seven, or was it eight?" Draco nodded disgustedly, "and then, when he was the only person to apply for the position of DADA professor, put them on the school book-list for second year."

"Oh Merlin." James muttered.

"That's why everyone was so disappointed when Moony left." Ron added, "he was actually decent and knew what he was doing."

"Oh dear." Charlus murmured.

**onto the discarded pile with a rather fierce look. **

"**I've been packing for days, so we're ready to leave at a moment's notice, which for your information has included doing some pretty difficult magic, not to mention smuggling Mad-Eye's whole stock of Polyjuice Potion right under Ron's mum's nose.**

"Impressive." Remus whistled, "you managed to hide something from her."

"We bow to your greatness." The Weasley twins chanted.

"Oh stop it." Hermione giggled.

"**I've also modified my parents' memories so that they're convinced that they're really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and that their life's ambition is to move to Australia, which they have now done.**

"That must have been difficult." Blaise said.

"It was, but they were the ones who told me to." Hermione sighed, leaning on Draco, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I wouldn't have thought they'd be happy about it." Lily whispered.

"They didn't like it, but after I explained what was going on, they understood, and told me to alter their memories, because they knew that there was no way I would be happy going into hiding and not doing something to help fight Voldemort." Hermione sighed, "I removed their memories of having me, and everything to do with Hogwarts before I left our house."

"We did track them down and undo it after the war." Draco said.

"Gaining a scaly friend while we were at it." Harry grinned.

"What kind of scaly friend?" Dorea wondered.

"A young female Inland Taipan, after I apologised for treading on her tail." Harry replied.

"Wow." Regulus muttered.

"I'm sure you meant to say a slightly crazy young snake." Orion snorted, "she does have a habit of talking about herself in the third person."

"So annoyingly true." Harry sighed.

"How do you know?" Lavender asked curiously.

"We discovered that animagi gain the ability to communicate with animals of the same species as their animagus forms after their first successful transformation." Orion shrugged in reply.

"Does that mean that if someone has a snake as an animagus form, then they become a Parselmouth?" Seamus wondered.

"Yes." Cygnus nodded.

"So that's how Miss Greengrass can speak the language." Snape realised.

"Yep." Daphne giggled, "I'm a hooded cobra animagus."

"What about you Orion?" Minerva asked.

"Australian copperhead." Orion grinned.

"Rather dangerous." Pomfrey commented.

"They're not as dangerous as other venomous snakes." Harry said, "Australian copperheads prefer to flee rather than fight, and their venom is nowhere near as toxic as that of an Inland Taipan, which is known as the most venomous land snake in the Muggle world."

**That's to make it more difficult for Voldemort to track them down and interrogate them about me – or you, because unfortunately, I've told them quite a bit about you.**

"**Assuming I survive our hunt for the Horcruxes, I'll find Mum and Dad and lift the enchantment. If I don't – well, I think I've cast a good enough charm to keep them safe and happy. Wendell and Monica Wilkins don't know that they've got a daughter, you see."**

"I don't think I could have made that kind of sacrifice." Colin said, looking at Hermione in awe.

"I couldn't either." Lily whispered, sniffling slightly.

**Hermione's eyes were swimming with tears again. Ron got back off the bed, put his arms around her once more, and frowned at Harry as though reproaching him for lack of tact. Harry could not think of anything to say, not least because it was highly unusual for Ron to be teaching anyone else tact.**

"That's very true." George grinned.

"Ron has never had much in the way of tact." Fred added.

"Oi." Ron yelped.

"**I – Hermione, I'm sorry – I didn't –"**

"**Didn't realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what you've done."**

"**Nah, he's just eaten," said Ron.**

"That sounds ominous." Dorea mumbled.

"**Go on, he needs to know!"**

"**Oh, all right. Harry, come here."**

**For the second time Ron withdrew his arm from around Hermione and stumped over to the door.**

"**C'mon."**

"**Why?" Harry asked, following Ron out of the room onto the tiny landing.**

"**_Descendo_," muttered Ron, pointing his wand at the low ceiling. A hatch opened right over their heads and a ladder slid down to their feet. A horrible, half-sucking, half, moaning sound came out of the square hole, along with an unpleasant smell like open drains.**

"That smell reminded me of the troll in first year." Hermione said.

"Both of them." Harry snorted.

"**That's your ghoul, isn't it?" asked Harry, who had never actually met the creature that sometimes disrupted the nightly silence.**

"**Yeah, it is," said Ron, climbing the ladder. "Come and have a look at him."**

**Harry followed Ron up the few short steps into the tiny attic space. His head and shoulders were in the room before he caught sight of the creature curled up a few feet from him, fast asleep in the gloom with its large mouth wide open.**

"**But it … it looks … Do ghouls normally wear pyjamas?"**

"No." Mr Weasley said, "what have you done to the poor thing?"

"You'll see." Hermione smirked.

"**No," said Ron. "Nor have they usually got red hair or that number of pustules." Harry contemplated the thing, slightly revolted. It was human in shape and size, and was wearing what, now that Harry's eyes became used to the darkness, was clearly an old pair of Ron's pyjamas. He was also sure that ghouls were generally rather slimy and bald, rather than distinctly hairy and covered in angry purple blisters.**

"**He's me, see?" said Ron.**

"**No," said Harry. "I don't."**

"I could hardly think about anything other than the stench." Harry grumbled, "it wasn't pleasant."

"I can imagine." James said.

"Whereas I don't have to." Remus grimaced, "James' socks stank, and guess who had to sleep in the bed next to his when we were students."

"You didn't have to sleep in that bed, you could have chosen the one Sirius had." James snorted.

"Which would have meant being subjected to the foghorn-like chorus of both Crouch and Pettigrew snoring." Remus retorted, "no, I felt that being smothered by the smell of your socks was a better choice than sleeping right next to that chainsaw massacre."

"How were you organised in your dorm?" Ron asked.

"Frank had the bed on the very end, to the right of the door, then me, then Moony, then Padfoot, then Pettigrew, and Barty Crouch junior was on the other end." James replied.

"Merlin, so poor Moony was between Sirius, with his horrible fashion sense, and you, with your dreadfully smelly socks." Ginny giggled, ignoring the way her boobs bounced.

"Yep." James grinned.

"Definitely poor Moony." Ron sniggered.

"**I'll explain it back in my room, the smell's getting to me," said Ron. They climbed back down the ladder, which Ron returned to the ceiling, and rejoined Hermione, who was still sorting books.**

"**Once we've left, the ghoul's going to come and live down here in my room," said Ron. "I think he's really looking forward to it – well, it's hard to tell, because all he can do is moan and drool – but he nods a lot when you mention it. Anyway, he's going to be me with spattergroit. Good, eh?"**

"That's absolutely brilliant." Remus said.

"Of course it was." Harry grinned, "it was an idea that the best chess player I've ever seen came up with."

**Harry merely looked his confusion.**

"**It is!" said Ron, clearly frustrated that Harry had not grasped the brilliance of the plan. **

"You're not that slow are you?" Lily asked worriedly.

"No, the stench of the ghoul was so bad that I just couldn't think." Harry replied, "and it took me a while to stop feeling as though I was going to throw up."

"I can understand that." Mr Weasley said, "ghouls do smell pretty badly."

"**Look, when we three don't turn up at Hogwarts again, everyone's going to think Hermione and I must be with you, right? Which means the Death Eaters will go straight for our families to see if they've got information on where you are."**

"**But hopefully it'll look like I've gone away with Mum and Dad; a lot of Muggle-borns are talking about going into hiding at the moment," said Hermione.**

"That's good, it wouldn't be safe for them otherwise." Pansy said.

"Did it work?" Theo wondered, "or were they all found?"

"It worked." Hermione smiled, "a lot moved to America and enrolled in the American schools. Some went to Beauxbatons, and a few did go over to Australia."

"There were difficulties, especially with those who were under eleven, but apparently, the teachers used the book that lists all those with magic, and spent most of that summer going around, telling people what was going on, and making sure that they understood the danger." Harry continued.

"Interesting." Pansy muttered.

"What about those who were too old for school?" Padma wondered.

"Some of them managed to escape, but there were quite a lot who were captured." Draco replied.

"Merlin." Flitwick whispered, "that's awful."

"**We can't hide my whole family, it'll look too fishy and they can't all leave their jobs," said Ron.**

"It's not just that." Mr Weasley said, "the family is way too big to hide effectively."

"**So we're going to put out the story that I'm seriously ill with spattergroit, which is why I can't go back to school. If anyone comes calling to investigate, Mum or dad can show then the ghoul in my bed, covered in pustules. Spattergroit's really contagious, so they're not going to want to go near him. It won't matter that he can't say anything, either, because apparently you can't once the fungus has spread to your uvula."**

"**And your mum and dad are in on this plan?" asked Harry.**

"**Dad is. He helped Fred and George transform the ghoul. Mum … well, you've seen what she's like. She won't accept we're going till we've gone."**

"That's why Bill and Charlie moved out of the country." Fred said as though it was obvious.

"We wanted to be treated like adults, and Mum can't seem to realise that we're not five any more." Charlie sighed.

"Merlin." Ernie said, "I can't imagine having a mother like that."

"That's definitely a sign of less-than-stellar parenting." Dorea said.

"I know that parents don't want to think about their children growing up, but it happens, and the best thing to do is let it happen. Trying to protect a child from the world does more harm than good, because they won't be prepared for life." Lily added, "it creates major problems, especially if the parent dies, and the offspring can't look after themselves, even when the rest of the world considers them an adult, and should be able to look after themselves."

Mrs Weasley bowed her head, wondering what had happened to make her so over-bearing. She just couldn't work out when she had started to lose her ability to let her children grow up, and wanted to find a quiet corner in which to hide, so she could try and figure out a way to change, before it was too late and she lost her chance.

**There was silence in the room, broken only by gentle thuds as Hermione continued to throw books into one pile or the other. Ron sat watching her, and Harry looked from one to the other. The measures they had taken to protect their families made him realise, more than anything else could have done, that they really were going to come with him and that they knew exactly how dangerous that would be. He wanted to tell them what that meant to him, but he simply could not find words important enough.**

**Through the silence came the muffled sounds of Mrs Weasley shouting from four floors below.**

"**Ginny's probably left a speck of dust on a poxy napkin ring," said Ron. "I dunno why the Delacours have got to come two days before the weddings."**

"**Fleur's sister's a bridesmaid, she needs to be here for the rehearsal, and she's too young to come on her own," said Hermione, as she pored indecisively over _Break with a Banshee_.**

"Hermione, if _Travels with Trolls_ was a pile of crap, that one was too." Theo said.

"**Well, guests aren't going to help Mum's stress levels," said Ron. **

"**What we really need to decide," said Hermione, tossing _Defensive Magical Theory_ into the bin without a second glance **

"There's another load of rubbish." The sixth year Ravenclaws yelled.

"Was it really that bad?" Percy asked, slightly confused, even though he had read the book himself.

"It's one of the worst books ever published." Draco replied, "and most of the information in it is useless."

"All the book seemed to tell us was the best ways to call for help and get ourselves killed." Hermione continued, "the purpose of DADA is to teach us how to protect ourselves from anyone who is likely to attack, and most Dark Wizards won't sit quietly waiting for us to call for help, nor will they want to listen to us negotiate with them until help arrives."

"And we weren't being taught anything practical, which not only left us a lot more vulnerable, but meant that we wouldn't be able to do the spells in the practical exam." Harry said, "that's why we started the DA last year, so that we had at least a slight chance of survival against an attacker, but also so that we could pass our exams. There are very few people who can do a spell properly on the first try, and even less who can do it in a practical exam, when they're under a lot of pressure."

"I know I couldn't." Lily snorted.

**and picking up An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, "is where we're going after we leave here. I know you said you wanted to go to Godric's Hollow first, Harry, and I understand why, but … well … shouldn't we make the Horcruxes our priority?"**

"What's at Godric's Hollow?" James asked.

"Your graves." Remus replied, trying not to cry at the memory.

"Oh." James mumbled, lifting Lily off her seat and drawing her closer to himself as she broke down in tears.

"**If we knew where any of the Horcruxes were, I'd agree with you," said Harry, who did not believe that Hermione really understood his desire to Godric's Hollow. His parent's graves were only part of the attraction: he had a strong, though inexplicable, feeling that the place held answers for him.**

"Which it did." Hermione grumbled.

**Perhaps it was simply because it was there that he had survived Voldemort's Killing Curse; **

"What?" Regulus spluttered, being the only one of the people from the past who could get his mouth to work properly, "that's impossible."

"We know, but Harry has the strange ability to do the impossible." Draco grinned.

**now that he was facing the challenge of repeating the feat, **

"I bloody hope not." James snapped, not noticing the looks Hermione, Draco and Lucius shared, but Charlus and Dorea did, though they decided not to say anything until they could have a moment of privacy with their grandson.

**Harry was drawn to the place where it happened, wanting to understand.**

"**Don't you think there's a possibility that Voldemort's keeping a watch on Godric's Hollow?" Hermione asked. "He might expect you to go back and visit your parents' graves once you're free to go wherever you like?"**

"That's true." James sighed, "it's not safe."

**This had not occurred to Harry. While he struggled to find a counterargument, Ron spoke up, evidently following his own train of thought.**

"**This R.A.B. person," he said,**

"That might be me." Regulus said, "I'm the only person I know with those initials."

"**You know, the one who stole the real locket?"**

"Lovely." Lily muttered sarcastically, "you've now got to find the real one as well as how ever many others there are."

"By that time, two had already been destroyed, so other than the locket, which had already been stolen, there were three to find and destroy." Harry said.

"Did you know what objects he'd used?" Mr Weasley asked.

"At the time we only knew what two of the objects were and that the third was something that had belonged to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Ron replied.

"Founders' artefacts." Scrimgeour whispered in shock.

**Hermione nodded.**

"**He said in his note that he was going to destroy it, didn't he?"**

**Harry dragged his rucksack toward him and pulled out the fake Horcrux in which R.A.B.'s note was still folded.**

"'**_I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can,'_" Harry read out.**

"**Well, what if he did finish it off?" said Ron.**

"**Or she." interposed Hermione.**

"Are you going to go on a crusade for women's rights now?" Sally-Anne Perks asked with a grin.

"No." Hermione snorted, "I was just pointing out that R.A.B could have been female."

"I'm not." Regulus mumbled, subtly reaching into his trousers, "nope, definitely male."

"**Whichever," said Ron, "it'd be one less for us to do!"**

"**Yes, but we're still going to have to try and trace the real locket, aren't we?" said Hermione, "to find out whether or not it's destroyed."**

"**And once we get hold of it, how do you destroy a Horcrux?" asked Ron.**

"**Well," said Hermione, "I've been researching that."**

"**How?" asked Harry. "I didn't think there were any books on Horcruxes in the library?"**

"There aren't." Albus said, "I removed them as soon as I became headmaster."

"Good." Charlus nodded, "because Horcruxes are the Darkest magic around, and the fact that Voldemort made six, is truly horrible."

"**There weren't," said Hermione, who had turned pink. "Dumbledore removed them all, but he – he didn't destroy them."**

**Ron sat up straight, wide-eyed.**

"**How in the name of Merlin's pants have you managed to get your hands on those Horcrux books?"**

"**It – it wasn't stealing!" said Hermione, looking from Harry to Ron with a kind of desperation. **

"Hermione, that sounds as though you thought it _was_ stealing." Lisa said.

"**They were still library books, even if Dumbledore had taken them off the shelves. Anyway, if he _really_ didn't want anyone to get at them, I'm sure he would have made it much harder to –"**

"**Get to the point!" said Ron.**

"**Well … it was easy," said Hermione in a small voice. "I just did a Summoning Charm. You know – _accio_. And … they zoomed out of Dumbledore's study window right into the girls' dormitory."**

"Incredible." Abraxas whistled, "no one would have ever dared do something like that when I was a student."

"Nope." Orion grinned.

"But we had Dippet as headmaster." Caruso pointed out, "and he was the kind of person who stayed in the background, so there really wasn't anything in his office that anyone would want, unless they were obsessed with Geraniums."

"**But when did you do this?" Harry asked, regarding Hermione with a mixture of admiration and incredulity.**

"**Just after his – Dumbledore's – funeral," said Hermione in an even smaller voice. "Right after we agreed we'd leave school and go and look for the Horcruxes. When I went back upstairs to get my things it – it just occurred to me that the more we knew about them, the better it would be … and I was alone in there … so I tried … and it worked. They flew straight in through the open window and I – I packed them."**

**She swallowed and then said imploringly, "I can't believe Dumbledore would have been angry, it's not as though we're going to use the information to make a Horcrux, is it?"**

"Precisely, Miss Granger." Albus nodded, "while I don't like the idea of you reading those books, you do need to know as much as possible about what you're up against."

"**Can you hear us complaining?" said Ron. "Where are these books anyway?"**

**Hermione rummaged for a moment and then extracted from the pile a large volume, bound in faded black leather. She looked a little nauseated and held it as gingerly as if it were something recently dead.**

"Good idea." Lucius muttered disgustedly, "if that is the book I think it is, it is a truly foul book."

"**This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ – it's a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic. I wonder when Dumbledore removed it from the library … If he didn't do it until he was headmaster, I bet Voldemort got all the instruction he needed from here."**

"He probably did." Abraxas mumbled.

"**Why did he have to ask Slughorn how to make a Horcrux, then, if he'd already read that?" asked Ron.**

"My god." James said, "Slughorn was the one to tell him."

"To think I respected his intelligence." Lily snarled quietly, glaring at the fat bald man, who seemed to be trying to disappear from his seat.

"Don't blame him for being fooled by Voldemort." Harry sighed, "I hate to say it, but when he was younger, and looked human, he could be very charming and he told me that Professor Dumbledore was the only teacher who was at all suspicious of him, so I don't think we can really blame professor Slughorn for not realising just what Tom was really like."

"**He only approached Slughorn to find out what would happen if you split your soul into seven," said Harry. "Dumbledore was sure Riddle already knew how to make a Horcrux by the time he asked Slughorn about them. I think you're right, Hermione, that could easily have been where he got the information."**

"**And the more I've read about them," said Hermione, "the more horrible they seem, and the less I can believe that he actually made six. **

"I can't believe it either." Lily grimaced.

**It warns in this book how unstable you make the rest of your soul by ripping it, and that's just by making one Horcrux!"**

**Harry remembered what Dumbledore had said about Voldemort moving beyond 'usual evil.'**

"**Isn't there any way of putting yourself back together?" Ron asked.**

"**Yes," said Hermione with a hollow smile, "but it would be excruciatingly painful."**

"**Why? How do you do it?" asked Harry.**

"**Remorse," said Hermione. **

"I doubt that will work." Dean snorted mirthlessly.

"**You've got to really feel what you've done. There's a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can destroy you. I can't see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can you?"**

"**No," said Ron, before Harry could answer. "So does it say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?"**

"**Yes," said Hermione, now turning the fragile pages as if examining rotting entrails. "because it warns Dark wizards how strong they have to make the enchantments on them. From all that I've read, what Harry did to Riddle's**

"Who's Riddle?" Neville asked curiously, "and what's he got to do with Voldemort?"

"Voldemort's real name is Tom Riddle." Harry replied, "he changed it as soon as he could, because his father was also called Tom Riddle, and he didn't want anything to do with his father."

"And of course, you said earlier that Tom's father was a Muggle." Blaise realised.

"Exactly." Harry nodded, "Tom Riddle senior was a rather rich Muggle, and wouldn't have looked twice at Voldemort's mother, Merope Gaunt, who was practically a pauper."

"The Gaunts were an old family that mother wanted us to learn about and try and emulate." Regulus said, "why would she hold them in such high esteem if they were so poor?"

"Because of who they were descended from." Orion sighed.

"One of their ancestors was Salazar Slytherin." The Bloody Baron said, "the Gaunts were always rather proud of that fact, though they, like the rest of the world, believed that he was strictly pro-pureblood."

"You say that like it's not true." Mr Weasley frowned confusedly.

"Of course not." The Baron snorted, "if he had been, he would have been a bit hypocritical, and he wouldn't have respected his parents quite so much."

"How do you know?" Snape queried, wondering if the Baron would answer one of the many unasked questions about his origins.

"He was my uncle." The Baron replied, "my mother was his older sister."

"So why do the history books say that he hated non-purebloods?" Pansy asked.

"Because his younger brother, Santos, went on a rampage, killing muggles, muggle-borns, half-bloods and those who didn't agree with him, while using polyjuice to look like Salazar." The Baron sighed, "I don't know why Santos did that, but by denouncing his heritage, he broke Salazar's heart. That was why Uncle Salazar left, he felt that it was his responsibility to hunt his brother down and end the terror. I'm not sure what happened to him, but in August, in ten-fifty-five Santos stormed the castle with his army. Fortunately, we were able to defeat him, but Lady Ravenclaw was injured in the attack, so badly that not even my mother's strongest potions and healing charms would work. From what I was able to gather after my own death, Uncle Salazar did manage to find Santos, and they duelled, but Santos got lucky, and managed to Obliviate Salazar. He did eventually remember who he was, and returned to Hogwarts in the summer of ten sixty-six, only to discover that he and Godric were the only founders left alive. He died at the age of sixty-two, after sixteen years of trying to restore his name and reputation, which, needless to say, failed completely."

"Merlin, that poor man." Minerva whispered, "I cannot imagine how much it must have hurt to feel it necessary to try and kill his own brother."

"I wonder, how much else have the history books got wrong?" Snape muttered.

"Probably a lot." The Baron said, "I do know that Uncle Salazar was not much of a potion brewer, so he couldn't teach that subject, which is why my father was employed as the school's Potions Master."

"So what did your uncle teach?" Snape asked.

"And what about the other founders?" Minerva added.

"Uncle Salazar taught transfiguration and a subject that at the time was merely called, Battle Magic; my godfather, Godric Gryffindor, taught Arithmancy and Astronomy; Lady Hufflepuff taught Runes, Charms and Warding, while Lady Ravenclaw taught Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures." The Baron replied, "they also had Godric's younger brother, Matthias, teaching duelling, sword-fighting and history, and my mother taught Herbology and healing."

"How were they able to do so much?" Pomfrey wondered.

"They had very few students for the first two years after the school opened." The Baron shrugged, "my mother laughed every time she told me about them. There were only ten students, of various ages, and interestingly enough, all ten were Muggle-born."

"Incredible." James whispered, realising that his hatred of Slytherins was completely pointless, especially now that he knew that the founder of the house had been Muggle-born.

"Let's get back to reading. We can discuss this afterwards." Albus suggested, indicating for Minerva to return to the book.

**diary was one of the really foolproof ways of destroying a Horcrux."**

"What diary?" Dorea asked.

"One of the first Horcruxes Tom made." Harry sighed, "we suspect he made it not long after killing his father and grandparents during the summer holidays before his fifth year."

"But that would mean he was only fifteen." Charlus said.

"I know." Harry nodded.

"That's vile." Dorea murmured.

"**What, stabbing it with a basilisk fang?" asked Harry. **

"**Oh well, lucky we've got such a large supply of basilisk fangs, then," said Ron. "I was wondering what we were going to do with them."**

"We do actually have a rather large collection of basilisk fangs." Harry grinned, "currently sitting in a shrunken box in my pocket, along with all the other useful parts of a Basilisk corpse."

"What?" Lily screeched, "where the hell did you find a basilisk?"

"In the Chamber of Secrets." Harry replied.

"So that's what the monster was." Charlus breathed, "no one had ever been able to find out, and I know that you said the Chamber was opened again, but I didn't realise that that meant that you'd found it and killed the creature."

"I wouldn't have found it if Ron and I hadn't asked Moaning Myrtle how she died." Harry grinned.

"How did she die?" Regulus asked.

"The bathroom that she had been in when she died, was hiding the entrance to the Chamber, and she accidentally looked the Basilisk in the eye." Harry replied.

"That was a bit stupid, but, since it would be a bit awkward for them to kill each other every time they met, wouldn't basilisks have a second set of eyelids to let them choose when they want to use their killing gaze?" Theo asked.

"Yes, but Sanasha, the basilisk in the Chamber, had lost her mind after nearly a thousand years of starvation and loneliness, so she had forgotten about that second set." Harry sighed.

"You did what you had to do." The Baron said, "Sanasha would not have been happy if she had been in full control of her mind. I remember when Uncle Salazar hatched her, and when he died, she vowed to protect the school to the best of her ability. She felt that the students were her children, so harming even a single one would have broken her heart."

"That poor creature." Flitwick whispered.

"**It doesn't have to be a basilisk fang," said Hermione patiently. "It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can't repair itself. Basilisk venom only has one antidote, and it's incredibly rare –"**

"– **phoenix tears," said Harry, nodding.**

"I'm going to have gone grey by the end of this book." Lily moaned.

"I think a lot of us are." Dorea said, "how did you know about phoenix tears being the only antidote to basilisk venom?"

"Sanasha bit me as she died, and Fawkes cried on the wound." Harry replied.

"That means you are now completely immune to any snake's bite." Pomfrey whispered.

"**Exactly," said Hermione, "Our problem is that the are very few substances as destructive as basilisk venom, and they're all dangerous to carry around with you. That's a problem we're going to have to solve though, because ripping, smashing, or crushing a Horcrux won't do the trick. You've got to put it beyond magical repair."**

"**But even if we wreck the thing it lives in," said Ron, "Why can't the bit of soul in it just go and live in something else?"**

"That's a horrible thought." Mr Weasley shuddered.

"**Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being." **

**Seeing that Harry and Ron looked thoroughly confused, Hermione hurried on, "Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, I wouldn't damage your soul at all."**

"How comforting." Millicent muttered drily.

"**Which would be a real comfort to me, I'm sure," said Ron. Harry laughed.**

"**It should be, actually! But my point is that whatever happens to your body, your soul will survive untouched," said Hermione. "But it's the other way round with a Horcrux. The fragment of soul inside it depends on it's container, its enchanted body, for survival. It can't exist without it."**

"**That diary sort of died when I stabbed it," said Harry, remembering ink pouring like blood from the punctured pages, and the screams of the piece of Voldemort's soul as it vanished.**

"Horrible image." George muttered, going pale and shuddering slightly. Fred gently rested his hand on his shoulders to try and provide some comfort for him, though his hand was shaking as well.

"**And once the diary was properly destroyed, the bit of soul trapped in it could no longer exist. Ginny tried to get rid of the diary before you did, flushing it away, but obviously it came back good as new."**

"**Hang on," said Ron, frowning. "The bit of soul in that diary was possessing Ginny, wasn't it? How does that work, then?"**

"**While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object. I don't mean holding it for long, it's nothing to do with touching it," she added before Ron could speak.**

"Are you sure about that?" Ron asked.

"Not now, no." Hermione sighed, "it was more powerful than I expected."

"**I mean close emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made herself incredibly vulnerable.**

"I was stupid." Ginny mumbled.

"No you weren't." Ron said, "you were eleven. Professor Dumbledore said that older and wiser people had been fooled by Voldemort, so what hope does an eleven year old have?"

"He is right." Caruso nodded, gently rubbing his grand-daughter's shoulders, "unfortunately, Tom was the perfect Slytherin, managing to charm almost everyone he ever met, which is why he ended up with so many followers who would quite happily throw themselves into the pits of Hell if he asked them to. A few of those who were at school with him were lucky enough to not be fooled, especially those of us who shared a dorm with him, but that's only because we were the ones to see what he was truly like in private."

**You're in trouble if you get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux."**

"**I wonder how Dumbledore destroyed the ring?" said Harry. **

"I used the sword." Albus smiled, "it is Goblin-made, and has been imbued with basilisk venom, so can be used to destroy Horcruxes."

"**Why didn't I ask him? I never really …"**

**His voice tailed away: he was thinking of all the things he should have asked Dumbledore, and of how, since the headmaster had died, it seemed to Harry that he had wasted so many opportunities when Dumbledore had been alive, to find out more … to find out everything …**

"Not even I know everything." Albus said with a sad smile.

**The silence was shattered as the bedroom door flew open with a wall-shaking crash. **

"Oh no, what now?" Lily screeched in terror.

"Don't worry, nothing bad." Harry replied, rolling his eyes at his mother's extreme reaction while Dorea wondered whether shoving a calming draught down the younger woman's throat would help keep her from jumping at the mention of every little thing.

**Hermione shrieked and dropped _Secrets of the Darkest Art_. Crookshanks streaked under the bed, hissing indignantly; Ron jumped off the bed, skidded on a discarded Chocolate Frog wrapper, and smacked his head on the opposite wall; and Harry instinctively dived for his wand before realizing that he was looking up at Mrs Weasley, whose hair was dishevelled and whose face was contorted with rage.**

"Oh dear." Charlie grimaced, "busted."

"**I'm so sorry to break up this cosy little gathering," she said, her voice trembling. "I'm sure you all need your rest … but there are wedding presents stacked in my room that need sorting out and I was under the impression that you had agreed to help."**

"**Oh yes," said Hermione, looking terrified as she leapt on her feet, sending books flying in every direction, **

"I bet that ruined the organisation." Cygnus sniggered, knowing that he and those who had already lived through the events in the book would have to try and keep the mood from getting too depressing.

"It did." Hermione grumbled.

"**we will … we're sorry …"**

**With an anguished look at Harry and Ron, Hermione, hurried out of the room after Mrs Weasley.**

"**It's like being a house-elf," complained Ron in an undertone, still massaging his head as he and Harry followed. "Except without the job satisfaction.**

"You'd better be glad I didn't hear that." Hermione growled, glaring down the table at Ron, who was cowering behind Daphne.

**The sooner this wedding's over, the happier I'll be."**

"**Yeah," said Harry, "then we'll have nothing to do except find Horcruxes … it'll be like a holiday, won't it?"**

"Your sense of humour is rather dark isn't it?" Blaise grinned.

"At times." Harry smirked.

**Ron started to laugh, but at the sight of the enormous pile of wedding presents waiting for them in Mrs Weasley's room, stopped quite abruptly.**

"Unsurprising." Abraxas mumbled, remembering the times he had to help someone prepare for a wedding.

**The Delacours arrived the following morning at eleven o'clock. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were feeling quite resentful toward Fleur's family by this time, and it was with ill grace that Ron stumped back upstairs to put on matching socks, and Harry attempted to flatten his hair.**

"Potter hair will never be flattened." James said.

**Once they had all been deemed smart enough, they trooped out into the sunny backyard to await the visitors.**

**Harry had never seen the place looking so tidy. The rusty cauldrons and old Wellington boots that usually littered the steps by the back door were gone, replaced by two new Flutterby bushes standing either side of the door in large pots, though there was no breeze, the leaves waved lazily, giving an attractive rippling effect. The chickens had been shut away, the yard had been swept, and the nearby garden had been pruned, plucked, and generally spruced up, although Harry, who liked it in its overgrown state, thought that it looked rather forlorn without its usual contingent of capering gnomes.**

"Wh-Wh-Wh-What?" Fred and George spluttered, accidentally shouldering Mrs Weasley aside and hugging each other while pretending to burst into tears. Bill tried to look sympathetic as he patted them on the back, but he wasn't really successful. Most of the students in the hall laughed at the twins' antics and Lee's strange expression.

**He had lost track of how many security both the Order and the Ministry had placed enhancements upon the Burrow; all he knew was that it was no longer possible for anybody to travel by magic directly into the place. **

"Must be difficult." James muttered.

**Mr Weasley had therefore gone to meet the Delacours on top of a nearby hill, where they were to arrive by Portkey. The first sound of their approach was an unusually high-pitched laugh, which turned out to be coming from Mr Weasley, **

"Before that day, I did not know that Dad's voice could go so high." Ron sniggered.

**who appeared at the gate moments later, laden with luggage and leading a beautiful blonde woman in long, leaf-green robes, who could only be Fleur's mother.**

"**_Maman_!" cried Fleur, rushing forward to embrace her. "_Papa_!"**

**Monsieur Delacour was nowhere near as attractive as his wife; he was a head shorter and extremely plump, with a little, pointed black beard. However, he looked good-natured. Bouncing toward Mrs Weasley on high-heeled boots, he kissed her twice on each cheek, leaving her flustered.**

"Oh dear, Claude Delacour also bounces around." Charlus muttered, "it would appear that his son is more like Claude than anyone thought."

"He truly is." Abraxas nodded, "he, like Dedalus, makes me tired just watching him."

"**You 'ave been to much trouble," he said in a deep voice. "Fleur tells us you 'ave been working very 'ard."**

"**Oh, it's been nothing, nothing!" trilled Mrs Weasley. "No trouble at all."**

"Honestly?" Charlie said incredulously, "she calls going slowly mad, no trouble?"

**Ron relieved his feelings by aiming a kick at a gnome who was peering out from behind one of the new Flutterby bushes.**

"**Dear lady!" said Monsieur Delacour, still holding Mrs Weasley's hand between his two plump ones and beaming. "We are most honoured at the approaching union of our two families! Let me present my wife, Apolline."**

**Madame Delacour glided forward and stooped to kiss Mrs Weasley too.**

"**_Enchant__é__e_," she said. "Your 'usband 'as been telling us such amusing stories!"**

**Mr Weasley gave a maniacal laugh;**

"It was like nails down a blackboard." Ron said, suppressing a shudder.

**Mrs Weasley threw him a look, upon which he became immediately silent and assumed an expression appropriate to the sickbed of a close friend.**

"**And, of course, you 'ave met my leetle daughter, Gabrielle!" said Monsieur Delacour. Gabrielle was Fleur in miniature; eleven years old, with waist-length hair of pure, silvery blonde, she gave Mrs Weasley a dazzling smile and hugged her, then threw Harry a glowing look, batting her eyelashes. **

James whistled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but Harry merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Act your age James." Lily giggled.

"And remember that you were introduced to one of his children." Hermione added.

"Oh yeah." James said, suddenly remembering where the two insect-like machines sitting on the table had come from.

**Ginny cleared her throat loudly.**

"**Well, come in, do!" said Mrs Weasley brightly, and she ushered the Delacours into the house, with many 'No, please!'s and 'After you!'s and 'Not at all!'s.**

**The Delacours, as it soon transpired, were helpful, pleasant guests. They were pleased with everything and keen to assist with the preparations for the wedding. Monsieur Delacour pronounced everything from the seating plan to the bridesmaids' shoes '_charmant!'_ Madame Delacour was most accomplished at household spells and had the oven properly cleaned in a trice; Gabrielle followed her elder sister around, trying to assist in any way she could and jabbering away in rapid French.**

"She was also getting in the way." Hermione giggled, "I don't know how many times I nearly tripped over her."

**On the downside, the Burrow was not built to accommodate so many people. Mr and Mrs Weasley were now sleeping in the sitting room, having shouted down Monsieur and Madame Delacour's protests and insisted they take their bedroom. Gabrielle was sleeping with Fleur in Percy's old room, and Bill would be sharing with Charlie, his best man,**

"Thanks bro." Charlie grinned.

**once Charlie arrived from Romania. Opportunities to make plans together became virtually non-existent, and it was in desperation that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took to volunteering to feed the chickens just to escape the overcrowded house.**

"She won't give up." Bill smirked.

"She eventually learned that there was nothing she could do to stop us." Hermione said, "whether she liked it or not, we were going, we'd already decided that, it was just a matter of where we would start."

"**But she _still_ won't leave us alone!" snarled Ron, as their second attempt at a meeting in the yard was foiled by the appearance of Mrs Weasley carrying a large basket of laundry in her arms.**

"**Oh, good, you've fed the chickens," she called as she approached them. "We'd better shut them away again before the men arrive tomorrow … to put up the tent for the wedding," she explained, pausing to lean against the hen-house. She looked exhausted. "Millamant's Magic Marquees … they're very good. Bill's escorting them … you'd better stay inside while they're here, Harry. I must say it does complicate organizing a wedding, having all these security spells around the place."**

"That's just going to make him feel guilty." Fred snapped, "you know what Harry's like."

"Yeah, he always seems to find a way to blame himself for everything." George added.

"**I'm sorry," said Harry humbly.**

"**Oh, don't be silly, dear!" said Mrs Weasley at once. "I didn't mean – well, your safety's much more important! Actually, I've been wanting to ask you how you want to celebrate your birthday, Harry. Seventeen, after all, it's an important day …"**

"**I don't want a fuss," said Harry quickly, envisaging the additional strain this would put on them all.**

"You are so sweet." Lily sobbed, launching herself back into Harry's arms and breaking down completely.

"Er … help." Harry stammered, "she's crying."

"Oh dear." Remus sniggered, "are we sure Harry isn't Sirius' son, because he seems to have Sirius' inability to calm crying women?"

"I'm positive he's mine." James said.

"He definitely is." Lily sobbed, trying to calm down, but failing miserably, "I'm sure I'd remember it if he was Sirius'."

"There is that." James nodded, "plus there's the fact that he has the Potter hair, and that isn't easy to fake."

"Oh give her 'ere." Remus sighed, knowing that Harry had absolutely no idea what he was doing, so decided to take over comforting Lily.

"**Really, Mrs. Weasley, just a normal dinner would be fine … it's the day before the wedding …"**

"**Oh, well, if you're sure, dear. I'll invite Remus and Tonks, shall I? And how about Hagrid?"**

"You'd better go Moony." James said, "you're the only true marauder left."

"**That'd be great," said Harry. "But please don't go to loads of trouble."**

"**Not at all, not at all … it's no trouble …" She looked at him, a long, searching look, then smiled a little sadly, straightened up, and walked away.**

**Harry watched as she waved her wand near the washing line, and the damp clothes rose into the air to hang themselves up, and suddenly he felt a great wave of remorse for the inconvenience and the pain he was giving her. **

"That was the end of the chapter." Minerva said, marking the page and putting the book down.

"I'll go next." Draco suggested, wandlessly levitating the book towards himself.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Will of Albus Dumbledore**

"**The Will of Albus Dumbledore**," Draco read.

"Well, this will be interesting." Dumbledore muttered.

**He was walking along a mountain road in the cool blue light of dawn.**

"I thought you were staying with the Weasleys?" Alicia asked.

"Oh I was, this is another trip into Voldemort's head." Harry replied.

"It sounds like you are unintentionally using Legilimency on him." Snape said, "though I haven't actually studied the connection in depth, due to the rather large amount of danger inherent in that endeavour."

"That is a possibility, but no one knows." Harry shrugged, "not even Perenelle could figure it out."

"I presume you are talking about Lady Flamel?" Sprout asked.

"Yes, she is the head of the Department of Mysteries." Harry nodded.

"I thought Nicolas decided that destroying the stone was a good idea." Albus mumbled.

"He hadn't made just one, the one that was hidden in the school was one of three." Hermione giggled.

"Oh." Albus said, not really knowing what to say about the fact that his old friend had fooled him.

"I still can't believe Perenelle actually agreed to take the position as head of the DoM." Charlus muttered, "she had always been determined to decline every time it was offered to her."

**Far below, swathed in mist, was the shadow of a small town. Was the man he sought down there, the man he needed so badly he could think of little else, the man who held the answer, the answer to his problem …?**

"So what's Voldemort up to now?" Katie asked with a sigh.

"Looking for someone." Hermione replied.

"**Oi, wake up."**

**Harry opened his eyes. He was lying again on the camp bed in Ron's dingy attic room. The sun had not yet risen and the room was still shadowy. Pigwidgeon**

"Bless you." Charlus grinned.

"It's the name of Ron's owl." Fred said, "we all know it's a stupid name."

"No it's not." Ginny retorted.

"You would say that, you were the one who chose it." Charlie sniggered.

**was asleep with his head under his tiny wing. The scar on Harry's forehead was prickling.**

"**You were muttering in your sleep."**

"**Was I?"**

"Harry always mutters in his sleep." Dean sniggered, "sometimes he has whole conversations, and they're really rather interesting."

"Oh yeah, like that discussion of the fifty ways a spider can help stop the sun exploding." Seamus added, stifling laughter.

"Well, that's different." Dorea said, while Lucius, Pansy and several others suppressed shudders at the mention of spiders.

"I once heard him muttering about a Gryffindor Quidditch match against a team of flying bunny rabbits." Neville grinned, "that was decidedly bizarre."

"He's a Quidditch nut." James cheered.

"Course he is." Oliver grinned, "I don't think there was anyone more obsessed with winning the cup during my final year than Harry."

"Oh I don't know." Harry said, "you seemed a lot more obsessed. I may like Quidditch, but even I drew the line at getting up at four o'clock in the morning, just to go out in the freezing cold, and ride a thin stick of wood, chasing after a pile of Snitches."

"Why do you think the three of us conspired to tie him to his bed and dump a bucket of frog-spawn on him?" Angelina snorted, indicating herself and the other two girls who had been on the team with Harry and Oliver.

"**Yeah. 'Gregorovitch.' You kept saying 'Gregorovitch.'" **

"That's odd." Snape muttered, "why would he be looking for another wandmaker, he'd already got Ollivander?"

"Because he thought that Gregorovitch could solve a problem he had, that Ollivander could not." Harry replied.

**Harry was not wearing his glasses; Ron's face appeared slightly blurred.**

"**Who's Gregorovitch?"**

"**I dunno, do I? You were the one saying it."**

**Harry rubbed his forehead, thinking. He had a vague idea he had heard the name before, but he could not think where.**

"He made Krum's wand." Hermione grinned.

"**I think Voldemort's looking for him."**

"**Poor bloke," said Ron fervently.**

**Harry sat up, still rubbing his scar, now wide-awake. He tried to remember exactly what he had seen in the dream, but all that came back was a mountainous horizon and the outline of the little village cradled in a deep valley.**

"**I think he's abroad."**

"**Who, Gregorovitch?"**

"Of course he is, he lives in Bavaria." Lucius said.

"We'll need to try and get him into a safe-house, unless we succeed in defeating Voldemort before he has a chance to go and find the poor man." Harry murmured.

"Indeed, that would be a wise move." Lucius nodded.

"**Voldemort. I think he's somewhere abroad, looking for Gregorovitch. It didn't look like anywhere in Britain."**

"**You reckon you were seeing into his mind again?" Ron sounded worried.**

"**Do me a favour and don't tell Hermione," said Harry. "Although how she expects me to stop seeing stuff in my sleep …"**

"I would tell you to practice Occlumency, but given the fact that Voldemort had a, back-door of sorts, that wouldn't work." Hermione sighed.

**He gazed up at little Pigwidgeon's cage, thinking … why was the name 'Gregorovitch' familiar?**

"**I think," he said slowly, "he's got something to do with Quidditch. there's some connection, but I can't – I can't think what it is."**

"Well, apart from the fact that he made Krum's wand, there is no other connection as far as I can see." Blaise said.

"**Quidditch?" said Ron. "Sure you're not thinking of Gorgovitch?"**

"**Who?"**

"**Dragomir Gorgovitch, Chaser, transferred to the Chudley Cannons for a record fee two years ago.**

"I hope he's good." James said, bouncing a little in excitement.

"Nope." Harry smirked.

**Record holder for most Quaffle drops in a season."**

"Oh Merlin, that's bad." Charlus grimaced.

"Urgh." James groaned.

"**No," said Harry, "I'm definitely not thinking of Gorgovitch."**

"**I try not to either," said Ron. **

"No wonder." Cygnus sniggered, "those poor Cannons. Really, you've got to admire their balls, they play every match, knowing they'll lose, but they still try."

"They will win eventually." Ron said, "we just have to hope."

"**Well, happy birthday anyway."**

"**Wow – that's right, I forgot! I'm seventeen."**

"How can you just forget your seventeenth birthday?" Regulus asked incredulously.

"Because I don't usually take much notice." Harry shrugged.

**Harry seized the wand lying beside his camp bed, pointed it at the cluttered desk where he had left his glasses, and said, "_Accio Glasses_!" Although they were only around a foot away, there was something immensely satisfying about seeing them zoom toward him, or at least until they poked him in the eye.**

"James did the same thing." Remus laughed, "and his glasses poked him in the eye as well."

"Ugh, did you have to remind me." James whined as most of the students followed Remus' lead in laughing.

"It was funny." Remus sniggered, "you're so talented at most spells, and yet you can't summon anything."

"Yes, yes, I know I have some kind of mental block when it comes to the summoning charm, no need to bring it up any more." James grimaced.

"Don't worry, I did the same thing when I turned seventeen." Charlus commiserated, "as did both of my brothers, and Alfred."

"It seems to be a Potter tradition to summon their glasses and get poked in the eye." Lucius smirked, "our two sons who also inherited the Potter eyesight did the same."

"Fortunately for them, one of the presents we gave them, was a dose of the only potion that will correct the Potter eyesight." Harry grinned.

"Are you going to take a dose of that, or just keep your glasses?" James asked, wondering if he could get some as well.

"Oh I'll definitely be taking some, but for some reason, it won't work until I turn seventeen, so I'll have to wait." Harry nodded.

"Interesting." Charlus muttered, planning on asking Dorea to find the recipe and brew him some as well.

"**Slick," snorted Ron.**

**Revelling in the removal of his Trace, Harry sent Ron's possessions flying around the room, causing Pigwidgeon to wake up flutter excitedly around his cage. Harry also tried tying the laces of his trainers by magic (the resultant knot took several minutes to untie by hand) and, purely for the pleasure of it, turned the orange robes on Ron's Chudley Cannons posters bright blue.**

"They're supposed to be orange." Ron said.

"Yes but the blue was easier on the eyes." Harry snorted.

"It's not that bad." Ron whined.

"Honestly, I think you might be colour-blind, Ron, which is no real surprise, your entire room is bright orange." Charlie grimaced, "if my room was like that, my eyes would have stopped differentiating between colours."

"**I'd do your flies by hand, though," Ron advised Harry, sniggering when Harry immediately checked them.**

"Ah, the humour of teenage boys." Caruso said, smiling slightly.

"**Here's your present. Unwrap it up here, it's not for my mother's eyes."**

"So Ron carried on the tradition." Mr Weasley mumbled.

"What tradition?" Mrs Weasley asked, having removed the silencing charm on herself, but kept quiet, knowing that she needed to try and see her children as the adults or near adults they were.

"You'll see." Mr Weasley muttered sheepishly.

"**A book?" said Harry as he took the rectangular parcel. "Bit of a departure from tradition, isn't it?"**

"**This isn't your average book," said Ron. "It's pure gold: _Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches._**

"That book was a waste of time." Hermione giggled.

"It's what helped me figure out that I wasn't actually interested in girls." Harry snorted.

**Explains everything you need to know about girls. If only I'd had this last year I'd have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender and I wouldn't have known how to get going with … **

"What were you going to say there?" Theo asked curiously.

"Probably Hermione." Ron shrugged, "that was before we discovered that our endless arguments were nothing more than extreme sibling rivalry, and not a sign that we were meant to be together."

**well, Fred and George gave me a copy, and I've learned a lot. You'd be surprised, it's not all about wandwork, either."**

"There are so many ways to misinterpret that sentence." Remus sniggered.

"Yeah, only for those who have a dirty mind." Lily snorted, "like you, and most of the boys in this room."

**When they arrived in the kitchen they found a pile of presents waiting on the table. Bill and Monsieur Delacour were finishing their breakfasts, while Mrs Weasley stood chatting to them over the frying pan.**

"**Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth, Harry," said Mrs Weasley, beaming at him. "He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. That's our present on top."**

**Harry sat down, took the square parcel she had indicated, and unwrapped it. Inside was a watch very like the one Mr and Mrs Weasley had given Ron for his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling around the face instead of hands.**

"Ah, the traditional coming of age watch." Abraxas nodded.

"I should have been the one." James mumbled, hugging Lily close as she fell apart, again.

"**It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age." said Mrs Weasley, watching him anxiously from beside the corner. "I'm afraid that one isn't new like Ron's, it was actually my brother Fabian's and he wasn't terribly careful with his possessions, it's a bit dented on the back, but –"**

"What happened to Fabian then?" James asked.

"He was killed, not long before you." Mrs Weasley replied sadly, "as was Gideon."

"Fabian Prewett was a brave man." Moody said, shocking those who had forgotten he was there, "him and Gideon didn't go down without a damn good fight. It took ten Death Eaters to kill 'em, and only one got away alive."

**The rest of her speech was lost; Harry had got up and hugged her, He tried to put a lot of unsaid things into the hug and perhaps she understood them, because she patted his check clumsily when he released her, then waved her wand in a slightly random way, causing half a pack of bacon out of the frying pan onto the floor.**

"**Happy birthday, Harry!" said Hermione, hurrying into the kitchen and adding her own present to the top of the pile. "It's not much, but I hope you like it. What did you get him?" she added to Ron, who seemed not to hear her.**

"**Come on, then, open Hermione's!" said Ron.**

"That was so obvious." Hermione grumbled.

"I know I wasn't very good at being subtle back then." Ron sighed.

**She had bought him a new Sneakoscope.**

"That was extremely useful." Harry smiled, "especially since my old one had stopped working."

**The other packages contained an enchanted razor from Bill and Fleur. ("Ah yes, zis will give you ze smoothest shave you will eve 'ave," Monsieur Delacour assured him, "but you must tell it clearly what you want … ozzerwise you might find you 'ave a leetle less hair zan you would like …"), **

Draco had difficulty reading that sentence, when all he really wanted to do was collapse on the floor in a cackling heap, and when he had finished reading, he burst out laughing and had to put the book down.

"What the hell?" James asked, staring at the laughing blond with wide eyes, while Lucius went slightly pink.

"Dad … h-had one … and f-forgot … to … t-tell it … h-h-he just … wanted his … s-stubble shaved …" Draco stuttered, still laughing, "he … ended up with no … eyebrows, or any hair anywhere."

"Oh dear." Charlus said, watching as Lucius went very red in embarrassment. The students and staff were all unable to do or say anything, they were laughing too hard.

It took about five minutes for everyone to calm down and wipe the tears of mirth from their eyes, so that Draco could return to reading.

**chocolates from the Delacours, and an enormous box of the latest Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred and George.**

"Wow your shop is obviously doing well in the future." Mr Weasley grinned, subtly trying to make sure his wife didn't explode.

"It was." Harry said, "they were multi-millionaires by the time they turned thirty, they'd bought out Zonko's, gone global and every shop was making one and a half million galleons a year in profit."

"That's truly amazing." George grinned.

"It really is, you were also in the process of buying out Dervish and Banges." Harry said.

"Brilliant." Fred cheered.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not linger at the table, as the arrival of Madame Delacour, Fleur, and Gabrielle made the kitchen uncomfortably crowded.**

"I can imagine." Abraxas muttered, "fourteen people."

"**I'll pack these for you," Hermione said brightly, taking Harry's presents out of his arms as the three of them headed back upstairs. "I'm nearly done, I'm just waiting for the rest of your pants to come out of the wash, Ron –"**

"I can't believe they added this bit to the book." Harry mumbled.

**Ron's splutter was interrupted by the opening of a door on the first-floor landing.**

"**Harry, will you come in here a moment?"**

**It was Ginny, Ron came to an abrupt halt, but Hermione took him by the elbow and tugged him on up the stairs. Feeling nervous, Harry followed Ginny into her room.**

Draco knew how embarrassed Harry was about the fact that he had kissed Ginny, so read as quickly as he could, to save at least a small amount of his raven-haired friend's dignity.

**He had never been inside it before. It was small, but bright. There was a large poster of the Wizarding band the Weird Sisters on one wall and a picture of Gwenog Jones, Captain of the all-witch Quidditch team the Holyhead Harpies, on the other. **

"The Quidditch posters were a good choice." James grinned, trying to get everyone's mind off the fact that they were reading about an event that happened before Harry had discovered that he wasn't interested in women. "And the Holyhead Harpies are a good team."

"They really are, though quite violent at times." Lucius agreed, "they train a lot, and only take the best players."

"Wasn't Gwenog Jones a Ravenclaw a few years above you Bill?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, she was." Bill replied, "she was really vindictive as well."

"Yes, we know." Charlie sniggered, "she did turn you into a woodlouse after you asked her out."

"Is that better or worse than what she did to poor Sanguini?" Draco wondered.

"Probably about equal." Harry snorted.

"What _did_ she do to Sangiuni?" Abraxas asked, remembering the gaunt vampire who refused to stop flirting with everyone he came across.

"Thumped him in the groin with her beater bat." Harry laughed.

"Ouch." Charlus muttered, crossing his legs as he imagined the pain, "I'd prefer to be a woodlouse, to be honest."

"What did Sanguini do to deserve that?" Percy wondered.

"He wouldn't stop flirting." Lucius replied, "Sanguini flirts with anything that moves, and a few things that don't."

"Yeah, I caught him flirting with a chair once." Hermione giggled.

"Is he sane?" Percy asked.

"Well, he's the sanest Vampire we know." Harry shrugged, "he's also the only one we know who likes paperwork, that's why we put him in charge of the Flower Foundation's Vampire safe-house."

"I see." Scrimgeour said.

**A desk stood facing the open window, which looked out over the orchard where he and Ginny had once played two-a-side Quidditch with Ron and Hermione,**

"Hermione was willing to fly?" Dean whistled, "wow."

**and which now housed a large, pearly white marquee. The golden flag on top was level with Ginny's window.**

**Ginny looked up into Harry's face, took a deep breath, and said, "Happy seventeenth."**

"**Yeah … thanks."**

**She was looking at him steadily; he, however, found it difficult to look back at her; it was like gazing into a brilliant light.**

"**Nice view," he said feebly, pointing toward the window.**

"I know I'm like a sister to you, but talking about the view, _really_?" Ginny snorted.

"You really are clueless around girls aren't you?" Cho Chang giggled slightly, finally deciding to take part and not mope around because the one she wanted was with someone else.

"Yeah, I didn't expect it to be that obvious though." Harry nodded.

**She ignored this. He couldn't blame her.**

"**I couldn't think what to get you," she said.**

"**You didn't have to get me anything." She disregarded this too.**

"**I didn't know what would be useful. Nothing too big, because you wouldn't be able to take it with you."**

**He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes thought that having six brothers must have toughened her up.**

"Probably." Ginny sighed, "or it's something to do with being possessed in my first year."

**She took a step closer to him.**

"**So then I thought, I'd like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some Veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing."**

"Well, we did see a pair of Veela, though we didn't know they were, until after the war." Hermione giggled.

"**I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest."**

"**There's the silver lining I've been looking for," she whispered, and then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion better than firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair –**

"Oh dear." Remus grimaced.

"There is someone who kisses so much better." Harry grinned, "he's such a good kisser that he makes me forget my own name."

Lucius had to work very hard to not smile smugly at that, but he was glad to know that Harry thought he was that good at kissing. James, who was still slightly unhappy about his son's relationship with Lucius, winced at the thought of them kissing, but knew that there was nothing he could do, not if he didn't want to alienate his son. Charlus and Dorea, on the other hand, were ecstatic that their grandson had found someone to make him happy despite the war, and couldn't wait to meet more of their great-grandchildren.

**The door banged open behind them and they jumped apart.**

"**Oh," said Ron pointedly. "Sorry."**

"**Ron!" Hermione was just behind him, slightly out of breath. There was a strained silence, then Ginny said in a flat little voice, "Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry."**

**Ron's ears were scarlet; Hermione looked nervous.**

"Of course I did." Hermione snorted, "I know what his temper is like."

"Yes, Cousin Cedrella had a pretty nasty temper, not as bad as mine, but still pretty bad." Dorea admitted.

"And I think Ron might have inherited that temper." Mr Weasley added.

**Harry wanted to slam the door in their faces, but it felt as though a cold draught had entered the room when the door opened, and his shining moment had popped like a soap bubble. All the reasons for ending his relationship with Ginny, for staying well away from her, seemed to have slunk inside the room with Ron, and all happy forgetfulness was gone.**

**He looked at Ginny wanting to say something, though he hardly knew what, but she had turned her back on him. He thought that she might have succumbed, for once, to tears.**

"Actually, she told me later that she was counting to ten, repeatedly, so she wouldn't hex Ron to the moon." Hermione giggled.

"Oh." The Weasley males muttered, shuddering slightly at the thought of Ginny's temper.

"All Blacks have nasty tempers." Orion grinned.

"I think that might be a Black family trait." Cygnus added, "though I don't know."

**He could not do anything to comfort her in front of Ron.**

"**I'll see you later," he said, and followed the other two out of the bedroom. Ron marched downstairs, through the still-crowded kitchen and into the yard, and Harry kept pace with him all the way, Hermione trotting along behind them looking scared.**

"Of course I looked scared, when those two argue, they're terrifying." Hermione snorted, "I know what Harry's temper is like when he loses it, and Ron's temper isn't pretty either."

"Oh dear." Lily and Dorea whispered.

"They're also bloody hard-headed." Hermione added, "and when each one thinks he's right and the other's in the wrong, nothing will change their minds."

"That does not sound pleasant." Charlus grimaced.

**Once he reached the seclusion of the freshly mow lawn, Ron rounded on Harry.**

"**You ditched her. What are you doing now, messing her around?"**

"**I'm not messing her around," said Harry, as Hermione caught up with them.**

"**Ron –"**

**But Ron held up a hand to silence her.**

"**She was really cut up when you ended it –"**

"No she wasn't." Hermione said, "not really."

"Why not?" Bill wondered.

"Because she was beginning to realise that dating Harry was a bit weird. She told me that while it was nice, she didn't particularly want to date a brother." Hermione replied, while Ron tried to edge away from Ginny, who was growling at him.

"**So was I. You know why I stopped it, and it wasn't because I wanted to."**

"**Yeah, but you go snogging her now and she's just going to get her hopes up again –"**

"**She's not an idiot, she knows it can't happen, she's not expecting us to – to end up married, or –"**

**As he said it, a vivid picture formed in Harry's mind of Ginny in a white dress, marrying a tall, faceless, and unpleasant stranger.**

**In one spiralling moment it seemed to hit him: Her future was free and unencumbered, whereas his … he could see nothing but Voldemort ahead.**

"Yeah, that's sad." Blaise nodded.

"**If you keep groping her every chance you get –"**

"**It won't happen again," said Harry harshly. The day was cloudless, but he felt as though the sun had gone in. "Okay?"**

**Ron looked half resentful, half sheepish; he rocked backward and forward on his feet for a moment, then said, "Right then, well, that's … yeah."**

**Ginny did not seek another one-to-one meeting with Harry for the rest of the day, nor by any look or gesture did she show that they had shared more than polite conversation in her room. Nevertheless, Charlie's arrival came as a relief to Harry. It provided a distraction, watching Mrs Weasley force Charlie into a chair, raise her wand threateningly, and announce that he was about to get a proper haircut.**

"Not fun." Charlie grumbled, "I like my hair long."

"So do I brother, so do I." Bill nodded while Mr Weasley quickly silenced his wife again.

"It's also a minor tradition, for the heads of families to wear their hair long." Abraxas added, "I don't know how it started, but there are a few people who follow it, and they wouldn't want to have their hair cut short, just because one person doesn't like it."

"I'll try and get her to understand that." Mr Weasley sighed, "but she does have a stubborn streak, so it may take a while."

**As Harry's birthday dinner would have stretched the Burrow's kitchen to breaking point even before the arrival of Charlie, Lupin, Tonks, and Hagrid, several tables were placed end to end in the garden. Fred and George bewitched a number of purple lanterns, all emblazoned with a large number 17, to hang in mid-air over the guests. Thanks to Mrs Weasley's ministrations, George's wound was neat and clean, but Harry was not yet used to the dark hole in the side of his head, despite the twins many jokes about it.**

"I wasn't used to it either, it was horrible." Ron said.

**Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes.**

"**Nice," said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crab-apple tree to gold. "You've really got an eye for that sort of thing."**

"**Thank you, Ron!" said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused.**

"Of course I was confused, that was before I found out about the book." Hermione giggled.

**Harry turned away, smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he would find a chapter on compliments when he found time to peruse his copy of _Twelve Fail-Safe ways to Charm __Witches_; he caught Ginny's eye and grinned at her before remembering his promise to Ron and hurriedly striking up a conversation with Monsieur Delacour.**

"**Out of the way, out of the way!" sang Mrs Weasley, coming through the gate with what appeared to be a giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her.**

"Quidditch." James grinned.

**Seconds later Harry realized that it was his birthday cake, which Mrs Weasley was suspending with her wand, rather than risk carrying it over the uneven ground. When the cake had finally landed in the middle of the table, Harry said, "That looks amazing, Mrs Weasley."**

"**Oh, it's nothing, dear." she said fondly. Over her shoulder, Ron gave Harry the thumbs-up and mouthed, _Good one_.**

"You don't need that book to compliment the people you actually like." Lucius smiled, causing many of the girls who saw to swoon at the pure love and adoration that was shining in his normally cold grey eyes.

Dorea leaned over and whispered in her grandson-in-law's ear, "I think you might want to keep an eye on your surroundings if you don't want to be doused with cold water or ripped to shreds by the jealous ones."

Lucius looked up sharply, and glanced around, noticing the jealous looks being sent his way by many of the girls, as well as the way some of the teachers were watching him with narrowed eyes. Fortunately for the safety of his manhood, Lily was keeping James occupied with watching her wand while Remus was smiling gently at the scene, so he didn't have to worry about being attacked, though he was slightly concerned that James would wait till she wasn't watching before doing so.

"Oops." Lucius muttered.

**By seven o'clock all the guests had arrived, led into the house by Fred and George, who had waited for them at the end of the lane. Hagrid had honoured the occasion by wearing his best, and horrible, hairy brown suit.**

"It's no' tha' bad." Hagrid said. No one had realised that he was there, he'd been so absorbed in listening to the story that he hadn't said a word, so when everyone heard him speak, they all jumped in shock.

**Although Lupin smiled as he shook Harry's hand, Harry thought he looked rather unhappy. It was all very odd; Tonks, beside him, looked simply radiant.**

"That is odd." Dorea muttered, before smiling brightly in realisation. Most of the other adult females also had knowing smiles on their faces, while Remus couldn't understand why he was acting like such a jerk. The people who had had their souls transferred from the future had to work very hard not to burst out laughing, because they all knew that that was just after Remus had found out that he was going to be a father. Sirius, who was still hiding under the table, snorted, also realising what was going on.

"I don't understand." James said, staring at Remus, "why are you being such a grumpy git?"

"I don't know." Remus snorted, "ask those who were there."

"Was it close to a full moon?" Charlus asked curiously, also not realising what was going on.

"Nope." Harry grinned, "a little puppy had been created two weeks previously."

"You mean?" Tonks squealed happily.

"Yep." Harry nodded.

"And for those who are still in the dark?" Charlus asked.

"You'll see." Harry smirked, making his grandfather pout.

"**Happy birthday, Harry," she said, hugging him tightly.**

"**Seventeen, eh!" said Hagrid as he accepted a bucket-sized glass of wine from Fred. "Six years ter the day we met, Harry, d'yeh remember it?"**

"**Vaguely," said Harry, grinning up at him. "Didn't you smash down the front door, give Dudley a pig's tail, and tell me I was a wizard?"**

"I still can't believe Petunia never told you." Lily sighed.

"**I forge' the details," Hagrid chortled. "All righ', Ron, Hermione?"**

"**We're fine," said Hermione. "How are you?"**

"**Ar, not bad. Bin busy, we got some newborn unicorns. I'll show yeh when yeh get back –"**

"You didn't tell him." Katie said, "it's going to break his heart."

**Harry avoided Ron's and Hermione's gazes and Hagrid rummaged in his pocket. "Here, Harry – couldn' think what ter get yeh, but then I remembered this." He pulled out a small, slightly furry drawstring pouch with a long string, evidently intended to be worn around the neck. "Mokeskin. Hide anythin' in there an' no one but the owner can get it out. They're rare, them."**

"Exceedingly rare." Regulus whistled.

"**Hagrid, thanks!"**

"**'S'nothin'," said Hagrid with a wave of a dustbin-lid-sized hand, "An' there's Charlie! always liked him – hey! Charlie!"**

**Charlie approached, running his hand slightly ruefully over his new, brutally short haircut. **

"Bet he looked odd." George sniggered.

"Yeah, I mean, we're never seen Charlie with short hair." Fred added with a laugh.

"And you never will." Charlie growled, "my girlfriend likes it too much."

"Yes, the woman who seems to have one of the strangest names in existence." Bill sniggered.

"It's not that strange." Charlie whined.

"When I found that purple thong draped over the back of the sofa in your flat, you told me her name was Assicran Kcalb." Bill laughed, "and if that ain't weird, I don't know what is."

"I also told you that it was a pseudonym." Charlie grinned, "I knew her real name, but we both decided that we wouldn't reveal it until after Voldemort was dead, unless we broke up."

"You'll be happy to know that you didn't break up." Lucius smirked, "you married her and had two children with her."

"Nice." Charlie nodded.

"Who is this woman?" George asked.

"Turn the pseudonym around and you'll find out." Harry sniggered, "it's quite easy."

"I don't get it." Neville muttered.

"Just say the name Assicran backwards." Hermione giggled, watching everyone's faces light up in realisation.

"Charlie Weasley is Narcissa's second husband?" Snape yelped.

"Indeed." Lucius nodded, "I don't quite know what she was doing on the Romanian dragon reserve when they met, since I know she cannot stand dragons."

"We met in Bucharest." Charlie said, "it was when I was getting the transport permits for the four dragons we brought for the Triwizard Tournament. She was there for the showing of some Romanian fashion designer's spring/summer collection."

"Interesting." Mr Weasley muttered, "we'll talk about this later."

**He was shorter than Ron, thickset, with a number of burns and scratches up his muscly arms.**

"**Hi, Hagrid, how's it going?"**

"**Bin meanin' ter write fer ages. How's Norbert doin'?"**

"Who's Norbert?" Many students asked, as Hagrid blew his nose loudly on a table-cloth-sized handkerchief. He still missed his baby.

"The dragon we met in first year." Hermione giggled.

"**Norbert?" Charlie laughed. "The Norwegian Ridgeback? We call her Norberta now."**

"**Wha – Norbert's a girl?"**

"**Oh yeah," said Charlie.**

"**How can you tell?" asked Hermione.**

"**They're a lot more vicious." said Charlie. **

"She was definitely vicious." Ron said.

"If people think my temper is bad, they haven't seen an angry Norwegian Ridgeback." Harry sniggered.

"That does sound scary." Dorea muttered.

**He looked over his shoulder and dropped his voice. "Wish Dad would hurry up and get here. Mum's getting edgy."**

**They all looked over at Mrs Weasley. She was trying to talk to Madame Delacour while glancing repeatedly at the gate.**

"**I think we'd better start without Arthur," she called to the garden at large after a moment or two. "He must have been held up at – oh!"**

**They all saw it at the same time: a streak of light that came flying across the yard and onto the table, where it resolved itself into a bright silver weasel, which stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr Weasley's voice.**

"I didn't know Patronuses could speak." Stephen said.

"The ministry used to use Patronuses as a method of communication in emergencies, but when they found out that a lot of people can't actually conjure one, they stopped." Abraxas explained, "the Patronus charm is extremely difficult, it's beyond N.E.W.T level and many Aurors have trouble with it."

"I heard that the DA were learning to conjure Patronuses, have any of you succeeded?" Albus asked.

"A few did sir." Harry grinned.

"Well, then would anyone like to demonstrate?" Flitwick asked, wanting proof.

Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, Draco and Cho all stood up and waved their wands, conjuring six clearly defined silver shapes. To the astonishment of those who had seen Harry's Patronus before, it was no longer a stag, but a large cat, as was Hermione's, while Neville's was a bear, Draco's was a goose, Ron's was a peregrine falcon and Cho's was a swan. Harry's Patronus was the brightest and least translucent, and it prowled around, looking for Dementors to fight, before licking Lucius' cheek and bowing to its audience and then disappearing. The others just disappeared once they had discovered the lack of Dementors.

"Impressive." Percy whispered, "but wasn't your Patronus a stag?"

"It was originally." Harry smirked, "but then it changed."

"Daft question, did I just see your Patronus _lick _someone, or was that merely my imagination?" Seamus asked.

"It just licked someone." Harry sniggered, "as usual."

"That means the damn thing is actually _solid_." Moody said.

"You get more impressive every day, Mr Potter." Scrimgeour whispered in awe.

"**Minister of Magic coming with me."**

**The Patronus dissolved into thin air, leaving Fleur's family peering in astonishment where it had vanished.**

"**We shouldn't be here," said Lupin at once. "Harry – I'm sorry – I'll explain another time –"**

"Why not?" Dennis asked, not having been at Hogwarts when Remus taught.

"He's a werewolf." Colin sighed, "not many people like werewolves."

"But he's so cool." Dennis whined.

"Sadly, that's the way things are." Charlus said, "the Ministry has always hated werewolves, and only seems to have got worse."

"It did get better." Orion smiled, "especially once the Flower Foundation had been set up, and they brewed and distributed the Wolfsbane potion for free, allowing all werewolves to work and still stay safe during the full moon."

"Wow." Remus whistled, "what about if any werewolves injured themselves when in wolf form?"

"There was a ward set up at St Mungo's, to care for those werewolves." Harry grinned, "the ward was funded by money taken from a few of the Death Eater families that had no living members left."

"Well, that's good." Remus said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yes, though I have to say, one of the Healers who worked there, got fed up of werewolves deciding it would be a good idea to hump dead logs." Harry sniggered, "every month she had to pick splinters out of their sensitive bits, and it apparently got quite irritating, though she did go on and marry one of her patients."

"How embarrassing." Remus mumbled.

"What about the laws that restricted the rights of Werewolves?" Ernie wondered.

"They were repealed." Harry grinned, "the man who had been declared interim Minister at the end of the final battle, was voted in as Minister two months later, and he cleaned the whole place up. He went over every law that had gone through since before Bagnold retired, and while he did decide that a few could stay in place, the rest were put to vote in the Wizengamot."

"Most of those were voted out, easily." Draco smirked.

"Only because I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't, and could do what I wanted, not what Voldemort wanted." Lucius said, "and when I voted for throwing those laws out, most people followed suit."

"You had Harry there as well." Hermione giggled, "and knowing what families he was voting for, I'm not really surprised hardly anyone voted the opposite way."

"Incredible." Albus whispered.

**He seized Tonks's wrist and pulled her away; they reached the fence, climbed over it, and vanished from sight. Mrs Weasley looked bewildered.**

"**The Minister – but why –? I don't understand –"**

**But there was no time to discuss the matter; a second later, Mr Weasley had appeared out of thin air at the gate, accompanied by Rufus Scrimgeour, instantly recognizable by his mane of grizzled hair. The two newcomers marched across the yard toward the garden and the lantern-lit table, where everybody sat in silence, watching them draw closer. As Scrimgeour came within range of the lantern light, Harry saw that he looked much older than the last time they had met, scraggy and grim.**

"That's what happens to Ministers during war-time." Scrimgeour said. "I would like to know though, when did we meet, and what happened?"

"We met during the Christmas holidays this year, and you tried to get me to tell you things that were too sensitive to be revealed in such an insecure place." Harry replied, "you wanted to know what Dumbledore was doing, and having failed to get an answer from him, tried me, even though he had asked me to keep it a secret, so that Voldemort didn't find out."

"Ah." Scrimgeour nodded.

"**Sorry to intrude," said Scrimgeour, as he limped to a halt before the table. "Especially as I can see that I am gate crashing a party." His eyes lingered for a moment on the giant Snitch cake.**

"**Many happy returns."**

"**Thanks," said Harry.**

"**I require a private word with you," Scrimgeour went on. "Also with Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger."**

"Why them?" Hannah asked curiously.

"I would assume that it has something to do with my will." Albus replied.

"Oh." Hannah mumbled, looking down at the table in front of her, still not able to believe that such a great wizard could die.

"**Us?" said Ron, sounding surprised, "Why us?"**

"**I shall tell you that when we are somewhere more private," said Scrimgeour. "Is there such a place?" he demanded of Mr Weasley.**

"**Yes, of course," said Mr Weasley, who looked nervous. "The, er, sitting room, why don't you use that?"**

"**You can lead the way," Scrimgeour said to Ron. "There will be no need for you to accompany us, Arthur."**

"Uh oh." James muttered.

**Harry saw Mr Weasley exchange a worried look with Mrs Weasley as he, Ron, and Hermione stood up. As they led the way back to the house in silence, Harry knew that the other two were thinking the same as he was: Scrimgeour must, somehow, have learned that the three of them were planning to drop out of Hogwarts.**

"I don't like the fact you're dropping out, but I can understand why." Lily sighed.

"I don't think he knows anyway." James said, "you're all of age, so he can't force you to return even if he did know. I think it has something to do with the chapter title."

"Yeah, but we didn't have the chapter title then." Harry snorted, "so we didn't have a clue."

**Scrimgeour did not speak as they all passed through the messy kitchen and into the Burrow's sitting room. Although the garden had been full of soft golden evening light, it was already dark in here. Harry flicked his wand at the oil lamps as he entered and they illuminated the shabby but cosy room.**

**Scrimgeour sat himself in the sagging armchair that Mr Weasley normally occupied, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to squeeze side by side onto the sofa. **

"Wow, that sofa is really rather small." Fred whistled, "it's just big enough to hold two people, but you've got three people on it."

**Once they had done so, Scrimgeour spoke.**

"**I have some questions for the three of your and I think it will be best if we do it individually. If you two, " he pointed at Harry and Hermione, "can wait upstairs, I will start with Ronald."**

"**We're not going anywhere," said Harry, while Hermione nodded vigorously. "You can speak to us together, or not at all."**

Lily squeaked and buried her head in her hands. She just could not believe her son had said that to the Minister of Magic.

"You really should be more polite and show the man some respect." Mrs Weasley scolded.

"I will only show respect to those that earn it." Harry said coolly, "and he had _not_ earned my respect."

**Scrimgeour gave Harry a cold, appraising look. Harry had the impression that the minister was wondering it was worthwhile opening hostilities this early.**

"Something tells me that you don't get on with him." Pansy giggled.

"I didn't." Harry snorted, "when we first met he tried to get me to be the Ministry's mascot, and I refused. Then he asked me what I'd been doing with Dumbledore, because I'd been having private lessons with him, and I still wouldn't tell him, so he ended up calling me Dumbledore's man, through and through."

"Thank you." Albus whispered damply.

"What were those lessons about?" Lily wondered.

"Voldemort's past, or what we could guess about it." Harry grinned, "I was told, at the beginning of the first lesson, that we were 'leaving the firm foundation of fact, and journeying through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork'. And then Dumbledore said, 'I may be as woefully wrong as Humphrey Belcher, who believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron'."

Everyone who heard that, was laughing at the way it was phrased, and it was five minutes before Draco was even able to see the page in front of him.

"**Very well then, together," he said, shrugging. He cleared his throat. "I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will."**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another.**

"**A surprise, apparently? You were not aware the that Dumbledore had left you anything?"**

"**A – all of us?" said Ron. "Me and Hermione too?"**

"**Yes, all of –"**

**But Harry interrupted.**

"**Dumbledore died over a month ago. Why has it taken this long to give us what he left us?"**

"The decree for justifiable confiscation." Charlus sighed, "horrible thing."

"**Isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, before Scrimgeour could answer. "They wanted to examine whatever he's left us. You had no right to do that!" she said, and her voice trembled slightly.**

"**I had every right," said Scrimgeour dismissively. "The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power to confiscate the contents of a will –"**

"But that law was only to be used when the Ministry suspected that the deceased was leaving people Dark artefacts." Minerva hissed angrily, glaring at the Minister and Percy.

"**That law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artefacts," said Hermione, "and the Ministry is supposed to have evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them! Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?"**

"Wow." Fred whistled, "Hermione, you just told off the Minister."

"Well, he was getting on my nerves." Hermione snorted.

"I think I'm glad you're on our side, Miss Granger." Minerva whispered with wide eyes, while the other teachers nodded in agreement.

"**Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour.**

"**No, I'm not," retorted Hermione. "I'm hoping to do some good in the world!"**

"And you did." Lucius smiled.

**Ron laughed, Scrimgeour's eyes flickered toward him and away again as Harry spoke.**

"**So why have you decided to let us have our things now? Can't you think of a pretext to keep them?"**

"**No, it'll be because the thirty-one days are up," said Hermione at once. "They can't keep the objects longer than that unless they can prove they're dangerous. Right?"**

"**Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, Ronald?" asked Scrimgeour, ignoring Hermione. Ron looked startled.**

"**Me? No – not really … it was always Harry who …**

"Oh no." Bill groaned, "that's not the right thing to say."

**Ron looked around at Harry and Hermione to see Hermione giving him a _stop-talking-now!_ sort of look, but the damage was done: Scrimgeour looked as though he had heard exactly what he had expected, and wanted, to hear. He swooped like a bird of prey upon Ron's answer.**

"**If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you account for the fact that he remembered you in his will? He made exceptionally few personal bequests. The vast majority of his possessions – his private library, his magical instruments, and other personal effects – were left to Hogwarts.**

"What about his family seat on the Wizengamot?" Dorea wondered, "and his family money?"

"That would have gone to Aberforth, if he hadn't decided to refuse." Hermione replied, "it then went to professor Dumbledore's blood-adopted grandson."

"Yes, I gained a ninth seat in the Wizengamot." Harry mock-grumbled.

"Nine?" James yelled incredulously.

Harry nodded, "yeah, I already had the Potter seat, being one of the last three Potters, but then I discovered that I also had control over the Black, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Peverell, Slytherin and Emrys seats, as well as the seat from another rather old family, that I may mention later."

"Blimey." James muttered.

"Did you just say Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Emrys?" Lindsay asked, being the only Ravenclaw who wasn't speechless.

"Yes, as it turns out, I am the heir of Gryffindor, and found out that he was married to Ravenclaw, so I'm her heir too." Harry replied, "then I discovered that Catherine Potter nee Peverell, was the grand-daughter of Ignotus Peverell, a descendant of Merlin."

"Blimey." Several Ravenclaws whistled, unable to express their shock in any other way.

"Is my brother Peter still alive?" Charlus asked curiously, wondering why he hadn't been mentioned.

"Yes, and he's still a virgin." Harry grinned.

"Merlin." James and Lily murmured.

"What's so surprising about that?" Minerva wondered.

"The man is seventy-nine." Harry sniggered.

"And he's still a virgin?" Albus squeaked, unable to imagine it.

"It would appear so." Charlus grinned.

"Dear Merlin, I know him and I still don't want to try and imagine that." Caruso muttered.

"So if you and Peter were two of the three Potters still alive, who was the third?" Kingsley asked.

"Camilla Potter, the seventh Richard's sister." Harry replied.

"But that would make her over a hundred and fifty." Charlus whispered in awe.

"She's a hundred and sixty, turning a hundred and sixty-one this December." Harry grinned, "in our time, she lasted until she was a hundred and ninety."

"That's a long time." Albus murmured, "let's get back to the book."

**Why do you think you were singled out?"**

"**I … dunno," said Ron, "I … when I say we weren't close … I mean, I think he liked me …"**

"**You're being modest, Ron," said Hermione. "Dumbledore was very fond of you."**

"I am." Albus said softly, "I care for all the students here."

**This was stretching the truth to breaking point, as far as Harry knew, Ron and Dumbledore had never been alone together, and direct contact between them had been negligible. **

**However, Scrimgeour did not seem to be listening. He put his hand inside his cloak and drew out a drawstring pouch much larger than the one Hagrid had given Harry. From it, he removed a scroll of parchment, which he unrolled and read aloud.**

"'**_The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore'_ … Yes, here we are … _'To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it.'_"**

"What's a Deluminator?" Dennis asked.

"The wizarding world's answer to the light-switch." Hermione giggled.

"It is a lot more than that my dear." Albus smiled.

"Oh I know that sir, but its main use is to turn the lights on and off." Hermione snorted.

Albus removed the Deluminator from his pocket, and flicked it once, sucking all the light out of the great hall.

"Er … sir … I may be good at some things, but the one thing I definitely can't do, is read when there's no light." Draco said from somewhere in the middle of the hall.

"Oops." Albus mumbled, flicking his Deluminator once again, and everyone watched as the balls of light flew back to their original positions.

**Scrimgeour took something from the bag an object that Harry had seen before. It looked something like a silver cigarette lighter, but it had, he knew, the power to suck all light from a place, and restore it, with a simple click. Scrimgeour leaned forward and passed the Deluminator to Ron, who took it and turned it over in his fingers, looking stunned.**

"**That is a valuable object," said Scrimgeour, watching Ron. "It may even be unique. Certainly it is of Dumbledore's own design. Why would he have left you an item so rare?"**

**Ron shook his head, looking bewildered.**

"Oh dear." Charlie mumbled.

"**Dumbledore must have taught thousands of students," Scrimgeour persevered. "Yet the only one he remembered in his will are you three. Why is that? To what use did he think you would put his Deluminator, Mr Weasley?"**

"**Put out lights, I s'pose," mumbled Ron. "What else could I do with it?"**

"Quite a lot actually." Harry said.

**Evidently Scrimgeour had no suggestions. After squinting at Ron for a moment or two, he turned back to Dumbledore's will.**

"'**_To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive.'_"**

"Why leave her a book of fairy tales?" James asked.

"I know that Miss Granger has never read wizarding ones." Albus replied, not giving the real reason, because he didn't want people to know that he probably left it to her because of the Hallows.

**Scrimgeour now pulled out of the bag a small book that looked as ancient as the copy of Secrets of the Darkest Arts upstairs.**

"It's the original." Orion whispered in awe.

"I didn't think the original still existed." Regulus said, unable to hide his amazement.

"Well, of course, if anyone would be able to find it, then it would be professor Dumbledore." Fred grinned.

**Its binding was stained and peeling in places. Hermione took it from Scrimgeour without a word. She held the book in her lap and gazed at it. Harry saw that the title was in runes; he had never learned to read them. As he looked, a tear splashed onto the embossed symbols.**

"**Why do you think Dumbledore left you that book, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour**

"**He … he knew I liked books," said Hermione in a thick voice, mopping her eyes with her sleeve.**

"Er … everyone knows that." Hannah giggled.

"**But why that particular book?"**

"**I don't know. He must have thought I'd enjoy it."**

"**Did you ever discuss codes, or any means of passing secret messages, with Dumbledore?"**

"**No, I didn't," said Hermione, still wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "And if the Ministry still hasn't found any hidden codes in this book in thirty-one days, I doubt that I will."**

"Hermione, don't doubt yourself." Harry smiled, "you translated the entire book in less than six months, and you only had two or three hours a day to look at it."

"That's incredible." Remus said.

**She suppressed a sob. They were wedged together so tightly that Ron had difficulty extracting his arm to put it around Hermione's shoulders. Scrimgeour turned back to the will.**

"'**_To Harry James Potter,'_" he read, and Harry's insides contracted with a sudden excitement, "_'I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.'_"**

"Er … what's that all about?" James wondered.

"You'll see." Harry grinned.

"That answer is really irritating me." James grumbled.

"Well, tough." Harry sniggered.

**As Scrimgeour pulled out the tiny, walnut-sized golden ball, its silver wings fluttered rather feebly, and Harry could not help feeling definite sense of anticlimax.**

"I'm not surprised, it's just a Snitch." Cygnus muttered.

"**Why did Dumbledore leave you this Snitch?" asked Scrimgeour.**

"**No idea," said Harry. "For the reasons you just read out, I suppose … to remind me what you can get if you … persevere and whatever it was."**

"**You think this is a mere symbolic keepsake, then?"**

"**I suppose so," said Harry. "What else could it be?"**

"**I'm asking the questions," said Scrimgeour, **

"Bloody hell, he sounds like a petulant child." Kingsley whispered to Moody, who growled in agreement.

"He sounds more childish than Sirius Black." Snape sneered.

"At least he isn't childish enough to hold onto a grudge for fourteen years." Harry snorted, "especially when it's a grudge against a dead man."

**shifting his chair a little closer to the sofa. Dusk was really falling outside now; the marquee beyond the windows towered ghostly white over the hedge.**

"**I notice that your birthday cake is in the shape of a Snitch," Scrimgeour said to Harry. "Why is that?"**

"He's the best Seeker I've ever seen, and it's a good idea to acknowledge that fact." Oliver shrugged.

**Hermione laughed derisively.**

"**Oh, it can't be a reference to the fact that Harry's a great Seeker, that's way too obvious," she said. "There must be a secret message from Dumbledore hidden in the icing!"**

"There might be something in the Snitch." Remus said.

"Why?" Colin asked.

"Snitches have flesh memories." Regulus said, "that's so if there is a question about who caught the Snitch first, the referee can find out."

"**I don't think there's anything hidden in the icing," said Scrimgeour, "but a Snitch would be a very good hiding place for a small object. You know why, I'm sure?"**

**Harry shrugged. Hermione, however, answered: Harry thought that answering questions correctly was such a deeply ingrained habit she could not suppress the urge.**

"Harry." Hermione yelped, waving her wand with a smirk. Harry's ears disappeared, replaced by the ears of a cat on top of his head, and his nose and mouth were switched for the nose and mouth of a big cat.

He glared at her, waving his own wand, undoing her hex, then he turned her hair into the foliage of a holly bush.

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Hermione grumbled, undoing that hex and giving up.

"You know it's true." Draco grinned, "you tried answering a question that wasn't directed at you."

"I can't help it." Hermione said.

"We'd noticed." Lucius smirked.

"What was the question she answered, and who was supposed to answer it?" Lily asked curiously.

"It was a marriage proposal, to Harry." Lucius replied.

"Oh, oh dear." Ginny giggled.

"**Because Snitches have flesh memories," she said.**

"**What?" said Harry and Ron together; both considered Hermione's Quidditch knowledge negligible.**

"Just because I don't particularly like Quidditch, doesn't mean I don't know anything about it." Hermione snapped, glaring at the two boys/men.

"How can you not like Quidditch?" Oliver asked, looking at Hermione with a horror-struck expression on his face.

"I just don't." Hermione said, "not everyone is a Quidditch maniac like you."

"**Correct," said Scrimgeour. "A Snitch is not touched by bare skin before it is released, not even by the maker, who wears gloves. It carries an enchantment by which it can identify the first human to lay hands upon it, in the case of disputed capture. This Snitch," he held up the tiny golden ball, "will remember your touch, Potter. It occurs to me that Dumbledore, who had prodigious magical skill, whatever his other faults, might have enchanted this Snitch so that it will open only for you."**

"Don't be so sure about that." Harry smirked.

**Harry's heart was beating rather fast. He was sure that Scrimgeour was right. How could he avoid taking the Snitch with his bare hand in front of the Minister?**

"**You don't say anything," said Scrimgeour. "Perhaps you already know what the Snitch contains?"**

"**No," said Harry, still wondering how he could appear to touch the Snitch without really doing so. If only he knew Legilimency, really knew it, and could read Hermione's mind; he could practically hear her brain whirring beside him.**

"I was thinking, but I'd forgotten about how you caught that Snitch, so couldn't come up with any ideas." Hermione sighed.

"**Take it," said Scrimgeour quietly.**

**Harry met the minister's yellow eyes and knew he had no option but to obey.**

"Why do you have yellow eyes?" Blaise wondered.

"I really don't know." Scrimgeour replied, "my eyes have been yellow for as long as I can remember, so I would assume that I was born with them."

**He held out his hand, and Scrimgeour leaned forward again and placed the Snitch, slowly and deliberately, into Harry's palm. Nothing happened. As Harry's fingers closed around the Snitch, its tired wings fluttered and were still. Scrimgeour, Ron, and Hermione continued to gaze avidly at the now partially concealed ball, as if still hoping it might transform in some way.**

"**That was dramatic," said Harry coolly. Both Ron and Hermione laughed.**

"What?" James muttered, "why didn't it open?"

"I didn't use my hand to catch it." Harry grinned, "you'll see later."

"It was one of his odder catches." Hermione giggled.

"**That's all, then, is it?" asked Hermione, making to prise herself off the sofa.**

"**Not quite," said Scrimgeour, who looked bad tempered now. "Dumbledore left you a second bequest, Potter."**

"**What is it?" asked Harry, excitement rekindling.**

**Scrimgeour did not bother to read from the will this time.**

"**The sword of Godric Gryffindor," he said.**

"Wow." Colin whispered, unable to prevent himself reverting back to Harry-worship.

"You were obviously doing something that proved you were a true son of Godric." James smiled.

"Yep." Harry smirked, "I stabbed Sanasha with the sword."

**Hermione and Ron both stiffened. Harry looked around for a sign of the ruby-encrusted hilt, but Scrimgeour did not pull the sword from the leather pouch, which in any case looked much too small to contain it.**

"**So where is it?" Harry asked suspiciously.**

"**Unfortunately," said Scrimgeour, "that sword was not Dumbledore's to give away. The sword of Godric Gryffindor is an important historical artefact, and as such, belongs –"**

"To the Heir of Gryffindor." James yelled.

"The goblins would say that it's theirs." Snape sneered.

"Not all of them." Harry smiled, "Ragnok wouldn't. He knows of the obscure goblin law, that says the goblins have no right to the sword, even though it was forged by a goblin."

"Why?" Dennis asked.

"Because the sword was a gift to Godric and his heirs." Harry replied, while Bill nodded in agreement. "Godric saved the life of Ragnuk the first, along with the lives of his wife and children."

"The relationship between a goblin and his wife is sacrosanct to the goblins, if one dies, the other usually commits suicide, because they mate for life." Bill continued, "so Ragnuk, after Godric saved him and his entire family, owed the man a life debt, that he paid by forging the sword, and wrote the law, saying that the Gryffindor line would own the sword, and no goblin had any right to it."

"Many goblins think that law should be abolished, because they believe that the one who makes something, owns it, and the witch or wizard it was made for, is just renting it." The Bloody Baron said.

"**It belongs to Harry!" said Hermione hotly. "It chose him, he was the one who found it, it came to him out of the Sorting Hat –"**

"**According to reliable historical sources, the sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor," said Scrimgeour. **

"Those sources obviously do not take into account the goblin law." Kingsley sighed, "we will have to look into updating that then."

"**That does not make it the exclusive property of Mr Potter, whatever Dumbledore may have decided." Scrimgeour scratched his badly shaven cheek, scrutinizing Harry. "Why do you think –?"**

"**Dumbledore wanted to give me the sword?" said Harry, struggling to keep his temper.**

"Uh oh." George muttered, "duck and cover."

"**Maybe he thought it would look nice on my wall."**

"**This is not a joke, Potter!" growled Scrimgeour. "Was it because Dumbledore believed that only the sword of Godric Gryffindor could defeat the Heir of Slytherin? Did he wish to give you that sword, Potter, because he believed, as do many, that you are the one destined to destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named?"**

"**Interesting theory," said Harry. "Has anyone ever tried sticking a sword in Voldemort?**

"I doubt it." Abraxas sniggered.

"It wouldn't work anyway." Regulus sighed, "not with his Horcruxes tying him to this plane."

**Maybe the Ministry should put some people onto that, instead of wasting their time stripping down Deluminators or covering up breakouts from Azkaban. So this is what you've been doing, Minister, shut up in your office, trying to break open a Snitch? People are dying – I was nearly one of them – Voldemort chased me across three counties, he killed Mad-Eye Moody, **

"Yeah, he did what Dolohov, Jugson, Rosier, Mulciber and Avery together couldn't." Moody said with a smirk.

"Oh don't." Tonks whimpered, "I don't want to be reminded that you were killed."

**but there's been no word about any of that from the Ministry, has there? And you still expect us to cooperate with you!"**

"Harry, I don't think that was a good thing to say." Mr Weasley said nervously, silencing his wife for a third time, because she looked like she wanted to start screaming again.

"I'm glad I did say it, and I'll say it again if I have to." Harry shrugged, "he deserved to be taken down a peg, and I refuse to pander to someone as arrogant as him."

Scrimgeour had the grace to look slightly ashamed, wondering what had happened to make him as arrogant as he seemed to have become.

"**You go too far!" shouted Scrimgeour, standing up; **

"I don't think you went far enough." Hermione snarled.

**Harry jumped to his feet too. Scrimgeour limped toward Harry and jabbed him hard in the chest with the point of his wand: it singed a hole in Harry's T-shirt like a lit cigarette.**

"**Oi!" said Ron, jumping up and raising his own wand, but Harry said, "No! D'you want to give him an excuse to arrest us?"**

"**Remembered you're not at school, have you?" said Scrimgeour, breathing hard into Harry's face. "Remembered that I am not Dumbledore, who forgave your insolence and insubordination? You may wear that scar like a crown,**

"He obviously doesn't know you at all." Neville commented, "I've never seen you brag or anything."

"Even I can tell that you don't act all high and mighty." Blaise remarked.

**Potter, but it is not up to a seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! It's time you learned some respect!"**

"It's time you earned it." Lily snapped.

"**It's time you earned it," said Harry.**

"Oh Merlin." Lucius muttered.

**The floor trembled; there was a sound of running footsteps, then the door to the sitting room burst open and Mr and Mrs Weasley ran in.**

"**We – we thought we heard –" began Mr Weasley, looking thoroughly alarmed at the sight of Harry and the Minister virtually nose to nose.**

"– **raised voices," panted Mrs Weasley.**

**Scrimgeour took a couple of steps back from Harry, glancing at the hole he had made in Harry's T-shirt. He seemed to regret his loss of temper.**

"**It – it was nothing," he growled. "I … regret your attitude," he said, looking Harry full in the face once more. "You seem to think that the Ministry does not desire what you – what Dumbledore – desired. We ought to be working together."**

"Is he trying to guilt-trip you?" Padma giggled.

"Yep, it didn't work." Harry snorted.

"**I don't like your methods, Minister," said Harry. "Remember?"**

**For the second time, he raised his right fist and displayed to Scrimgeour the scars that still showed white on the back of it, spelling _I must not tell lies._**

Hermione and most of the other students snarled at the reminder of Fudge forcing them to put up with a nasty hag like Umbridge.

**Scrimgeour's expression hardened. He turned away without another word and limped from the room. Mrs Weasley hurried after him; Harry heard her stop at the back door. After a minute or so she called, "He's gone!"**

"**What did he want?" Mr Weasley asked, looking around at Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Mrs Weasley came hurrying back to them.**

"**To give us what Dumbledore left us," said Harry. "They've only just released the contents of his will."**

**Outside in the garden, over the dinner tables, the three objects Scrimgeour had given them were passed from hand to hand. Everyone exclaimed over the Deluminator and The Tales of Beedle the Bard and lamented the fact that Scrimgeour had refused to pass on the sword, but none of them could offer any suggestion as to why Dumbledore would have left Harry an old Snitch.**

"Yeah, please explain that." James said.

"Be patient." Harry sniggered.

**As Mr Weasley examined the Deluminator for the third or fourth time, Mrs Weasley said tentatively, "Harry, dear, everyone's awfully hungry, we didn't like to start without you … shall I serve dinner now?"**

"When are we going eat?" Ron asked as his stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Not just yet." Albus smiled, "I think we should wait until after the next chapter."

"Oh, OK." Ron and most other students said.

**They all ate rather hurriedly and then, after a hasty chorus of 'Happy Birthday' and much gulping of cake, the party broke up. Hagrid, who was invited to the wedding the following day, but was far too bulky to sleep in the overstretched Burrow, left to set up a tent for himself in a neighbouring field.**

"**Meet us upstairs," Harry whispered to Hermione, while they helped Mrs Weasley restore the garden to its normal state. "After everyone's gone to bed."**

"Why didn't you think to do that before?" Colin asked.

"It just didn't occur to us." Hermione replied.

**Up in the attic room, Ron examined his Deluminator, and Harry filled Hagrid's moleskin purse, not with gold, but with those items he most prized, apparently worthless though some of them were: the Marauder's Map, the shard of Sirius's enchanted mirror, and R.A.B.'s locket. **

"The map's not worthless." The Weasley twins howled in mock horror, while Remus and James glared at Harry for insulting something that was so precious to them.

**He pulled the strings tight and slipped the purse around his neck, then sat holding the old Snitch and watching its wings flutter feebly. At last, Hermione tapped on the door and tiptoed inside.**

"**_Muffliato_," she whispered, waving her hand in the direction of the stairs.**

"What's that spell?" Blaise asked, noticing the way Snape went pale, but not knowing why.

"A very useful one." Harry grinned, "it means people can't be overheard when having a private conversation."

"Wow." Padma whistled, always interested in learning about rare and not-well-known spells.

"I was under the impression that the one who invented that spell, wasn't going to teach it to anyone, so how do you know about it?" Lily asked.

"He gave me the book he wrote it in at the beginning of the year." Harry replied, "it's currently sitting in my trunk, with the rest of my books."

"Oh." Lily nodded.

"**Thought you didn't approve of that spell?" said Ron.**

"**Times change," said Hermione.**

"Why would you say that?" Susan asked curiously, "unless the one who created it is someone you disapprove of."

"When I first heard about that spell, I didn't know who created it and the creator had created others that I didn't like the sound of, but I did eventually find out who it was, after he told me that the book it was written in was his." Hermione sighed, "I realised then that there was no reason to disapprove of a spell just because I didn't know anything about it, or because the same person had created other spells, that were actually pretty vile."

"Who did create it?" Theo asked.

"The one and only, professor Snape." Draco smirked.

"I knew the man was intelligent." Millicent whispered in awe, "but wow."

"**Now, show us that Deluminator."**

**Ron obliged at once. Holding it up in front of him, he clicked it. The solitary lamp they had lit went out at once.**

"**The thing is," whispered Hermione through the dark, "we could have achieved that with Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder."**

"What the hell is that?" Fred asked.

"I dunno, but it sounds cool." George replied, "shall we ask those who know?"

"Good idea." Fred grinned, "Hermione, do tell us, what is Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?"

"Something you import from Peru and sell in your shop." Hermione said, "it creates darkness wherever you want, whenever you want. It lasts quite a while, and the only thing that will prevent the user from stumbling around in the dark, is a Hand of Glory."

"But those are incredibly rare." Regulus said, "and they are considered Dark."

"After the war, they were reclassified, and became less rare." Harry sniggered, "I saw two being made, at the request of the man who's hands they had been."

"Pardon?" Sprout asked.

"One of our friends asked, on his deathbed, that once he'd gone, his hands be chopped off and turned into Hands of Glory." Lucius replied, "he was an odd bloke."

"Odd indeed." Regulus muttered.

"I thought Hands of Glory were the severed hands of criminals." Kingsley frowned.

"That is a myth." Lucius said, "as far as I'm aware, anyone's hand can be turned into a Hand of Glory, though most are from criminals. I don't know whether it makes a difference, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did."

**There was a small click, and the ball of light from the lamp flew back to the ceiling and illuminated them all once more.**

"**Still, it's cool," said Ron, a little defensively. "And from what they said, Dumbledore invented it himself!"**

"**I know, but surely he wouldn't have singled you out in his will just to help us turn out the lights!"**

"**D'you think he knew the Ministry would confiscate his will and examine everything he'd left us?" asked Harry.**

"Oh yeah, he knew." Bill said.

"**Definitely," said Hermione. "He couldn't tell us in the will why he was leaving us these things, but that still doesn't explain …"**

"… **why he couldn't have given us a hint when he was alive?" asked Ron.**

"He probably didn't know he was going to die." Minerva said, wiping her eyes.

"He knew." Harry snorted, "he most definitely knew."

"Indeed." Albus nodded sadly, "unfortunately, my time is coming, it draws ever nearer."

"Merlin." Sprout whimpered, not wanting to think about the headmaster's inevitable death.

"**Well, exactly," said Hermione, now flicking through the The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "If these things are important enough to pass on right under the nose of the Ministry, you'd think he'd have let us know why … unless he thought it was obvious?"**

"**Thought wrong, then, didn't he?" said Ron. "I always said he was mental. Brilliant and everything, but cracked. Leaving Harry an old Snitch – what the hell was that about?"**

"**I've no idea," said Hermione. "When Scrimgeour made you take it, Harry, I was so sure that something was going to happen!"**

"**Yeah, well," said Harry, his pulse quickening as he raised the Snitch in his fingers. "I wasn't going to try too hard in front of Scrimgeour, was I?"**

"Of course not." James sniggered, "especially if you didn't want him to find out what was in it. But how did you avoid showing him?"

"You'll see." Harry smirked, knowing full well that he was irritating his father with his non-answer.

"**What do you mean?" asked Hermione.**

"**The Snitch I caught in my first ever Quidditch match?" said Harry. "Don't you remember?"**

**Hermione looked simply bemused. Ron, however, gasped, pointing frantically from Harry to the Snitch and back again until he found his voice.**

"**That was the one you nearly swallowed!"**

"**Exactly," said Harry,**

"So that means you have to snog it then?" Remus asked with a grin.

"Either that or eat it." Harry snorted, "and let me tell you, Snitches don't taste very nice."

"I didn't think they would." Regulus smirked.

**and with his heart beating fast, he pressed his mouth to the Snitch.**

**It did not open. Frustration and bitter disappointment welled up inside him: he lowered the golden sphere, but then Hermione cried out.**

"**Writing! There's writing on it, quick, look!"**

**He nearly dropped the Snitch in surprise and excitement. Hermione was quite right. Engraved upon the smooth golden surface, where seconds before there had been nothing, were five words written in the thin, slanting handwriting that Harry recognized as Dumbledore's:**

_**I open at the close.**_

"Honestly, cryptic clues leading to more cryptic clues." Lily grumbled.

**He had barely read them when the words vanished again.**

"'**_I open at the close …'_ What's that supposed to mean?"**

**Hermione and Ron shook their heads, looking back.**

"**I open at the close … at the _close_ … I open at the close …"**

**But no matter how often they repeated the words, with many different inflections, they were unable to wring any more meaning from them.**

"It wasn't meant to become clear." Hermione muttered, "not until the time was right."

"So what does it mean?" James asked exasperatedly.

"You'll see." Ron replied, remembering the horror he had felt when he had thought that Harry was dead.

"**And the sword," said Ron finally, when they had at last abandoned their attempts to divine meaning in the Snitch's inscription. "Why did he want Harry to have the sword?"**

"**And why couldn't he just have told me?" Harry said quietly. "It was _there_, it was right there on the wall of his office during all our talks last year! If he wanted me to have it, why didn't he just give it to me then?"**

**He felt as though he were sitting in an examination with a question he ought to have been able to answer in front of him, his brain slow and unresponsive. Was there something he had missed in the long talks with Dumbledore last year? Ought he to know what it all meant? Had Dumbledore expected him to understand?**

"No, if he really wanted you to figure it out then it wouldn't be that easy." Charlus sighed.

"Oh boy." Dorea grimaced, "that man can be infuriatingly complicated at times."

"**And as for this book," said Hermione, "_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ … I've never even heard of them."**

"What?" All the pureblood and half-blood students who had lived in the magical world asked incredulously.

"Muggle-born remember." Hermione shrugged.

"Oh yeah." Many mumbled sheepishly, while others sneered.

"**You've never heard of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_?" said Ron incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"**

"**No, I'm not." said Hermione in surprise. "Do you know them, then?"**

"**Well, of course I do!"**

**Harry looked up, diverted. The circumstance of Ron having read a book that Hermione had not was unprecedented. **

"That is fairly odd." Daphne giggled, "I got the impression that Ron was allergic to books."

"Sounds like dumb and dumber." Pansy snorted, pointing at Crabbe and Goyle, who had spent the last several hours merely sitting in their seats, not moving, speaking, or generally giving any indication that they were even aware of anything around them.

"I used to be, then someone chained me to a chair and forced me to read a book." Ron shrugged, "it wasn't exactly fun, but I did find out why people like books so much."

**Ron, however, looked bemused by their surprise.**

"**Oh come on! All the old kids' stories are supposed to be Beedle's, aren't they? _The Fountain __of Fair __Fortune_ … _The Wizard and the Hopping Pot_ … _Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump_ …"**

"**Excuse me?" said Hermione, giggling. "What was that last one?"**

"**Come off it!" said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry to Hermione. "You must've heard of Babbitty Rabbitty –"**

"**Ron, you know full well Harry and I were brought up by Muggles!" said Hermione. "We didn't hear stories like that when we were little, we heard _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ and _Cinderella_ –"**

"What's that, an illness?" Neville asked.

"No, it's a girl's name." Justin snorted.

"**What's that, an illness?" asked Ron.**

"Neville, you think like Ron." George grinned.

"That's not good." Neville grimaced, "if I really did think like him, then I'd probably be a clumsy Quidditch maniac who doesn't stop eating."

"**So these are children's stories?" asked Hermione, bending again over the runes.**

"**Yeah," said Ron uncertainly, "I mean, that's just what you hear, you know, that all these old stories came from Beedle. I dunno what they're like in the original versions."**

"**But I wonder why Dumbledore thought I should read them?"**

**Something creaked downstairs.**

"**Probably just Charlie, now Mum's asleep, sneaking off to re-grow his hair," said Ron nervously.**

"It was." Charlie sniggered, trying to ignore the holes his mother was glaring into his back.

"**All the same, we should get to bed," whispered Hermione. "It wouldn't do to oversleep tomorrow."**

"**No," agreed Ron. "A brutal triple murder by the bridegroom's mother might put a bit of a damper of the wedding.**

"Not surprising really." Percy snorted.

**I'll get the lights."**

**And he clicked the Deluminator once more as Hermione left the room.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Draco said, "who wants it now?"

"Bill should." Harry grinned, "the next chapter is going to feature his wedding."

"All right." Bill shrugged, levitating the book towards himself.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Wedding**

"**The Wedding**," Bill read.

**Three o'clock on the following afternoon found Harry, Ron, Fred, and George standing outside the great white marquee in the orchard, awaiting the arrival of the wedding guests. Harry had taken a large dose of Polyjuice Potion and was now the double of a red-headed Muggle boy from the local village, Ottery St. Catchpole, from whom Fred had stolen hairs using a Summoning Charm. The plan was to introduce Harry as 'Cousin Barny' and trust to the great number of Weasley relatives to camouflage him.**

"That would work." Percy sniggered, "there are rather a lot of us."

"You could have introduced yourself as a Prewett as well." Dorea smirked, "they're also known for their red hair, and there are a lot of them."

"It wouldn't have worked quite as well." Harry said, "Mrs Weasley's aunt Muriel was the only one with the Prewett name left."

"Oh Merlin." Regulus mumbled.

**All four of them were clutching seating plans, so that they could help show people to the right seats. A host of white-robed waiters had arrived an hour earlier, along with a golden-jacketed band, and all of these wizards were currently sitting a short distance away under a tree; Harry could see a blue haze of pipe smoke issuing from the spot.**

**Behind Harry, the entrance to the marquee revealed rows and rows of fragile golden chairs set on either side of a long purple carpet.**

"It sounds so beautiful." Lily whispered, happy to know that at least there was still some happiness in the world, despite the threat of Voldemort.

**The supporting poles were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and George had fastened an enormous bunch of golden balloons over the exact point where Bill and Fleur would shortly become husband and wife. Outside, butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the grass and hedgerow. Harry was rather uncomfortable. The Muggle boy whose appearance he was affecting was slightly fatter than him, and his dress robes felt hot and tight in the full glare of a summer's day.**

"Harry, you're so skinny, _everyone_ is fatter than you." George snorted.

"It's annoying." Mrs Weasley complained, directing her comments to Harry's parents, "no matter how much he eats, he doesn't put any weight on, and he's so skinny."

"It's genetic." Lily grimaced, "he got that from his father."

"And his grandfather." Dorea added, indicating Charlus, who looked rather happy that he couldn't put weight on and didn't have to worry about getting fat.

"He may be rail-thin, but he has got a lot of muscle." Hermione giggled, "he's strong enough to lift a person, with one arm."

"Wow." Ginny whistled, "was it a child?"

"Nope." Harry grinned, "it was Neville."

"Why would you lift me?" Neville asked nervously.

"We were trying to put something rather large on the roof of a building, and after climbing up and being passed the object, I had to lift you up too." Harry shrugged.

"Why didn't you just use magic?" Ernie wondered.

"The object was too volatile, and would have exploded." Harry replied.

"What the hell was it?" Snape asked in shock.

"A device that was designed to amplify the effects of EMP from a nuclear explosion." Hermione giggled.

"I have no idea what that means." Minerva muttered.

"It sounds complicated though." Flitwick added.

"It is." Harry nodded, "we will explain it in more detail later, but the simple explanation is that when a nuclear reactor goes critical and explodes, it releases a phenomenon that will wipe out any technology. That phenomenon is known as the Electro Magnetic Pulse, and the device we created, was designed to amplify that pulse, to make it affect a larger area."

"I think I understand." Snape frowned, "is it similar to the effect the wards here have on technology?"

"Yes, but the EMP amplifier is a hell of a lot more powerful." Draco said.

"Why did you need to design such a device?" Flitwick queried, "it sounds rather dangerous."

"Because one of the alien races we had come across was made of technology, and they posed a major threat, not just to the future of the New Alteran Empire, but the entire universe." Daphne sighed, "they were known as Replicators, and had originally been designed by the Ancients as a weapon against another alien race, who were killing innocents indiscriminately. The experiment had failed, and the Ancients tried to destroy the Replicators, but they didn't get them all, and we needed to find a way to finish the job, so we decided to created something that would wipe the Replicators of their programming, leaving the planet they had taken over, undamaged."

"Merlin." Snape whispered.

"**When I get married," said Fred, tugging at the collar of his own robes, "I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body Bind Curse on Mum until it's all over."**

"You'd have to find someone crazy enough to marry first." George sniggered.

"Luna." Fred grinned.

"Uh oh." Hermione giggled, "I'm not sure her husband would be too pleased."

"Who did she marry?" Charlus asked.

"Neville." Harry replied.

Luna looked pleased at the thought of marrying the boy she'd had a crush on for two years, while poor Neville turned beetroot, though he did have a small, happy smile on his face.

"**She wasn't too bad this morning, considering," said George. "Cried a bit about Percy not being here, but who wants him? **

Percy looked depressed at that, and wondered how he had managed to let his pride get so far out of hand. "I'm so sorry Bill."

"Don't worry, you'll be there this time, and I'm sure you wouldn't have missed any other Weasley weddings." Bill smiled.

**Oh blimey, brace yourselves – here they come, look."**

**Brightly coloured figures were appearing, one by one, out of nowhere at the distant boundary of the yard. Within minutes a procession had formed, which began to snake its way up through the garden toward the marquee. Exotic flowers and bewitched birds fluttered on the witches' hats, while precious gems glittered from many of the wizards' cravats; a hum of excited chatter grew louder and louder, drowning the sound of the bees as the crowd approached the tent.**

"Sounds so romantic." Some of the girls in fourth year and above, sighed softly, while the boys pretended to vomit, earning themselves glares from the girls who noticed.

"**Excellent, I think I see a few Veela cousins," said George, craning his neck for a better look. "They'll need help understanding our English customs, I'll look after them …"**

"Oh brother." Fred groaned, watching George's face light up.

"**Not so fast, Your Holeyness," said Fred, and darting past the gaggle of middle-aged witches heading the procession, he said, "Here – _permettez-moi_ to _assiter vous_," to a pair of pretty French girls, who giggled and allowed him to escort them inside. George was left to deal with the middle-aged witches and Ron took charge of Mr Weasley's old Ministry colleague Perkins, while a rather deaf old couple fell to Harry's lot.**

"**Wotcher," said a familiar voice as he came out of the marquee again and found Tonks and Lupin at the front of the queue. She had turned blonde for the occasion.**

"I didn't think you liked blonde." Remus queried.

"I don't." Tonks snorted, "it makes me look washed out. I must have decided to try and look respectable for the wedding."

"**Arthur told us you were the one with the curly hair. Sorry about last night," she added in a whisper as Harry led them up the aisle. "The Ministry's being very anti-werewolf at the moment and we thought our presence might not do you any favours."**

"Screw the Ministry." Harry muttered.

"I get the feeling that Harry thinks you should have stayed." James grinned.

"Of course I think they should have stayed." Harry shrugged.

"**It's fine, I understand." said Harry, speaking more to Lupin than Tonks. Lupin gave him a swift smile, but as they turned away, Harry saw Lupin's face fall again into lines of misery. He did not understand it, but there was no time to dwell on the matter: Hagrid was causing a certain amount of disruption. Having misunderstood Fred's directions, he had sat himself, not upon the magically enlarged and reinforced seat set-aside for him in the back row, but on five seats that now resembled a large pile of golden matchsticks.**

"Oops." Hagrid muttered sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Fred's instructions weren't exactly simple." Hermione giggled, "he was saying things like, 'shimmy this way', 'wiggle that way', 'do the twist', so no one really understood him."

"Are you sure he's sane?" Regulus asked Bill worriedly.

"Not particularly." Bill replied.

"I sometimes wonder if his father didn't drop him on his head when he was a baby." Mrs Weasley murmured.

"He might have." George sniggered.

**While Mr Weasley repaired the damage and Hagrid shouted apologies to anybody who would listen, Harry hurried back to the entrance to find Ron face-to-face with a most eccentric-looking wizard.**

"I wonder who that is." Remus said thoughtfully.

"You'll see." Lucius smiled while Luna giggled, wondering whether that was her father, and if it was, then she was amused that Harry thought he was eccentric.

**Slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candy floss, he wore a cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow.**

"Oh dear Merlin." James muttered with wide eyes.

**An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck.**

Albus stiffened, knowing that was the sign of the Deathly Hallows, but not quite sure who the wizard in question was.

"**Xenophilius Lovegood," he said,**

"That's Xeno?" Dorea squeaked, while Charlus burst out laughing, "Merlin, I dread to think what has father would say."

**extending a hand to Harry, "my daughter and I live just over the hill, so kind of the good Weasleys to invite us. but I think you know my Luna?" he added to Ron.**

"**Yes," said Ron. "Isn't she with you?"**

"**She lingered in that charming little garden to say hello to the gnomes, such a glorious infestation! How few wizards realize just how much we can learn from the wise little gnomes – or, to give them their correct name, the _Gernumbli gardensi_."**

"Uh, what?" James muttered.

"Don't bother trying to figure it out, you'll just get more confused." Draco grinned.

"**Ours do know a lot of excellent swear words," said Ron, "but I think Fred and George taught them those."**

**He led a party of warlocks into the marquee as Luna rushed up.**

"**Hello, Harry!" she said.**

"Oh great, someone blabbed." Flitwick groaned.

"No, they didn't." Hermione giggled.

"**Er – my name's Barny," said Harry, flummoxed.**

"**Oh, have you changed that too?" she asked brightly.**

"**How did you know –?"**

"**Oh, just your expression," she said.**

"What?" Charlus muttered, "what the hell?"

"Luna has always been able to see the world differently to the rest of us." Harry smiled.

"You were probably also surrounded by some strange creatures that aren't actually visible to most people." Hermione said.

"Very probably." Harry nodded.

**Like her father, Luna was wearing bright yellow robes, which she had accessorised with a large sunflower in her hair.**

"Oh dear Merlin." Mrs Weasley groaned, wondering why the Lovegoods weren't willing to wear dress-robes, like the other guests.

**Once you got over the brightness of it all, the general effect was quite pleasant. At least there were no radishes dangling from her ears.**

**Xenophilius, who was deep in conversation with an acquaintance, had missed the exchange between Luna and Harry. Bidding the wizard farewell, he turned to his daughter, who held up her finger and said, "Daddy, look – one of the gnomes actually hit me!"**

"**How wonderful! Gnome saliva is enormously beneficial!" said Mr Lovegood,**

"Is it?" Lily asked incredulously.

"We don't know, no one has tested it." Harry shrugged.

**seizing Luna's outstretched finger and examining the bleeding puncture marks. "Luna, my love, if you should feel any burgeoning talent today – perhaps an unexpected urge to sing opera or to declaim in Mermish – do not repress it! You may have been gifted by the _Gernumblies_!"**

"I wonder if she did." Caruso mumbled to Abraxas, who was unable to suppress a snort.

**Ron, passing them in the opposite direction, let out a loud snort.**

"**Ron can laugh," said Luna serenely as Harry led her and Xenophilius toward their seats, "but my father has done a lot of research on _Gernumbli_ magic."**

"**Really?" said Harry, who had long since decided not to challenge Luna or her father's peculiar views. **

"More like he didn't want the headache that comes with it." Hermione said.

"**Are you sure you don't want to put anything on that bite, though?"**

"**Oh, it's fine," said Luna, sucking her finger in a dreamy fashion and looking Harry up and down. "You look smart. I told Daddy most people would probably wear dress robes, but he believes you ought to wear sun colours to a wedding, for luck, you know."**

"So that's why they look like scrambled eggs." Regulus said, "fair enough."

**As she drifted off after her father, Ron reappeared with an elderly witch clutching her arm. Her beaky nose, red-rimmed eyes, and feathery pink hat gave her the look of a bad-tempered flamingo.**

"Oh Merlin." All the Weasley males groaned, "Muriel."

"… **and you hair's much too long, Ronald, for a moment I thought you were Ginevra. Merlin's beard, what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelet.**

"Why she always has to use our full names, I'll never know." Charlie grimaced.

**And who are you?" she barked at Harry.**

"How polite." Lily sneered.

"**Oh yeah, Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin Barny."**

"**Another Weasley? You breed like gnomes. Isn't Harry Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I thought he was a friend of yours, Ronald, or have you merely been boasting?"**

"She's as bad as the bug." Hermione growled.

"**No – he couldn't come –"**

"**Hmm. Made an excuse, did he? Not as gormless as he looks in press photographs, then. **

"She obviously can't tell the difference between gormlessness and murderousness." Hermione giggled.

"Why would Harry look murderous in press photos?" James asked.

"Because I hate having my picture taken." Harry grinned.

"You're all right with family photos." Draco smirked.

"That's because the only people who are gonna look at them are my friends and family." Harry snorted.

**I've just been instructing the bride on how best to wear my tiara." she shouted at Harry. **

"He's not deaf you daft bat." Mrs Weasley muttered.

"**Goblin-made, you know, and been in my family for centuries. She's a good-looking girl, but still – French.**

Bill huffed irritably, but couldn't be bothered to argue with someone who wasn't even there, so just continued reading.

**Well, well, find me a good seat, Ronald, I am a hundred and seven and I ought not to be on my feet too long."**

"Bloody hell." Fred said, "she's not the oldest person I've ever met, but she is definitely the most aggravating."

**Ron gave Harry a meaningful look as he passed and did not reappear for some time. When next they met at the entrance, Harry had shown a dozen more people to their places. The marquee was nearly full now, and for the first time there was no queue outside.**

"**Nightmare, Muriel is," said Ron, mopping his forehead on his sleeve. "She used to come for Christmas every year, then, thank God, she took offence because Fred and George set off a Dungbomb under her chair at dinner. **

"Priceless." The twins grinned.

**Dad always says she'll have written them out of her will – like they care, they're going to end up richer than anyone in the family, rate they're going …**

"Wow." Percy whistled.

"They really are good at what they do." Lucius smiled, "in the first thirty years their shop was open, they made nearly twice as much as our family did in the last century."

"We would have made more if your mother and grandmother hadn't spent so much." Abraxas snorted, "they nearly bankrupted us. Fortunately, my great-great-grandfather, may he rot in the deepest pit of hell, set aside an emergency vault, so we didn't end up destitute."

"You don't seem to like your great-great-grandfather." Bill commented lightly.

"I don't." Abraxas grimaced, "he was one of the reasons that our family has such a bad reputation. I can count on one hand the number of decent people there have been in our family, not including the ones in this room, or my other three children."

"Merlin." Ernie whispered, "I can't imagine having a family like that."

**wow," he added, blinking rather rapidly as Hermione came hurrying toward them. "You look great!"**

"**Always the tone of surprise," said Hermione, though she smiled. She was wearing a floaty, lilac coloured dress with matching high heels; her hair was sleek and shiny.**

"Why did you have to make it not bushy?" Draco whined.

"Because I hate my bushy hair." Hermione replied.

"**Your Great Aunt Muriel doesn't agree, I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said, 'Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"**

"Is she a pureblood supremacist?" Colin asked nervously.

"No, she just doesn't like people." Mr Weasley said.

"Sounds like a female version of McKay." Ron sniggered.

"Yeah." Draco grinned, "remember what Sam wanted to do to him after they got Teal'c out of the gate."

"You mean when she wanted to dial 451 again, and shove him through?" Harry asked.

"That was hilarious." Draco laughed.

"What's so funny?" James asked, staring at the two worriedly.

"A friend of ours wanted to shove an arrogant Canadian Astrophysicist into a black hole." Harry replied, "after he spent two days driving her up the wall with his doom and gloom attitude and supreme arrogance."

"I get the feeling she doesn't like him." Charlus said lightly.

"No one likes him." Draco snorted, "except somehow, Carson and John were able to put up with him."

"Yes, but they were so laid-back that I'm surprised they weren't horizontal." Hermione giggled, "unlike Carson's Aunt Nerva."

"Hermione, Carson did warn us that if she heard anyone but him use that name, she would skin them alive, or use them as a cat toy." Lucius muttered nervously.

"Sounds similar to how she reacts when anyone calls her Minnie." Harry sniggered.

"Oh dear Merlin." Minerva whispered, "you know my brother's youngest son."

"What's wrong with that?" Hermione asked.

"My brother, Andrew, is a bit weird." Minerva sighed, "so's his wife."

"**Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone," said Ron.**

"**Talking about Muriel?" inquired George, re-emerging from the marquee with Fred. "Yeah, she's just told me my ears are lopsided. Old bat. I wish old Uncle Bilius was still with us, though; he was a right laugh at weddings."**

"_Was_, does that mean Bilius is dead?" Dorea asked quietly.

"Yes, he died a couple of years ago." Arthur nodded sadly. He still missed his brother.

"**Wasn't he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty-four hours later?" asked Hermione.**

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing along with Remus, who was holding on to Tonks and James, in an effort not to fall on the floor.

"Have we missed something?" James asked, looking worriedly at his strange friend.

"Yeah." Harry sniggered, "all through my third year Divination lessons, after the idiot puppy escaped, Trelawney kept saying that she saw the Grim."

"Every time, people would act like Harry was on his deathbed, and every time nothing happened." Hermione added, still giggling uncontrollably.

"If I'd died the number of times she'd predicted I would, I would be a medical miracle." Harry snorted, "and even after I dropped Divination, she once wrote me a letter, to say that I was destined to be eaten by a piece of alien technology."

"What?" Remus spluttered.

"That's exactly what she said, and the next day we found a device we call, the Repository of Knowledge." Draco grinned, "it contains everything the Ancients learned and discovered over their fifty million year history, and while a human brain cannot cope with all of that information, we could download some of it into our minds. The only way to do that, is to stick our heads inside it, which makes us look like we're being eaten by the thing."

"Did you just say _fifty million years_?" Burbage asked.

"Yes." Harry replied, "the Ancients evolved over fifty million years ago, and their history is absolutely incredible."

"Astounding." Babbling whispered.

"**Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end," conceded George.**

"Sounds like what happened to my brother George." Charlus muttered.

"What happened to him?" Dennis asked.

"He went completely off the deep end, and got himself incinerated, when Mt St Helens erupted in nineteen-eighty." Dorea replied.

"Wow." Fred laughed.

"Yeah." James nodded, "Uncle Peter was a little odd too. He decided to go and live in the Nevada Desert."

"How so very weird." Regulus muttered.

"And he's actually living, and working, _under_ the Nevada Desert." Harry sniggered.

"Where does he work then?" Minerva asked.

"Area 51." Harry grinned, "it's a top secret project where they research and try to reverse-engineer alien technology."

"They succeeded too." Hermione giggled, "the X-302, F-302, X-303, BC-303 and BC-304, to name but a few of their successes."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Snape said, "but it sounds interesting."

"It is." Draco grinned, "the X-302, was the prototype for a multi-role fighter jet, that could not only fly inside the atmosphere of a planet, but also fly in space, the F-302 was the production model. The X-303 was the prototype of an Earth-built space-capable battleship, with the BC-303 being what the design was called when it was used. Only one of those was actually built, because the introduction of the BC-304 made the BC-303 obsolete. The BC-304 was a more advanced design."

"Muggles have the ability to build space-craft?" Pansy whispered in awe, learning so much more about the non-magical world than her father would have wanted.

"Yes." Lucius nodded, "the first human in space was a man by the name of Yuri Gagarin, in nineteen-sixty-one, and in nineteen-sixty-nine, Neil Armstrong became the most famous American astronaut when he said, 'that's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind', as he took his first steps on the surface of the moon."

"Incredible." Theo muttered.

"I think I'm going to have to update the Muggle studies curriculum." Burbage muttered.

"**But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party." said Fred. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his –"**

"Sounds like someone I'd like to have met." Cygnus grinned.

"**Yes, he sounds a real charmer," said Hermione, while Harry roared with laughter.**

"**Never married, for some reason," said Ron.**

"What a surprise." Minerva muttered sardonically.

"**You amaze me," said Hermione.**

**They were all laughing so much that none of them noticed the latecomer, a dark-haired young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows,**

"You invited Krum?" George asked in awe.

"He is Fleur's friend." Bill shrugged.

"He still owes me a game of who's the better Seeker." Harry grinned.

**until he held out his invitation to Ron and said, with his eyes on Hermione, "You look vunderful."**

"**Viktor!" she shrieked, and dropped her small beaded bag, which made a loud thump quite disproportionate with its size. **

"What on earth do you have in that bag?" Lavender asked incredulously.

"Wait and see." Hermione giggled.

**As she scrambled, blushing, to pick it up, she said, "I didn't know you were – goodness – it's lovely to see – how are you again?"**

**Ron's ears had turned bright red again. After glancing at Krum's invitation as if he did not believe a word of it, he said, much too loudly, "How come you're here?"**

"**Fleur invited me," said Krum, eyebrows raised.**

**Harry, who had no grudge against Krum, shook hands; then, feeling that it would be prudent to remove Krum from Ron's vicinity, offered to show him his seat.**

"That's a good idea." Mr Weasley nodded.

"**Your friend is not pleased to see me," said Krum as he entered the now packed marquee. "Or is he a relative?" he added with a glance at Harry's red curly hair.**

"**Cousin," Harry muttered, but Krum was not really listening. His appearance was causing a stir, particularly amongst the veela cousins: He was, after all, a famous Quidditch player.**

"How good is he?" James asked excitedly.

"Put it this way, he was good enough to join the Bulgarian national team at seventeen." Harry grinned.

"Wow." Charlus whistled.

"Harry's better." Draco grumbled.

"Harry's better than Charlie was, and he could have played for England, if he didn't decide to go chasing dragons instead." Oliver grinned.

"Merlin, he must be good." James said.

"Why aren't you playing professionally?" Minerva asked curiously. She knew how good Harry was, and she was surprised that no team had offered.

"While Quidditch is fun, I'd rather not spend my life playing." Harry shrugged, "and anyway, I've been too busy saving the world from a psychopath and his oh-so-loyal corpse nibblers."

**While people were still craning their necks to get a good look at him, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George came hurrying down the aisle.**

"**Time to sit down," Fred told Harry, "or we're going to get run over by the bride."**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. Hermione looked rather pink and Ron's ears were still scarlet. After a few moments he muttered to Harry, "Did you see he's grown a stupid little beard?"**

"Oh Merlin." Tracy Davis grimaced, "what is it with men and growing beards?"

"She's awake." Pansy said, giggling at one of her best friends, who was sitting opposite her.

"I've been awake all along." Tracy retorted.

"Yeah, but you haven't said anything." Pansy pointed out.

"I was listening to the story, and didn't feel the need to comment on anything." Tracy shrugged, "besides, I'm not the only one, and that lot at the middle table are commenting enough."

**Harry gave a non-committal grunt.**

**A sense of jittery anticipation had filled the warm tent, the general murmuring broken by occasional spurts of excited laughter. Mr and Mrs Weasley strolled up the aisle, smiling and waving at relatives; Mrs Weasley was wearing a brand-new set of amethyst-coloured robes with a matching hat. A moment later Bill and Charlie stood up at the front of the marquee, both wearing dress robes, with large white roses in their buttonholes; Fred wolf whistled and there was an outbreak of giggling from the Veela cousins. Then the crowd fell silent as music swelled from what seemed to be the golden balloons.**

"**Ooooh!" said Hermione, swivelling around in her seat to look at the entrance.**

**A great collective sigh issued from the assembled witches and wizards as Monsieur Delacour and Fleur came walking up the aisle, Fleur gliding, Monsieur Delacour bouncing and beaming.**

"I do wish he would stop bouncing everywhere." Abraxas muttered.

**Fleur was wearing a very simple white dress and seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow. While her radiance usually dimmed everyone else by comparison, today it beautified everyone it fell upon. Ginny and Gabrielle, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual, and once Fleur had reached him, Bill did not look as though he had ever met Fenrir Greyback.**

"That's one of the powers a Veela has." Abraxas said, "they have the ability to make others seem more or less beautiful, but it does depend on their emotions."

"**Ladies and gentlemen," said a slightly sing-song voice, and with a slight shock, Harry saw the same small, tufty-haired wizard who had presided at Dumbledore's funeral, now standing in front of bill and Fleur. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls …"**

"**Yes, my tiara sets off the whole thing nicely," said Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. "But I must say, Ginevra's dress is far too low cut."**

"I wish that woman would just stop criticising people." Ginny mumbled, glancing down at her chest, still not used to the fact that it was bigger than it had been.

**Ginny glanced around, grinning, winked at Harry, and then quickly faced the front again. Harry's mind wandered a long way from the marquee, back to afternoons spent alone with Ginny in lonely parts of the school grounds. They seemed so long ago; they had always seemed too good to be true, as though he had been stealing shining hours from a normal person's life, a person without a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead …**

Lily burst into tears again, wishing she could have been there for her son, but she knew that he would not be the person he was if she had, and that depressed her.

"Is she having mood swings?" Harry asked James.

"I think this book is very stressful for her." James sighed, "it's pretty stressful for me too."

"I lived it, and I survived to come back and try and change it." Harry said, "that means that there is nothing to worry about."

"But you suffered a lot, and I wish we could have been there for you." James mumbled, "it's hard to know that we won't be there to see you get your Hogwarts letter, or be there when you scrape your knee, or be able to do any of the things parents should."

"You do have the chance to have another child, and you can do all those things, maybe not for me, because of the circumstances, but if you do have another child, then you can do that for him or her." Harry smiled, "you also have the chance to see your grand-children grow up, and I'd love a sibling or two."

"Thank you." James said, bringing Lily close to him, in a comforting hug.

"**Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle …?"**

**In the front row, Mrs Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. Trumpet like sounds from the back of the marquee told everyone that Hagrid had taken out one of his own tablecloth sized handkerchiefs.**

"Why is it that women insist on crying at weddings?" Smith asked acerbically, earning himself several sharp slaps from the girls around him.

**Hermione turned and beamed at Harry; her eyes too were full of tears.**

"… **then I declare you bonded for life."**

**The tufty-haired wizard waved his wand high over the heads of Bill and Fleur and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiralling around their now entwined figures. As Fred and George led a round of applause, the golden balloons overhead burst: birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, adding their songs and chimes to the din.**

"**Ladies and gentlemen!" called the tuft-haired wizard. "If you would please stand up!"**

**They all did so, Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly; **

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Minerva said, completely exasperated, "does that woman _ever_ stop complaining?"

"Not that we've noticed." The male Weasleys sighed.

"Honestly, she's ten years younger than me, and I don't think I complain that much!" Albus mumbled.

"You definitely don't." Minerva snorted.

"No one does." Ron sniggered.

"Not even Aunt Anastasia." Caruso added, "and she's even older."

"I can't believe my great-grandmother's still alive." Charlus whispered, "but of course, I shouldn't be too surprised, she's younger than Camilla Potter, who's still around."

"So are there any other relatives of yours still alive that we don't know about?" Albus asked curiously.

"Yes." Harry grinned, "I'm related to a lot of people."

"That's because our family is quite large." Orion smirked.

"Indeed." Dorea nodded, "you're related to the Blacks because of me, you're related to young Severus because of your great-great-grandmother, who was his great-grandfather's sister, your great-great-great-grandmother is Anastasia Lestrange, your nineteen greats grandmother was Elizabeth Zabini."

"My great-great-great-great-great-grandmother was Catherine Whitmore, of the Whitmore family, most of whom moved to Australia not long before I was born." Charlus added, "plus my mother was a member of the Green family, I'm sure there are others around, and I don't know about whether there are any other relatives of the Gaunts hanging around."

"I don't think so, but Mary Gardner, my great-grandmother on Mum's side, wasn't just a random Muggle who had a one-night stand with Morfin Gaunt." Harry said.

"So who was she?" Pomfrey asked.

"The great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Granger nee Shelby." Harry replied.

"Merlin." Percy muttered, "I thought the Shelby family had died out because Elizabeth had no children."

"Her children were squibs, and so were their children." Harry said.

"So you hold the Shelby seat on the Wizengamot." Kingsley asked, wanting clarification.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

**he waved his wand again. The seats on which they had been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the centre of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs groped themselves around small white-clothed tables, which all floated gracefully back to earth around it, and the golden-jacketed band trooped toward a podium.**

"That really does sound beautiful." The girls who were old enough to appreciate the romance cooed.

"Definitely impressive." Many of the boys agreed.

"**Smooth," said Ron approvingly as the waiters popped up on all sides, some bearing silver trays of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky, other tottering piles of tarts and sandwiches.**

"**We should go and congratulate them!" said Hermione, standing on tiptoe to see the place where Bill and Fleur had vanished amid a crowd of well-wishers.**

"**We'll have time later," shrugged Ron, **

"Good idea." George nodded.

**snatching three butterbeers from a passing tray and handing one to Harry. "Hermione, cop hold, let's grab a table … Not there! Nowhere near Muriel –"**

"An even better idea." Mrs Weasley said.

**Ron led the way across the empty dance floor, glancing left and right as he went: Harry felt sure that he was keeping an eye out for Krum. By the time they had reached the other side of the Marquee, most of the tables were occupied: the emptiest was the one where Luna sat alone.**

"**All right if we join you?" asked Ron.**

"**Oh yes," she said happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our present."**

"**What is it, a lifetime's supply of Gurdyroots?" asked Ron.**

"What's a Gurdyroot?" Ernie asked.

"It's a fruit, it's really quite tasty." Luna replied.

"That's only if you like the taste of liquefied bogey flavoured Bertie Botts beans." Harry said.

"Eurgh." Everyone except for Luna groaned.

**Hermione aimed a kick at him under the table, but caught Harry instead.**

"Sorry Harry." Hermione muttered sheepishly, "I did wonder why Ron didn't stop talking."

**Eyes watering in pain, Harry lost track of the conversation for a few moments.**

"Just where did she kick you?" Blaise asked amusedly.

"Where no man wants to be kicked." Harry grumbled, "her rather sharp heel impacted my groin."

"Ooh, ouch." All the males grimaced, clamping their legs together.

**The band had begun to play. Bill and Fleur took to the dance floor first, to great applause; after a while, Mr Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor, followed by Mrs Weasley and Fleur's father.**

"**I like this song," said Luna, swaying in time to the waltz like tune, and a few seconds later she stood up and glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved on the spot, quite alone, eyes closed and waving her arms.**

"OK." Many students muttered doubtfully, glancing at Luna as if worried about her sanity.

"**She's great, isn't she?" said Ron admiringly. "Always good value."**

**But the smile vanished from his face at once: Viktor Krum had dropped into Luna's vacant seat. Hermione looked pleasurably flustered, but this time Krum had not come to compliment her. With a scowl on his face he said, "Who is that man in the yellow?"**

"**That's Xenophilius Lovegood, he's the father of a friend of ours," said Ron. His pugnacious tone indicated that they were not about to laugh at Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation. "Come and dance," he added abruptly to Hermione.**

"That really was abrupt." Hermione said, "I couldn't believe you said it, given that I know how much you hate dancing."

"I couldn't believe I'd said it either." Ron snorted.

**She looked taken aback, but pleased too, and got up: they vanished together into the growing throng on the dance floor.**

"**Ah, they are together now?" asked Krum, momentarily distracted.**

"**Er – sort of," said Harry.**

"What kind of answer was that?" Dean asked, trying to stifle sniggers.

"The only one I could give." Harry snorted.

"**Who are you?" Krum asked.**

"**Barny Weasley."**

**They shook hands.**

"**You, Barny – you know this man Lovegood vell?"**

"**No, I only met him today. Why?"**

**Krum glowered over the top of his drink, watching Xenophilius, who was chatting to several warlocks on the other side of the dance floor.**

"**Because," said Krum, "if he vos not a guest of Fleur's, I vould duel him here and now, for vearing that filthy sign upon his chest."**

"What's wrong with it?" Theo asked, "it's just a little odd."

"You'll see." Hermione sighed.

"**Sign?" said Harry, looking at Xenophilius too. The strange triangular eye was gleaming on his chest. "Why? What's wrong with it?"**

"**Grindelvald. That is Grindelvald's sign."**

"**Grindelwald … the Dark wizard Dumbledore defeated?"**

"**Exactly."**

**Krum's jaw muscles worked as if he were chewing, then he says, "Grindelvald killed many people, my grandfather, for instance. Of course, he vos never poverful in this country, they said he feared Dumbledore –**

"He never feared me." Albus whispered.

"No I don't think he did, I think he wanted you to stew in your own bad memories." Harry sighed, watching the old man break down. "He knew exactly why you found it so difficult to face him, and at the time, he enjoyed knowing that you were suffering."

**and rightly, seeing how he vos finished. But this –" He pointed a finger a Xenophilius. "This is his symbol, I recognized it at vunce: Grindelvald carved it into a vall at Durmstrang ven he vos a pupil there. Some idiots copied it into their books and clothes, thinking to shock, make themselves impressive – until those of us who had lost family members to Grindelvald taught them better."**

**Krum cracked his knuckles menacingly and glowered at Xenophilius. Harry felt perplexed. It seemed incredibly unlikely that Luna's father was a supporter of the Dark Arts,**

"That's because the symbol does not refer to something Dark." Luna said.

**and nobody else in the tent seemed to have recognized the triangular, rune like shape.**

"**Are you – er – quite sure it's Grindelwald's –?"**

"**I am not mistaken," said Krum coldly. "I valked past that sign for several years, I know it vell."**

"**Well, there's a chance," said Harry, "that Xenophilius doesn't actually know what the symbol means. The Lovegoods are quite … unusual. He could easily have picked it up somewhere and think it's a cross section of the head of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or something."**

"A what?" Millicent asked, wondering what Harry was talking about.

"It's a creature that likes to hide and lives in Sweden." Luna replied.

"Actually they prefer Gaia, the Nox home-world." Draco grinned.

"What?" Luna asked, staring at him in confusion.

"Crumple Horned Snorkacks are native to the planet of a people called the Nox." Harry replied.

"The who?" Minerva asked.

"A race even older than the Ancients." Hermione said, "the things they can do, make our most powerful spells look like cheap parlour tricks. They also found a way to free house-elves from their bonds, completely, and without killing the house-elves."

"Merlin." Flitwick whispered, "they sound incredible."

"They truly are." Abraxas nodded.

"**The cross section of a vot?"**

"**Well, I don't know what they are, but apparently he and his daughter go on holiday looking for them …"**

**Harry felt he was doing a bad job explaining Luna and her father.**

"You were doing a better job than I could." Draco said.

"**That's her," he said, pointing at Luna, who was still dancing alone, waving her arms around her head like someone attempting to beat off midges.**

"**Vy is she doing that?" asked Krum.**

"**Probably trying to get rid of a Wrackspurt," said Harry, who recognized the symptoms.**

**Krum did not seem to know whether or not Harry was making fun of him. **

"I pity him." Ernie snorted.

**He drew his wand from inside his robes and tapped it menacingly on his thigh; sparks flew out of the end.**

"**Gregorovitch!" said Harry loudly, and Krum started, but Harry was too excited to care; the memory came back to him at the sight of Krum's wand: Ollivander taking it and examining it carefully before the Triwizard Tournament.**

"**Vot about him?" asked Krum suspiciously.**

"**He's a wand maker!"**

"**I know that," said Krum.**

"**He made your wand! That's why I thought – Quidditch –"**

**Krum was looking more and more suspicious.**

"Well, of course, he probably thinks you're utterly bonkers." Lily giggled, having finally recovered from her breakdown.

"He is utterly bonkers." Hermione said, "but he's also a bloody genius."

"His mind works in strange ways." Caruso added, "but the conclusions he comes to, way ahead of everyone else, are usually right."

"They're also pretty terrifying at times." Orion nodded.

"**How do you know Gregorovitch made my vand?"**

"**I … I read it somewhere, I think," said Harry. "In a – a fan magazine," he improvised wildly and Krum looked mollified.**

"**I had not realized I ever discussed my vand with fans," he said.**

"**So … er … where is Gregorovitch these days?"**

"In great danger." Fred said, trying to sound ominous.

**Krum looked puzzled.**

"**He retired several years ago. I vos one of the last to purchase a Gregorovitch vand. They are the best – although I know, of course, that you Britons set much store by Ollivander."**

"That's because Ollivander is brilliant." Neville said.

"Whereas Gregorovitch is a moron." Cygnus added.

**Harry did not answer. He pretended to watch the dancers, like Krum, but he was thinking hard. So Voldemort was looking for a celebrated wandmaker, and Harry did not have to search far for a reason: It was surely because of what Harry's wand had done on the night that Voldemort had pursued him across the skies. **

"That can't be the only reason." Justin said.

**The holly and phoenix feather had conquered the borrowed wand, something that Ollivander had not anticipated or understood. Would Gregorovitch know better? Was he truly more skilled than Ollivander, did he know secrets of wands that Ollivander did not?**

"No." Lucius mumbled, "but he was studying the Elder Wand, in an attempt to replicate it."

"**This girl is very nice-looking," Krum said, recalling Harry to his surroundings. Krum was pointing at Ginny, who had just joined Luna. "She is also a relative of yours?"**

"**Yeah," said Harry, suddenly irritated, "and she's seeing someone. Jealous type. Big bloke. You wouldn't want to cross him."**

"I really wasn't interested in talking about anything other than wandlore." Harry grumbled.

**Krum grunted.**

"**Vot," he said, draining his goblet and getting to his feet again, "is the point of being an international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?"**

"How arrogant can one person be?" Jack Sloper, one of the beaters Angelina had chosen to replace the twins after they were banned during he previous year, asked rhetorically.

**And he strode off, leaving Harry to take a sandwich from a passing waiter and make his way around the edge of the crowded dance floor. He wanted to find Ron, to tell him about Gregorovitch, but he was dancing with Hermione out in the middle of the floor.**

"I wish you had come and interrupted us." Hermione said, "he kept treading on my toes."

"And I don't particularly like dancing." Ron added.

**Harry leaned up against one of the golden pillars and watched Ginny, who was now dancing with Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan, trying not to feel resentful about the promise he had given Ron.**

**He had never been to a wedding before, so he could not judge how Wizarding celebrations differed from Muggle ones, though he was pretty sure that the latter would not involve a wedding cake topped with two model phoenixes that took flight when the cake was cut, or bottles of champagne that floated unsupported through the crowd. **

"I don't think Muggle weddings are that extravagant." Michael said, "or at least, my cousin's wedding wasn't."

"Didn't your cousin elope to Gretna Green for her wedding?" Anthony asked.

"True." Michael nodded.

**As the evening drew in, and moths began to swoop under the canopy, now lit with floating golden lanterns, the revelry became more and more uncontained.**

**Fred and George had long since disappeared into the darkness with a pair of Fleur's cousins; **

"Hooray." The twins cheered.

**Charlie, Hagrid, and a squat wizard in a purple porkpie hat were singing 'Odo the Hero' in a corner.**

"I think 'singing' is the wrong word to use." Hermione giggled.

"I agree, not one of those three could hold a tune." Harry sniggered.

"I'd be surprised if Charlie could." Tonks grinned, "he was in the same year as me, and his voice was the loudest and most raucous I've ever heard."

"It's not that bad." Charlie grumbled.

**Wandering through the crowd so as to escape a drunken uncle of Ron's who seemed unsure whether or not Harry was his son, Harry spotted an old wizard sitting alone at a table. His cloud of white hair made him look rather like an aged dandelion clock, and was topped by a moth-eaten fez. **

"Elphias." Dumbledore whispered.

**He was vaguely familiar: racking his brains, Harry suddenly realized that this was Elphias Doge, the member of the Order of the Phoenix and the writer of Dumbledore' obituary.**

**Harry approached him.**

"**May I sit down?"**

"**Of course, of course," said Doge; he had a rather high-pitched, wheezy voice.**

**Harry leaned in.**

"**Mr. Doge, I'm Harry Potter."**

"Why the hell did you do that?" Minerva asked, "you're supposed to be keeping your identity secret."

"I needed to talk to him." Harry replied, "I thought it was better for him to know, so that he would not tell me things I already knew, as I knew he would, if I hadn't told him who I was."

**Doge gasped.**

"**My dear boy! Arthur told me you were here, disguised … I am so glad, so honoured!"**

**In a flutter a nervous pleasure Doge poured Harry a goblet of champagne.**

"**I thought of writing to you," he whispered, "after Dumbledore … the shock . . . and for you, I am sure …"**

**Doge's tiny eyes filled with sudden tears.**

"**I saw the obituary you wrote for the _Daily Prophet_," said Harry. "I didn't realize you knew Professor Dumbledore so well."**

"**As well as anyone," said Doge, dabbing his eyes with a napkin. "Certainly I knew him longest, if you don't count Aberforth – and somehow, people never _do_ seem to count Aberforth."**

"They should." Flitwick squeaked, "family is the most important thing in the world."

"**Speaking of the _Daily Prophet_ … I don't know whether you saw, Mr. Doge –?"**

"**Oh, please call me Elphias, dear boy."**

"**Elphias, I don't know whether you saw the interview Rita Skeeter gave about Dumbledore?"**

**Doge's face flooded with angry colour.**

"**Oh yes, Harry, I saw it. That woman, or vulture might be a more accurate term, **

"There's a word I never thought would describe her." Ernie said, "but it is rather accurate."

**positively pestered me to talk to her. I am ashamed to say that I became rather rude, called her an interfering trout, which resulted, as you may have seen, in aspersions cast upon my sanity."**

"Sanity is over-rated." Luna said dreamily.

"**Well, in that interview." Harry went on, "Rita Skeeter hinted that Professor Dumbledore was involved in the Dark Arts when he was young."**

"**Don't believe a word of it!" said Dodge at once. "Not a word, Harry! Let nothing tarnish your memories of Albus Dumbledore!"**

"I don't think it's that easy." Regulus said, "I wouldn't want to believe something without definitive proof."

"I wouldn't want to either." Harry agreed, "and that was the problem, no one was giving me the proof."

**Harry looked into Doge's earnest, pained face and felt, not reassured, but frustrated. Did Doge really think it was that easy, that Harry could simply _choose _not to believe? Didn't Doge understand Harry's need to be sure, to know _everything_?**

**Perhaps Doge suspected Harry's feelings, for he looked concerned and hurried on, "Harry, Rita Skeeter is a dreadful –"**

**But he was interrupted by a shrill cackle.**

"**Rita Skeeter? Oh, I love her, always read her!"**

"Three guesses who." The Weasley males groaned.

**Harry and Doge looked up to see Auntie Muriel standing there, the plumes dancing on her hat, a goblet of champagne in her hand. "She's written a book about Dumbledore, you know!"**

"**Hello, Muriel," said Doge. "Yes, we were just discussing –"**

"**You there! Give me your chair, I'm a hundred a seven!"**

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Minerva huffed.

**Another red-headed Weasley cousin jumped off his seat, looking alarmed, and Auntie Muriel swung around it with surprising strength and plopped herself down upon it between Doge and Harry.**

"**Hello again, Barry, or whatever your name is," she said to Harry. "Now, what were you saying about Rita Skeeter, Elphias? You know, she's written a biography of Dumbledore? I can't wait to read it, I must remember to place an order at Flourish and Blotts!"**

Albus sighed, dreading the fact that everything about his past was going to be revealed.

Harry, seeing the way the old man looked so broken, said, "do not worry so much, your past is what made you who you are, and this will help people see that you are only human." Of course, only those who had had their souls transferred and Albus actually knew what Harry said, because he was using Alteran, the language of the Ancients, and they were the only ones who understood. Everyone else only heard a strangely lilting language, and although they couldn't understand a word, they all thought it sounded beautiful.

"How do you know that language?" Albus asked curiously.

"We learned it when we found out that it was the language of the Ancients, and have spent close on forty years speaking it." Harry replied, "we did make sure that we didn't forget how to speak English, but we decided to use that language as the official language of the New Alteran people."

"How did you know of it?" Hermione asked, wondering why the headmaster had understood what Harry had been saying.

"When I was learning languages, I realised that the incantations we use were not derived from Latin, so I wanted to learn as much as possible about the language of spells." Albus replied, "I discovered that that language was very similar to Latin, and having found several artefacts with it written on, I learned it, even though I've never had a reason to use it."

"Interesting." Lucius muttered.

**Doge looked stiff and solemn at this, but Auntie Muriel drained her goblet and clicked her bony fingers at a passing waiter for a replacement. She took another large gulp of champagne, belched, and then said, "There's no need to look like a pair of stuffed frogs! Before he came so respected and respectable and all that tosh, there were some mighty funny rumours about Albus!"**

"**Ill-informed sniping," said Doge, turning radish-coloured again.**

"**You would say that, Elphias," cackled Auntie Muriel. "I noticed how you skated over the sticky patches in that obituary of yours!"**

"What sticky patches?" Dennis asked, watching the way Albus closed his eyes and tried to prevent the tears from falling.

"The book will tell you everything you want to know, the truth, and the lies." Lucius said.

"**I'm sorry you think so," said Doge, more coldly still. "I assure you I was writing from the heart."**

"**Oh, we all know you worshipped Dumbledore; I daresay you'll still think he was a saint even if it does turn out that he did away with his Squib sister!"**

"**_Muriel!_" exclaimed Doge.**

**A chill that had nothing to do with the iced champagne was stealing through Harry's chest.**

"**What do you mean?" he asked Muriel. "Who said his sister was a Squib? I thought she was ill?"**

"She was." Albus whispered weakly, "all because of what those boys did to her."

"**Thought wrong, then, didn't you, Barry!" said Auntie Muriel, looking delighted at the effect she had produced.**

"Nasty hag." Mrs Weasley spat.

"**Anyway, how could you expect to know anything about it! It all happened years and years before you were even thought of, my dear, and the truth is that those of us who were alive then never knew what really happened. That's why I can't wait to find out what Skeeter's unearthed! Dumbledore kept that sister of his quiet for a long time!"**

"Only because he didn't want her taken away and locked up." Hermione snarled.

"**Untrue!" wheezed Doge, "Absolutely untrue!"**

"**He never told me his sister was a Squib," said Harry, without thinking, still cold inside.**

"**And why on earth would he tell you?" screeched Muriel, swaying a little in her seat as she attempted to focus upon Harry.**

"**The reason Albus never spoke about Ariana," began Elphias in a voice stiff with emotion, "is, I should have thought, quite clear. He was so devastated by her death –"**

"**Why did nobody ever see her, Elphias?" squawked Muriel, "Why did half of us never even know she existed,**

"Because if they had known, they would have wanted her locked away in St Mungo's." Dumbledore whimpered.

**until they carried the coffin out of the house and held a funeral for her? Where was saintly Albus while Ariana was locked in the cellar? Off being brilliant at Hogwarts, and never mind what was going on in his own house!"**

"**What d'you mean, 'locked in the cellar'?" asked Harry. "What is this?"**

**Doge looked wretched. Auntie Muriel cackled again and answered Harry.**

"**Dumbledore's mother was a terrifying woman, simply terrifying. Muggleborn, though I heard she pretended otherwise –"**

"No, she didn't." Flitwick snapped, "I met the woman, we were at school together, and she was one of the nicest people I'd ever known. If she had not already been besotted with Percival then I might have asked her out."

"Bill, read fast, that way we can get through this horrible section quickly." Cygnus said, having seen the way Dumbledore shrank at the horrific things that were being said.

"**She never pretended anything of the sort! Kendra was a fine woman," whispered Doge miserably, but Auntie Muriel ignored him.**

"– **proud and very domineering, the sort of witch who would have been mortified to produce a Squib –"**

"**Ariana was not a Squib!" wheezed Doge.**

"**So you say, Elphias, but explain, then, why she never attended Hogwarts!" said Auntie Muriel. She turned back to Harry. "In our day, Squibs were often hushed up, thought to take it to the extreme of actually imprisoning a little girl in the house and pretending she didn't exist –"**

"**I tell you, that's not what happened!" said Doge, but Auntie Muriel steamrollered on, still addressing Harry.**

"**Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools and encouraged to integrate into the Muggle community … much kinder than trying to find them a place in the Wizarding world, where they must always be second class, but naturally Kendra Dumbledore wouldn't have dreamed of letting her daughter go to a Muggle school –"**

"**Ariana was delicate!" said Doge desperately. "Her health was always too poor to permit her –"**

"– **to permit her to leave the house?" cackled Muriel. "And yet she was never taken to St Mungo's and no Healer was ever summoned to see her!"**

"**Really, Muriel, how can you possibly know whether –"**

"**For your information, Elphias, my cousin Lancelot was a Healer at St Mungo's at the time, and he told my family in strictest confidence that Ariana had never been seen there.**

"If he told her that in confidence, she wasn't supposed to tell anyone." Minerva hissed, unable to keep quiet.

**All most suspicious, Lancelot thought!"**

"My mother was a trained Healer, she worked at St Mungo's, only leaving when she became pregnant with me, and because of her training, Ariana didn't to be taken to the hospital." Albus whimpered.

**Doge looked to be on the verge of tears. Auntie Muriel, who seemed to be enjoying herself hugely, snapped her fingers for more champagne. Numbly Harry thought of how the Dursleys had once shut him up, locked him away, and kept him out of sight, all for the crime of being a wizard. Had Dumbledore's sister suffered the same fate in reverse: imprisoned for her lack of magic? Had Dumbledore truly left her to her fate while he went off to Hogwarts to prove himself brilliant and talented?**

Albus let out a sob, completely heartbroken at the thought of Harry comparing himself to Ariana.

"**Now, if Kendra hadn't died first," Muriel resumed, "I'd have said that it was she who finished off Ariana –"**

"**How can you, Muriel!" groaned Doge. "A mother killing her own daughter? Think what you're saying!"**

"**If the mother in question was capable of imprisoning her daughter for years on end, why not?" shrugged Auntie Muriel. "But as I say, it doesn't fit, because Kendra died before Ariana – of what, nobody ever seemed sure –"**

"**Oh no doubt Ariana murdered her," said Doge, with a brave attempt at scorn. "Why not?"**

"**Yes, Ariana might have made a desperate bid for freedom and killed Kendra in the struggle," said Auntie Muriel thoughtfully. "Shake your head all you like, Elphias. You were at Ariana's funeral, were you not?"**

"**Yes I was," said Doge, through trembling lips, "and a more desperately sad occasion I cannot remember. Albus was heartbroken –"**

"**His heart wasn't the only thing. Didn't Aberforth break Albus' nose halfway through the service?"**

The students stared at Albus' nose, now knowing just how it got so crooked.

**If Doge had looked horrified before this, it was nothing to how he looked now. Muriel might have stabbed him. She cackled loudly and took another swig of champagne, which dribbled down her chin.**

"**How do you –?" croaked Doge.**

"**My mother was friendly with old Bathilda Bagshot," said Auntie Muriel happily. "Bathilda described the whole thing to mother while I was listening at the door. A coffin-side brawl! The way Bathilda told it, Aberforth shouted that it was all Albus' fault that Ariana was dead and then punched him in the face. According to Bathilda, Albus did not even defend himself, and that's odd enough in itself. Albus could have destroyed Aberforth in a duel with both hands tied behind his back."**

"He was grieving, there was no way I was going to fight back, knowing that anger is part of the grieving process." Albus said.

**Muriel swigged yet more champagne. The recitation of those old scandals seemed to elate her as much as they horrified Doge. **

**Harry did not know what to think, what to believe. He wanted the truth and yet all Doge did was sit there and bleat feebly that Ariana had been ill. Harry could hardly believe that Dumbledore would not have intervened if such cruelty was happening inside his own house, and yet there was undoubtedly something odd about the story.**

"**And I'll tell you something else," Muriel said, hiccuping slightly as she lowered her goblet. "I think Bathilda has spilled the beans to Rita Skeeter. All those hints in Skeeter's interview about an important source close to the Dumbledores – goodness knows she was there all through the Ariana business, and it would fit!"**

"**Bathilda, would never talk to Rita Skeeter!" whispered Doge.**

"**Bathilda Bagshot?" Harry said. "The author of A History of Magic?"**

"I can't believe you remembered that." Hermione smiled.

"Hermione, I do have a semi-photographic memory." Harry smirked.

**The name was printed on the front of one of Harry's textbooks, though admittedly not one of the ones he had read more attentively.**

"**Yes," said Doge, clutching at Harry's question like a drowning man at a life heir. "A most gifted magical historian and an old friend of Albus's."**

"**Quite gaga these days, I've heard," said Auntie Muriel cheerfully.**

"Well, if she really is, then Skeeter should never have talked to her." Scrimgeour huffed, "there is no way to tell whether the answers are accurate."

"**If that is so, it is even more dishonourable for Skeeter to have taken advantage of her," said Doge, "and no reliance can be placed on anything Bathilda may have said!"**

"Precisely, but Skeeter wouldn't care." Ernie snapped, "she'd do anything to get some dirt."

"Including ripping an old woman's mind apart." Hermione sighed.

"**Oh, there are ways of bringing back memories, and I'm sure Rita Skeeter knows them all," said Auntie Muriel "But even if Bathilda's completely cuckoo, I'm sure she'd still have old photographs, maybe even letters. She knew the Dumbledores for years … well worth a trip to Godric's Hollow, I'd have thought."**

"Blimey, she must live somewhere near our holiday cottage." Charlus whistled, not having actually known where the elderly lady lived, even though she had been friends with his great-grandfather and had visited their house regularly.

**Harry, who had been taking a sip of butterbeer, choked. Doge banged him on the back as Harry coughed, looking at Auntie Muriel through streaming eyes. Once he had control of his voice again, he asked, "Bathilda Bagshot lives in Godric's Hollow?"**

"**Oh yes, she's been there forever! The Dumbledores moved there after Percival was imprisoned, and she was their neighbour."**

"**The Dumbledores lived in Godric's Hollow?"**

"**Yes, Barry, that's what I just said," said Auntie Muriel testily.**

**Harry felt drained, empty. Never once, in six years, had Dumbledore told Harry that they had both lived and lost loved ones in Godric's Hollow. Why?**

"Because it's painful to remember those times." Albus sobbed, unable to hold the tears back any longer.

**Were Lily and James buried close to Dumbledore's mother and sister?**

"Yes." Remus whispered heart-brokenly.

**Had Dumbledore visited their graves, perhaps walked past Lily's and James's to do so? And he had never once told Harry … never bothered to say …**

**And why it was so important, Harry could not explain even to himself, yet he felt it had been tantamount to a lie not to tell him that they had this place and these experiences in common. He stared ahead of him, barely noticing what was going on around him, and did not realize that Hermione had appeared out of the crowd until she drew up a chair beside him.**

"**I simply can't dance any more," she panted, slipping off one of her shoes and rubbing the sole of her foot.**

"I bet you couldn't." Seamus sniggered, breaking the tension quite effectively.

"**Ron's gone looking to find more Butterbeers. It's a bit odd. I've just seen Viktor storming away from Luna's father, it looked like they'd been arguing –" She dropped her voice, staring at him. "Harry, are you OK?"**

**Harry did not know where to begin, but it did not matter, at that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.**

Bill paused, paling dramatically, and whispered, "oh dear."

"What's wrong?" Lily asked frantically.

Bill cleared his throat, to make sure he didn't croak, or otherwise betray his terror, before continuing.

"**_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming._"**

"Crap." Many students shouted.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" Lily and many female students screamed in fear.

"Continue reading please, Mr Weasley." Minerva said, her voice shaking slightly.

"I can't, that was the end of the chapter." Bill whispered.

"Well, pass it on, and let someone else read." Snape snapped, wanting to continue and find out what was going to happen next.

"Give the book here then, I'll read." Moody said calmly, hoping to avoid everyone panicking too much.

"Before we start the next chapter, I suggest we break for the evening meal." Albus smiled as the book flew from Bill's hands towards Moody, "this book is quite stressful, and we do not want anyone to end up in the hospital wing suffering from stress. This seems like a very good point to stop, and I doubt that there will be many of them so we should take advantage while we can."

"Just so you know, we all got out, so there is no need to worry." Harry added quietly.

"Good idea." Kingsley nodded, "I will take this opportunity to head to the Ministry and begin bringing charges against a few of the people we've planned to arrest."

"Of course." Albus said, "students, you may leave the hall, get some fresh air, but please do not stay away long, and return within an hour so we may continue reading."


	12. Chapter 12

**Break**

With a lot of grumbling, the students and guests agreed to the break. They knew that because Harry had lived through everything, and that Albus was one of the wisest wizards they had ever met, that both had the right idea, even though none of them liked it.

The food appeared on the tables as normal, though only those who had ever been to the kitchens knew how.

When nearly everyone had finished eating, Harry stood up and went to the staff table with a secretive smile on his face. "Professor Sprout," he said, after putting up a privacy charm, "I have something that you might want to see."

"Oh and what is that my dear?" The stout woman asked kindly.

"An item that Voldemort stole and turned into a Horcrux, but has now been cleansed." Harry replied, placing the cup of Helga Hufflepuff on the table. "I thought that seeing as it belonged to one of the founders, who's line has died out, it should be placed somewhere in Hogwarts."

"A wise move." Sprout whispered, staring at the cup in fascination, "this cup was Helga Hufflepuff's. Where did you find it?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault." Harry said.

"I hope you didn't break into the bank." Minerva said sternly.

"Not this time, professor, I told Ragnok that it was there, and what it was." Harry smiled, "he nearly exploded when he found out that one of their clients had placed a Horcrux in a vault."

"I'm not surprised." Pomfrey muttered, beginning to examine the cup intensely, trying to work out what enchantments, if any, Helga had placed upon it. "The goblins may not wish to be anything but neutral in this war, but they hate the idea of people using them to try and cheat death."

"How did you cleanse it?" Albus asked curiously, not having known that destroying the soul piece without damaging the container was possible. "After you showed me the diary at the end of your second year, I have been researching ways to destroy the Horcruxes without damaging the objects he used. I had hoped that we wouldn't have to completely ruin the containers, due to how old they were, and who originally owned them, but I've never found any mention of anything that would work."

"It's a spell that I found out about when I travelled to Estonia while I was looking for information about Ancient technology." Harry replied, "I don't know whether the spell would work on living creatures or not, so I don't know how to deal with Nagini, but when I have time to fetch the ring and locket, I will cleanse them tomorrow."

"Do you know where they are?" Snape asked, wondering how soon they could completely end the war.

"Yes." Harry replied.

"Good." Albus nodded, "then we are that much closer to ending the war."

"Oh, professor Flitwick, I can see the jealousy in your eyes, and have decided, as Heir to Rowena Ravenclaw, that her diadem should also be placed somewhere in Hogwarts." Harry smiled.

"Thank you." Flitwick whispered, turning slightly shiny eyes on the young man, "how did you find it though? It's been lost since the founders died, and no one has ever found any trace of it."

"The lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw." Snape murmured, not really wanting to believe it, but having to when he saw Harry remove the item in question from his pocket.

"Merlin." Pomfrey gasped.

"Unbelievable." Sprout said, "how?"

"It was stolen from Rowena, and the one who stole it, kept the location secret for nearly nine hundred years, but she made a mistake when she told Riddle where she'd hidden it." Harry grimaced.

"Who was it?" Albus wondered.

"The Grey Lady." Harry replied.

"Bloody hell, the ghost of Ravenclaw tower?" Flitwick exclaimed, "I knew she'd been floating around since before I was born, but I never realised that she had been here that long."

"No one did, but I got the full story out of her, and it will be revealed towards the end of the book." Harry smiled, "I don't know how she'll cope though, due to the circumstances of her death."

"How did she die?" Snape asked.

"That will be revealed in the same chapter." Harry said, "suffice it to say, it will be hard for her. She really didn't want anyone to know that she had stolen from someone she cared about, and wasn't there when her mother died, despite the fact that the woman had sent someone to get her."

"Merlin." Flitwick whispered.

"That's incredible." Pomfrey murmured, checking the time quickly before adding, "maybe we should continue with the book, and discuss everything at the end."

"A very good idea." Sprout agreed, "and thank you Harry, for finding something so important to the history of the school and returning them."

"You're welcome." Harry smiled, turning to leave as Bill and the rest of the Weasley clan walked back into the hall after a family meeting, during which the males tried to convince Mrs Weasley that they weren't little children who needed sheltering any more. He returned to his seat between Lucius and his mother, trying to avoid running into the few students who were returning to their own seats at the Hufflepuff table, eagerly anticipating the reactions to the knowledge that he had found the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, though he did dread the reactions of his parents to all his adventures from that year.


	13. Chapter 13

**A Place To Hide**

"**A Place To Hide**," Moody read as soon as everyone had sat down.

"I hope you all get to safety." Lily fretted, completely forgetting what Harry had said at the beginning of the break.

**Everything seemed fuzzy, slow. Harry and Hermione jumped to their feet and drew their wands. Many people were only just realizing that something strange had happened; heads were still turning toward the silver cat as it vanished. Silence spread outward in cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had landed. Then somebody screamed.**

**Harry and Hermione threw themselves into the panicking crowd. Guests were sprinting in all directions; many were Disapparating; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken.**

"That was quick." Justin said.

"The wards fell an hour after the ministry." Hermione sighed, "and those wards, were about as strong as the ones around Hogwarts."

"That's truly terrifying." One little first year Hufflepuff whispered.

"**Ron!" Hermione cried. "Ron, where are you?"**

**As they pushed their way across the dance floor, Harry saw cloaked and masked figures appearing in the crowd; **

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE THEN!" Lily and many of the students yelled. Even Dorea and Charlus joined in, despite the fact that they were trying to not lose control.

**then he saw Lupin and Tonks, their wands raised, and heard both of them shout, "_Protego_!", a cry that was echoed on all sides –**

"**Ron! Ron!" Hermione called, half sobbing as she and Harry were buffered by terrified guests: Harry seized her hand to make sure they weren't separated as a streak of light whizzed over their heads, whether a protective charm or something more sinister he did not know –**

"Or at that particular point, care." Harry muttered, "it missed me."

**And then Ron was there. He caught hold of Hermione's free arm, and Harry felt her turn on the spot; sight and sound were extinguished as darkness pressed in upon him; all he could feel was Hermione's hand as he was squeezed through space and time, away from the Burrow, away from the descending Death Eaters, away, perhaps, from Voldemort himself …**

"Impressive." Charlus said, "I thought it was impossible to take two people by side-along Apparition at the same time."

"It can be done, when one of the people you're taking has enough power." Hermione smiled.

"Of course, and Harry's a magical powerhouse." Remus said.

"**Where are we?" said Ron's voice.**

**Harry opened his eyes. For a moment he thought they had not left the wedding after all; they still seemed to be surrounded by people.**

"**Tottenham Court Road," panted Hermione. **

"Why there?" Pansy asked.

"It was the first place I thought of." Hermione replied.

"Plus we knew that we couldn't stay in the magical world, not if we didn't want to get caught." Harry added.

"Wise move." Dorea nodded.

"**Walk, just walk, we need to find somewhere for you to change."**

**Harry did as she asked. They half walked, half ran up the wide dark street thronged with late-night revellers and lined with closed shops, stars twinkling above them. A double-decker bus rumbled by and a group of merry pub-goers ogled them as they passed; Harry and Ron were still wearing dress robes.**

"**Hermione, we haven't got anything to change into," Ron told her, as a young woman burst into raucous giggles at the sight of him.**

"That's typical." The twins said, "Ron does seem to have a talent for making girls laugh, without even trying."

"**Why didn't I make sure I had the Invisibility Cloak with me?" said Harry, inwardly cursing his own stupidity. "All last year I kept it on me and –"**

"**It's okay, I've got the Cloak, I've got clothes for both of you," said Hermione, "just try and act naturally until – this will do." She led them down a side street, then into the shelter of a shadowy alleyway.**

"**When you say you've got the Cloak, and clothes …" said Harry, frowning at Hermione, who was carrying nothing except her small beaded handbag, in which she was now rummaging.**

"Wow." Terry Boot whispered, "an undetectable extension charm."

"**Yes, they're here," said Hermione, and to Harry and Ron's utter astonishment, she pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally the silvery Invisibility Cloak.**

"**How the ruddy hell –?"**

"**Undetectable Extension Charm," said Hermione. "Tricky, but I think I've done it OK; anyway, I managed to fit everything we need in here." She gave the fragile-looking bag a little shake and it echoed like a cargo hold as a number of heavy objects rolled around inside it. **

"**Oh, damn, that'll be the books," she said, peering into it, "and I had them all stacked by subject …**

"Oops." Lisa giggled.

"Not very useful." Orion grinned.

**Oh well … Harry, you'd better take the Invisibility Cloak. Ron, hurry up and change …"**

"**When did you do all this?" Harry asked as Ron stripped off his robes.**

"**I told you at the Burrow, I've had the essentials packed for days, you know, in case we needed to make a quick getaway. I packed your rucksack this morning, Harry, after you changed, and put it in here … I just had a feeling …"**

"That's amazing." Dennis said, bouncing in his seat.

"He's hyper." Cygnus muttered, staring in fascination at the small boy who could barely sit still.

"How much sugar has he had to eat?" Caruso asked Abraxas, who shock his head because he just didn't know.

"**You're amazing, you are," said Ron, handing her his bundled-up robes.**

"**Thank you," said Hermione, managing a small smile as she pushed the robes into the bag. "Please, Harry, get that Cloak on!"**

**Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak around his shoulders and pulled it up over his head, vanishing from sight. He was only just beginning to appreciate what had happened.**

"**The others – everybody at the wedding –"**

"**We can't worry about that now," whispered Hermione. "It's you they're after, Harry, and we'll just put everyone in even more danger by going back."**

"**She's right," said Ron, who seemed to know that Harry was about to argue, even if he could not see his face. **

"You are so predictable." Draco grinned.

"He definitely gets that from his father and grandfather." Dorea said.

"**Most of the Order was there, they'll look after everyone."**

**Harry nodded, then remembered that they could not see him, and said, "Yeah." But he thought of Ginny, and fear bubbled like acid in his stomach.**

"**Come on, I think we ought to keep moving," said Hermione.**

**They moved back up the side street and onto the main road again, where a group of men on the opposite side was singing and weaving across the pavement.**

"**Just as a matter of interest, why Tottenham Court Road?" Ron asked Hermione.**

"**I've no idea, it just popped into my head, but I'm sure we're safer out in the Muggle world, it's not where they'll expect us to be."**

"**True," said Ron, looking around, "but don't you feel a bit – exposed?"**

"**Where else is there?" asked Hermione, cringing as the men on the other side of the road started wolf-whistling at her. "We can hardly book rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, can we? And Grimmauld Place **

"But the Death Eaters would also be able to get in." Ernie pointed out.

**is out if Snape can get in there …**

"Oh, you already knew that." Ernie mumbled.

**I suppose we could try my parents' home, though I think there's a chance they might check there … Oh, I wish they'd shut up!"**

"**All right, darling?" the drunkest of the men on the other pavement was yelling. "Fancy a drink? Ditch ginger and come and have a pint!"**

"**Let's sit down somewhere," Hermione said hastily as Ron opened his mouth to shout back across the road. **

"Ron, about to defend a girl?" George squeaked.

"Say it isn't so." Fred said, fainting dramatically.

"Uh oh." Abraxas muttered, "chaos will reign when the terror twins arrive."

"They won't be coming until the end of the book." Harry shrugged, "we've got time, don't worry."

"Besides, they won't be allowed to be too outrageous, you know that Annia will hex them to the moon if they even try." Lucius grinned, "she definitely has her great-grandmother's temper, and her grandmother's lack of patience for their antics."

"Combine that with the hormonal imbalance from her pregnancy, and you get one very scary redhead." Cygnus nodded, "I think she managed to surpass her great-grandmother's biggest explosion last time she lost it."

"Oh definitely." Orion said, "her great-grandmother has no control over fire, Annia does, so the candles weren't affected during her great-grandmother's explosion."

"Who is this Annia?" Charlus asked.

"She's one of the people who wrote the note that came with the book." Harry said with a smirk, "she is also one of DC's younger sisters."

"So what's her full name?" Dorea wondered.

"Annia Aurelia Faustina Potter-Malfoy." Lucius replied, smiling gently.

"And she has control over fire?" Charlus squeaked, in fear.

"Yes, she got that from Harry." Lucius nodded, "fortunately she doesn't use it too much."

"**Look, this will do, in here!"**

**It was a small and shabby all-night café. A light layer of grease lay on all the Formica-topped tables, but it was at least empty. Harry slipped into a booth first and Ron sat next to him opposite Hermione, who had her back to the entrance and did not like it: she glanced over her shoulder so frequently she appeared to have a twitch. Harry did not like being stationary; walking had given the illusion that they had a goal.**

"But it is only an illusion." Snape said softly.

**Beneath the Cloak he could feel the last vestiges of Polyjuice leaving him, his hands returning to their usual length and shape. He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and put them on again.**

**After a minute or two, Ron said, "You know, we're not far from the Leaky Cauldron here, it's only in Charing Cross –"**

"**Ron, we can't!" said Hermione at once.**

"**Not to stay there, but to find out what's going on!"**

"**We know what's going on! Voldemort's taken over the Ministry, what else do we need to know?"**

"I shouldn't have said it." Hermione muttered.

"But you did." Harry smiled, "it became a habit."

"I know." Hermione grimaced, "I noticed the many growls every time you nearly said it and had to correct yourself."

"**OK, OK, it was just an idea!"**

**They relapsed into a prickly silence. The gum-chewing waitress shuffled over and Hermione ordered two cappuccinos: as Harry was invisible, it would have looked odd to order him one. A pair of burly workmen entered the café and squeezed into the next booth. **

"Uh oh." Dean whispered.

**Hermione dropped her voice to a whisper.**

"**I say we find a quiet place to Disapparate and head for the countryside. Once we're there, we could send a message to the Order."**

"**Can you do that talking Patronus thing, then?" asked Ron.**

"**I've been practising and I think so," said Hermione.**

"Meaning yes." Draco grinned.

"Why didn't Harry do it?" Seamus asked, "we all know he can do a Patronus."

"My Patronus was too recognisable." Harry replied, "pretty much everyone knew that if they saw a stag Patronus, then it was mine."

"My Patronus was originally an otter, so it was small and therefore less likely to be seen." Hermione added.

"That makes sense." Pansy agreed.

"**Well, as long as it doesn't get them into trouble, though they might've been arrested already. God, that's revolting," Ron added after one sip of the foamy, greyish coffee.**

"Oh Ron." Mr Weasley sighed, "learn some tact."

**The waitress had heard; she shot Ron a nasty look as she shuffled off to take the new customers' orders. The larger of the two workmen, who was blond and quite huge, now that Harry came to look at him, waved her away. **

"That's not good." Sally whispered.

**She stared, affronted.**

"**Let's get going, then, I don't want to drink this muck," said Ron. "Hermione, have you got Muggle money to pay for this?"**

"**Yes, I took out all my building society savings before I came to The Burrow. I'll bet all the change is at the bottom," sighed Hermione, reaching for her beaded bag.**

"It was all at the bottom." She grumbled, "I wasted my time, organising everything, because it all just got mixed up."

"That's why it would have been a good idea to put the money in a smaller bag, and the books in boxes." Orion smirked.

**The two workmen made identical movements, and Harry mirrored them without conscious thought: all three of them drew their wands. **

"How the hell did they find you?" Theo asked.

"You'll find out later." Harry replied.

**Ron, a few seconds late in realizing what was going on, lunged across the table, pushing Hermione sideways onto her bench. The force of the Death Eaters' spells shattered the tiled wall where Ron's head had just been, as Harry, still invisible, yelled, "_Stupefy_!"**

"Good, fight them, make sure they don't get the chance to do too much damage." Moody growled, interrupting himself.

"Alastor, just focus on reading, not trying to train them to be Aurors." Scrimgeour sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly.

**The great blond Death Eater was hit in the face by a jet of red light: he slumped sideways, unconscious. His companion, unable to see who had cast the spell, fired another at Ron: shining black ropes flew from his wand-tip and bound Ron head to foot – the waitress screamed and ran for the door – Harry sent another Stunning Spell at the Death Eater with the twisted face **

"Oh bloody hell." Bill groaned, "Dolohov, one of the most dangerous men out there."

"Oh god." Mrs Weasley mumbled nervously, knowing that two of her honorary children and her youngest son were at the mercy of the man who had been sent to Azkaban for killing her brothers, and therefore had no conscience.

"Don't worry, we got away, and he was executed two years after the war." Harry smiled.

"I still can't believe the death sentence was revived." Albus sighed quietly.

**who had tied up Ron, but the spell missed, rebounded on the window, and hit the waitress, who collapsed in front of the door.**

"**_Expulso!_" bellowed the Death Eater, and the table behind which Harry was standing blew up: the force of the explosion slammed him into the wall and he felt his wand leave his hand as the Cloak slipped off him.**

"That must have been when he pressed his Mark, letting Voldemort know that you were there." Draco sighed.

"It is the only explanation for how he knew, especially since we Obliviated both of them." Harry nodded.

"**_Petrificus Totalus!_" screamed Hermione from out of sight, and the Death Eater fell forward like a statue to land with a crunching thud on the mess of broken china, table, and coffee. Hermione crawled out from underneath the bench, shaking bits of glass ashtray out of her hair and trembling all over.**

"**_D – diffindo,_" she said, pointing her wand at Ron, who roared in pain as she slashed open the knee of his jeans, leaving a deep cut. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Ron, my hand's shaking! _Diffindo!_"**

**The severed ropes fell away. Ron got to his feet, shaking his arms to regain feeling in them. Harry picked up his wand and climbed over all the debris to where the large blond Death Eater was sprawled across the bench.**

"Don't go too near him, he may just be pretending to be out of action, waiting for you to let your guard down." Moody roared, nearly dropping the book he was so agitated.

"Calm down Mad-eye." Tonks said soothingly.

"Not many Death Eaters are intelligent enough to think about merely pretending to be unconscious." Lucius snorted, "it may be the Slytherin thing to do, and the kind of thing you would have done, but not one of them is cunning enough to even think about it."

"**I should've recognized him, he was there the night Dumbledore died," he said. He turned over the darker Death Eater with his foot; the man's eyes moved rapidly between Harry, Ron and Hermione.**

"**That's Dolohov," said Ron. "I recognize him from the old wanted posters. I think the big one's Thorfinn Rowle."**

"It was." Harry nodded.

"**Never mind what they're called!" said Hermione a little hysterically. "How did they find us? What are we going to do?"**

**Somehow her panic seemed to clear Harry's head.**

"Impressive." Albus said, "that is the mark of a true leader."

"That's why he's the High Councillor and Commander of the Alteran Fleet." Cygnus sniggered.

"**Lock the door," he told her, "and Ron, turn out the lights."**

**He looked down at the paralysed Dolohov, thinking fast as the lock clicked and Ron used the Deluminator to plunge the café into darkness. Harry could hear the men who had jeered at Hermione earlier, yelling at another girl in the distance.**

"**What are we going to do with them?" Ron whispered to Harry through the dark; then, even more quietly, "Kill them? They'd kill us. They had a good go just now."**

"You don't want to sink to their level." Mr Weasley said, "I know you said that the death sentence was revived, but that still doesn't mean you should kill the Death Eaters, especially when they're unarmed and unconscious."

**Hermione shuddered and took a step backward. Harry shook his head.**

"**We just need to wipe their memories," said Harry. "It's better like that, it'll throw them off the scent. If we killed them it'd be obvious we were here."**

"**You're the boss," said Ron, sounding profoundly relieved. "But I've never done a Memory Charm."**

"**Nor have I," said Hermione, "but I know the theory."**

"You did modify your parents' memories though, that might help you get it right." Lily said, finally calming down from her fright.

**She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov's forehead and said, "_Obliviate._"**

**At once, Dolohov's eyes became unfocused and dreamy.**

"That's quite impressive." Remus said.

"**Brilliant!" said Harry, clapping her on the back. "Take care of the other one and the waitress while Ron and I clear up."**

"**Clear up?" said Ron, looking around at the partly destroyed café. "Why?"**

"Honestly." Charlie said, "they're gonna wonder what happened if you don't."

"**Don't you think they might wonder what's happened if they wake up and find themselves in a place that looks like it's just been bombed?"**

"**Oh right, yeah …"**

**Ron struggled for a moment before managing to extract his wand from his pocket.**

"**It's no wonder I can't get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they're tight."**

"**Oh, I'm so sorry," hissed Hermione, and as she dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows, Harry heard her mutter a suggestion as to where Ron could stick his wand instead.**

"What was the suggestion?" George asked with a snigger.

"Please don't repeat it." Harry said, "trust me, no one really wants to know."

"No, they really don't." Cygnus agreed, "especially those of us who've been on the wrong end of her ire."

"What the hell did you do?" Dorea asked.

"I have no idea." Cygnus replied, "but then again, she _was_ pregnant at the time, and I had barely known her for three years, so I had no idea how bad her temper was."

**Once the café was restored to its previous condition, they heaved the Death Eaters back into their booth and propped them up facing each other.**

"**But how did they find us?" Hermione asked, looking from one inert man to the other. "How did they know where we were?"**

**She turned to Harry.**

"**You – you don't think you've still got your Trace on you, do you, Harry?"**

"Impossible." Abraxas said, "the Trace cannot be put on someone who's over the age of seventeen."

"**He can't have," said Ron. "The Trace breaks at seventeen, that's Wizarding law, you can't put it on an adult."**

"**As far as you know," said Hermione. "What if the Death Eaters have found a way to put it on a seventeen-year-old?"**

"They couldn't, it's not physically possible." Lucius said, "it wouldn't work."

"**But Harry hasn't been near a Death Eater in the last twenty-four hours. Who's supposed to have put a Trace back on him?"**

**Hermione did not reply. Harry felt contaminated, tainted: was that really how the Death Eaters had found them?**

"**If I can't use magic, and you can't use magic near me, without us giving away our position –" he began.**

"**We're not splitting up!" said Hermione firmly.**

"**We need a safe place to hide," said Ron. "Give us time to think things through."**

"**Grimmauld Place," said Harry.**

"But the greasy stain can get in." James grimaced.

Harry stifled an irritated growl and, even though he didn't want to, hexed his own father once again. James gained a pair of big fluffy bunny ears and a twitchy little bunny nose, which made everyone who could see him, burst out laughing. Dorea and Charlus knew that this was an argument that needed to happen, so didn't want to get involved, specially since they themselves were disappointed in their son.

"What did you do that for?" James yelped indignantly.

"Don't insult one of the greatest heroes of the war." Harry said, "grow up."

"But he's just a slimy greasy Slytherin." James whined.

"He was also my friend." Lily snarled, "as Harry said, grow up."

"Why are you defending him?" James asked, "you remember what he called you, and he knows so much about the Dark Arts."

"Yes, I remember, but that was after you idiots humiliated him again." Lily snapped.

"You don't know anything about him." Harry said, "just because your parents loved you enough to spoil you, doesn't mean his did."

Lucius put his hand on Harry's to try and calm him, because he knew that Harry felt very strongly about things like this.

"But he's a slimy greasy Slytherin." James whined, repeating himself, earning himself some very disappointed looks from his wife and parents.

"I don't care." Lily snapped, "he was the one who introduced me to magic, he was my friend, and you have no right to judge him. James, you think Sirius' mother was horrible to him, Sev's father was worse. His home-life was hell, and you lot made his school-life just as bad."

"At least you didn't have to worry about someone beating you black and blue every time they got drunk." Harry said.

"That may be, but remember what we said earlier, about how the bitch I was forced to call mother used the Cruciatus on us when she wanted to punish us." Regulus sighed, "Sirius was five when he first experienced the Cruciatus, and the only thing my mother did was laugh at him while both he and I screamed and begged for her to stop. I was not even four that day, and she forced me to watch as she tortured him so badly he couldn't even stand on his own two feet for three hours after she stopped."

"How I wish I had been able to do something." Dorea sighed, remembering the night Sirius had arrived at their front door, barely conscious and leaning on the wall to stay upright.

"Merlin." Minerva whispered in horror, unable to believe that any parent could be that cruel.

**The other two gaped.**

"**Don't be silly, Harry, Snape can get in there!"**

"**Ron's dad said they've put up jinxes against him – and even if they haven't worked," he pressed on as Hermione began to argue "so what? I swear, I'd like nothing better than to meet Snape!"**

"Oh dear." Snape mumbled. He knew how vindictive Lily could be, and had seen instances when her son was channelling that vindictiveness..

"**But –"**

"**Hermione, where else is there? It's the best chance we've got. Snape's only one Death Eater. If I've still got the Trace on me, we'll have whole crowds of them on us wherever else we go."**

**She could not argue, though she looked as if she would have liked to. While she unlocked the café door, Ron clicked the Deluminator to release the café's light. Then, on Harry's count of three, they reversed the spells upon their three victims, and before the waitress or either of the Death Eaters could do more than stir sleepily, Harry, Ron and Hermione had turned on the spot and vanished into the compressing darkness once more.**

**Seconds later Harry's lungs expanded gratefully and he opened his eyes: They were now standing in the middle of a familiar small and shabby square. Tall, dilapidated houses looked down on them from every side. **

"Sounds like a right dump." Abraxas muttered.

"That's because it is." Remus snorted, "nobody lived there since not long after Sirius was thrown in Azkaban, so it was left to rot, and Kreacher didn't do anything except worship Walburga's portrait."

"It did get remodelled." Cygnus said, "so it looks a lot better in the time we came from."

"It only got completely remodelled after Fred and George blew it up." Orion pointed out.

"How the hell did they manage that?" Regulus asked, "because I'm pretty sure there are wards to prevent that kind of thing."

"Oh there are." Lucius grinned, "the were overwhelmed by the power of the explosion. The twins tossed a lit firework into a vat of nitroglycerin, and vaporised nearly the entire house."

"Unfortunately, that blasted portrait survived." Caruso said, "the wall it was on was the only wall still standing after the explosion."

"Oh damn." Regulus sighed.

"That was about two weeks before my twenty-first, and as we said during a previous chapter, the wall did get destroyed when we used it for target practice." Draco said.

"Who was there?" Snape wondered.

"Harry, Ron, Neville, Me, Dad and you." Draco replied, "it was great fun."

"I'm not surprised." Snape murmured.

**Number twelve was visible to them, for Dumbledore, its Secret-Keeper, had told them of its existence and they rushed toward it, checking every few yards that they were not being followed or observed. They raced up the stone steps, and Harry tapped the front door once with his wand. They heard a series of metallic clicks and the clatter of a chain, then the door swung open with a creak and they hurried over the threshold.**

**As Harry closed the door behind them, the old-fashioned gas lamps sprang into life, casting flickering light along the length of the hallway. It looked just as Harry remembered it: eerie, cobwebbed, the outlines of the house-elf heads on the wall throwing odd shadows up the staircase. **

**Long dark curtains concealed the portrait of Sirius's mother. **

"Fortunately." Ginny mumbled, "horrible woman."

**The only thing that was out of place was the troll's leg umbrella stand, which was lying on its side as if Tonks had just knocked it over again.**

"Why did we not get rid of that thing?" Tonks asked

"We didn't think of it." Remus shrugged. That did seem to be the most reasonable explanation.

"**I think somebody's been in here," Hermione whispered, pointing toward it.**

"**That could've happened as the Order left," Ron murmured back.**

"**So where are these jinxes they put up against Snape?" Harry asked.**

"**Maybe they're only activated if he shows up?" suggested Ron.**

**Yet they remained close together on the doormat, backs against the door, scared to move farther into the house.**

"**Well, we can't stay here forever," said Harry, and he took a step forward.**

"It would look a little odd if you did stay there forever." Fred sniggered.

"**_Severus Snape?_"**

**Mad-Eye Moody's voice whispered out of the darkness, making all three of them jump back in fright. "We're not Snape!" croaked Harry, before something whooshed over him like cold air and his tongue curled backward on itself, making it impossible to speak. Before he had time to feel inside his mouth, however, his tongue had unravelled again.**

"Tongue tying curse." Moody said in his low growling voice.

"Not exactly pleasant." Lucius mumbled, mock-glaring at Harry.

"But very very useful." Harry smirked, causing Lucius to pout and everyone around them giggled or sniggered at the sight.

**The other two seemed to have experienced the same unpleasant sensation. Ron was making retching noises; Hermione stammered, "That m-must have b-been the T-Tongue-Tying Curse Mad-Eye set up for Snape!"**

**Gingerly Harry took another step forward. Something shifted in the shadows at the end of the hall, and before any of them could say another word, a figure had risen up out of the carpet, tall, dust-coloured, and terrible; Hermione screamed and so did Mrs Black, her curtains flying open; the grey figure was gliding toward them, faster and faster, its waist-length hair and beard streaming behind it, its face sunken, fleshless, with empty eye sockets: horribly familiar, dreadfully altered, it raised a wasted arm, pointing at Harry.**

"Oh dear Merlin." Snape whispered, horrified.

"**No!" Harry shouted, and though he had raised his wand no spell occurred to him. "No! It wasn't us! We didn't kill you –"**

**On the word 'kill', the figure exploded in a great cloud of dust: coughing, his eyes watering, Harry looked around to see Hermione crouched on the floor by the door with her arms over her head, and Ron, who was shaking from head to foot, patting her clumsily on the shoulder and saying, "It's all r-right … it's g-gone …" Dust swirled around Harry like mist, catching the blue gaslight, as Mrs Black continued to scream.**

"**_Mudbloods, filth, stains of dishonour, taint of shame on the house of my fathers –_"**

"Lovely woman, isn't she?" Tonks said sarcastically.

"She sounds like an absolutely vile woman." Seamus snorted.

"Absolutely vile is not strong enough to describe just how bad Walburga was." Orion said bitterly.

"**SHUT UP!" Harry bellowed, directing his wand at her, and with a bang and a burst of red sparks, the curtains swung shut again, silencing her.**

"Oh how I wish that would work for the rest of us." Bill muttered.

"**That … that was …" Hermione whimpered, as Ron helped her to her feet.**

"A parody of the headmaster." Hermione whispered.

"**Yeah," said Harry, "but it wasn't really him, was it? Just something to scare Snape."**

**Had it worked, Harry wondered, or had Snape already blasted the horror figure aside as casually as he had killed the real Dumbledore? **

Snape winced, wondering what made him think he was able to kill his mentor.

**Nerves still tingling, he led the other two up the hall, half-expecting some new terror to reveal itself, but nothing moved except for a mouse skittering along the skirting board.**

"**Before we go any farther, I think we'd better check," whispered Hermione, and she raised her wand and said, "_Homenum revelio._"**

**Nothing happened.**

"Thank Merlin for that." Lily said, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"**Well, you've just had a big shock," said Ron kindly. "What was that supposed to do?"**

"**It did what I meant it to do!" said Hermione rather crossly. "That was a spell to reveal human presence, and there's nobody here except us!"**

"**And old Dusty," said Ron, glancing at the patch of carpet from which the corpse-figure had risen.**

"Yeah, that sounds a little disturbing." Pansy muttered.

"**Let's go up," said Hermione with a frightened look at the same spot, and she led the way up the creaking stairs to the drawing room on the first floor.**

**Hermione waved her wand to ignite the old gas lamps, then, shivering slightly in the draughty room, she perched on the sofa, her arms wrapped tightly around her. Ron crossed to the window and moved the heavy velvet curtains aside an inch.**

"**Can't see anyone out there," he reported. "And you'd think, if Harry still had a Trace on him, they'd have followed us here. **

"Not necessarily." Minerva said, "the house has a ward that prevents the detection of magic, and the Trace can't be used as a locator."

**I know they can't get in the house, but – what's up, Harry?"**

**Harry had given a cry of pain: his scar had burned again as something flashed across his mind like a bright light on water. He saw a large shadow and felt a fury that was not his own pound through his body, violent and brief as an electric shock.**

"I think Mouldywart's just found out that you've escaped." George grinned.

"Again." Fred added.

"He had." Harry nodded, "and he was truly beyond infuriated."

"**What did you see?" Ron asked, advancing on Harry. "Did you see him at my place?"**

"**No, I just felt anger – he's really angry –"**

"That was an understatement." Draco mumbled, "he was absolutely furious."

"**But that could be at the Burrow," said Ron loudly. "What else? Didn't you see anything? Was he cursing someone?"**

"**No, I just felt anger – I couldn't tell –"**

**Harry felt badgered, confused, and Hermione did not help as she said in a frightened voice, "Your scar, again? But what's going on? I thought that connection had closed!"**

"**It did, for a while," muttered Harry; his scar was still painful, which made it hard to concentrate. "I-I think it's started opening again whenever he loses control, that's how it used to –"**

"Obviously he loses control quite regularly then." Dean sniggered, "he needs anger management lessons."

"Dean, can you imagine Voldemort taking anger management lessons?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Not really." Dean admitted.

"Exactly, he'd kill everyone there, and still wouldn't be able to control his temper." Harry nodded, "not that he ever tries."

"**But then you've got to close your mind!" said Hermione shrilly. "Harry, Dumbledore didn't want you to use that connection, he wanted you to shut it down, that's why you were supposed to use Occlumency! Otherwise Voldemort can plant false images in your mind, remember –"**

"**Yeah, I do remember, thanks," said Harry through gritted teeth; he did not need Hermione to tell him that Voldemort had once used this selfsame connection between them to lead him into a trap, nor that it had resulted in Sirius's death.**

"I'm sure that he would have wanted to go out fighting Death Eaters." Remus shrugged, "and as you said, he wasn't actually dead. He apparently had a lovely holiday on a different planet."

"Yes, such a lovely holiday that he vowed to stay well away from anything remotely related to farms or accountants." Cygnus snorted.

"Why?" Dorea asked.

"Because, as we said during the second chapter, the planet he ended up on, was one of several conquered by a people called the Aschen, who were a rather nasty lot." Lucius replied, "they didn't use violence or warfare to conquer a planet, instead they used biological weapons, viruses and disease, to kill off most of the population, before going in and offering cures and medicines. It all sounded wonderful, and we had been planning on allying ourselves with the Aschen, who were more technologically advanced than Earth, but there was a catch."

"If we had formed an alliance with them, within ten years, the birth-rate would have dropped to zero, because the medicines the Aschen produce cause infertility." Harry added.

"Are you saying that the Aschen design these medicines to deliberately destroy a population?" Pomfrey asked.

"Yes." Hermione nodded, "when they find a planet rich in resources with a large population, they work to sterilise that population and turn the planet into a farming world, like they had done with the planet Sirius landed on."

"Merlin, they sound terrible." Charlus said.

"They truly are." Harry nodded sadly, "three hundred years ago, the planet Sirius was found on, called Volia, was home to a thriving civilisation, but then the Aschen invited them to join the Aschen confederation, and gave them a drug which would slow the natural ageing process. Unfortunately it also sterilised most of the people, without them even knowing, but when they did find out, they tried to fight back, which didn't work, and the Aschen made sure no Volian remembered anything about their history or how bad the Aschen truly are."

"So why did Sirius not want anything to do with accountants?" Minerva wondered.

"The Aschen are an extremely patient race, and one of our friends likened them to a race of accountants, because they rarely show emotion, and don't appear to have a sense of humour either." Hermione replied.

"Oh dear." Dorea smirked.

**He wished that he had not told them what he had seen and felt; it made Voldemort more threatening, as though he were pressing against the window of the room, and still the pain in his scar was building and he fought it: it was like resisting the urge to be sick.**

"That is similar to Occlumency." Snape whispered, "but true Occlusion requires building shields, to prevent entrance in the first place. Though if the connection cannot be closed completely, then I don't know what to suggest."

**He turned his back on Ron and Hermione, pretending to examine the old tapestry of the Black family tree on the wall. **

**Then Hermione shrieked: **

"Oh god, what's happened now?" Lily asked fretfully.

**Harry drew his wand again and spun around to see a silver Patronus soar through the drawing room window and land upon the floor in front of them, where it solidified into the weasel that spoke with the voice of Ron's father.**

"**_Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched_."**

"Oh thank Merlin." Mrs Weasley whispered, sagging in relief.

**The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Ron let out a noise between a whimper and a groan and dropped onto the sofa: Hermione joined him, gripping his arm. "They're all right, they're all right!" she whispered, and Ron half laughed and hugged her.**

"**Harry," he said over Hermione's shoulder, "I –"**

"**It's not a problem," said Harry, sickened by the pain in his head. "It's your family, 'course you were worried. I'd feel the same way." He thought of Ginny. "I _do_ feel the same way."**

"Argh." Ginny growled, "I've gained a black-haired green-eyed stubborn mule as a brother. The over-protectiveness has just gone up."

"I'm a mule am I?" Harry grinned.

"Yes." Hermione giggled.

"You are rather stubborn." Lucius agreed.

**The pain in his scar was reaching a peak, burning as it had back in the garden of The Burrow. Faintly he heard Hermione say "I don't want to be on my own. Could we use the sleeping bags I've brought and camp in here tonight?"**

**He heard Ron agree. He could not fight the pain much longer. He had to succumb.**

"My god." Sprout whispered, staring in awe at Harry, amazed that he was willing to put himself through that kind of pain.

"**Bathroom," he muttered, and he left the room as fast as he could without running. **

**He barely made it: bolting the door behind him with trembling hands, he grasped his pounding head and fell to the floor, then in an explosion of agony, he felt the rage that did not belong to him possess his soul, **

"Is that what it feels like when you end up in Voldemort's head while he's angry?" Angelina asked, going pale.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "it's not quite as painful as the Cruciatus, but it is close."

"Merlin." Dorea murmured softly while Lily grabbed her son in a hug and laid her head on his shoulder once again.

**saw a long room lit only by firelight, and the giant blond Death Eater on the floor, screaming and writhing, and a slighter figure standing over him, wand outstretched, while Harry spoke in a high, cold, merciless voice.**

"**More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive this time … You called me back for this, to tell me that Harry Potter has escaped again? Draco, give Rowle another taste of our displeasure … do it, or feel my wrath yourself!"**

"Merlin." Regulus said, "why the hell were you there?"

"I had no choice, he'd threatened our entire family." Draco replied sadly.

**A log fell in the fire: flames reared, their light darting across a terrified, pointed white face – with a sense of emerging from deep water Harry drew heaving breaths and opened his eyes.**

**He was spread-eagled on the cold black marble floor, his nose inches from one of the silver serpent tails that supported the large bathtub. He sat up. Malfoy's gaunt, petrified face seemed burned on the inside of his eyes. Harry felt sickened by what he had seen, by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort.**

"Thanks for not judging me badly for what he wanted me to do." Draco said.

"I knew that you weren't willing, even if he couldn't see it, I could." Harry smiled.

**There was a sharp rap on the door, and Harry jumped as Hermione's voice rang out.**

"**Harry, do you want your toothbrush? I've got it here."**

"**Yeah, great, thanks," he said, fighting to keep his voice casual as he stood up to let her in.**

"That was the end." Moody said.

"That was a tough one." Remus grimaced.

"They'll get tougher." Harry snorted.

"Well that makes me happy." James said sarcastically, "who's next?"

Silence, then, "I will."


	14. Chapter 14

**Kreacher's Tale**

"I will." Kingsley said, wanting to know what was coming next, and feeling like he wasn't contributing enough.

"Of course." Albus smiled, looking like he knew exactly what was going on in Kingsley's mind.

"**Kreacher's Tale**," Kingsley read as trays holding jugs of butterbeer and pumpkin juice appeared on all the tables, allowing everyone to quench their thirst if they so desired.

"Psychotic little wanker." Remus mumbled.

"He's not that bad." Regulus said, "I can tell that you don't like him, but try and think about his feelings."

"Reg, it was his fault that Voldemort knew to send Harry that false vision." Remus sighed, "if it wasn't for the fact that he told Bellatrix and Narcissa about how much Harry cared about Sirius, then Sirius would here right now."

"Sirius and Kreacher hated each other, I had hoped that Sirius would have grown up and got over it, but I guess that there are some things that just cannot be forgotten." Regulus grimaced, "I'm disappointed in Kreacher as well. He should have accepted that Sirius was the head of the family at that point, and that it was his duty to keep Sirius' secrets."

"Kreacher is a living breathing being." Hermione snarled angrily, "house-elves have feelings too, and slavery is wrong."

"I know that, and I also understand the fact that your friends the Nox, were able to break the bond safely, but for now, and for the last thousand years or more, house-elves have needed to be bound to families to survive." Regulus sighed, "to them, the bond is like food and drink is to us, and while I know that it would be nice to free every single house-elf right now, that would be like removing your own stomach. Besides, there are very few families who see house-elves as slaves, most see them as servants, maids, butlers, that sort of thing, just smaller and hidden in the background."

"There are also things that house-elves can do that humans cannot." Charlus added, "because they get most of their energy from the bond, they don't need as much sleep as we do, which means that, especially for those families with small children, the house-elves can keep an eye on things while we sleep. Plus, they actually adore working, I don't think I've ever seen a house-elf refuse to work, unless he or she was offended by someone telling them not to."

"That must be why they continued working as if they hadn't been properly freed after the Nox found out how to break the bond." Hermione whispered in realisation.

"Indeed." Caruso nodded.

**Harry woke early next morning, wrapped in a sleeping bag on the drawing-room floor. A chink of sky was visible between the heavy curtains: it was the cool, clear blue of watered ink, somewhere between night and dawn, and everything was quiet except for Ron and Hermione's slow, deep breathing. Harry glanced over at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside him. Ron had had a fit of gallantry and insisted that Hermione sleep on the cushions from the sofa, so that her silhouette was raised above his. **

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear of the day that Ronnikins actually used his brain." Fred whistled.

"Nor did I, but he wasn't taking no for an answer." Hermione giggled.

Ron didn't say anything, as he was busy pouring a glass of butterbeer down his throat, and after forty-eight years of having various women scolding him about his table manners, had finally learned that it was a bad idea to speak and have a drink at the same time.

**Her arm curved to the floor, her fingers inches from Ron's. Harry wondered whether they had fallen asleep holding hands. The idea made him feel strangely lonely.**

**He looked up at the shadowy ceiling, the cobwebbed chandelier. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he had been standing in the sunlight at the entrance to the marquee, waiting to show in wedding guests. It seemed a lifetime away. What was going to happen now? He lay on the floor and he thought of the Horcruxes, of the daunting complex mission Dumbledore had left him … Dumbledore …**

Albus sighed despondently, wondering whether he could have done something to alleviate the pain he knew Harry was going through.

**The grief that had possessed him since Dumbledore's death felt different now. The accusations he had heard from Muriel at the wedding seemed to have nested in his brain, like diseased things, infecting his memories of the wizard he had idolized. Could Dumbledore have let such things happen?**

"I seriously doubt that." Abraxas said, "there's got to be something missing, we've only heard part of the story, with speculations, but nothing concrete."

"How do you know that Muggle saying?" Justin asked curiously.

"When I faked my death and disappeared, I went to live in the Muggle world." Abraxas replied with a shrug, "I needed something to do with my time, so took a job as a primary school English teacher."

"Wow." Dean whistled, "was it fun teaching little kids to read and write?"

"It wasn't as fun as I thought it might be, many of them were snotty little shits." Abraxas sniggered, "and their parents were worse."

"That sounds horrible." Dorea commented.

"You have no idea." Abraxas grumbled, "it was horrible trying to pound some knowledge into the heads of some of those kids."

**Had he been like Dudley, content to watch neglect and abuse as long as it did not affect him? Could he have turned his back on a sister who was being imprisoned and hidden?**

"I don't think so." Pansy said, "as has already been mentioned, we've not heard the entire story."

**Harry thought of Godric's Hollow, of graves Dumbledore had never mentioned there; he thought of mysterious objects left, without explanation, in Dumbledore's will, and resentment swelled in the darkness. Why hadn't Dumbledore told him? Why hadn't he explained? Had Dumbledore actually cared about Harry at all? Or had Harry been nothing more than a tool to be polished and honed, but not trusted, never confided in?**

"I am so sorry." Albus sniffled. "Can you forgive me?"

"I already did you old coot." Harry grinned.

Lily was scandalised, "Harry James Potter, you apologise right now."

Mrs Weasley was intending to join Lily in scolding Harry, but was stopped by Albus' slightly teary laughter. "Thank you," the old man whispered.

**Harry could not stand lying there with nothing but bitter thoughts for company. Desperate for something to do, for distraction, he slipped out of his sleeping bad, picked up his wand and crept out of the room. On the landing he whispered, "_Lumos_," and started to climb the stairs by wandlight.**

"Not such a good idea." Orion grimaced.

"Yeah, not only is that house pretty damn dangerous and full of portraits that like to shout at those who aren't recognised as being pureblood, Hermione and Ron will go crazy with worry." Regulus agreed.

**On the second landing was the bedroom in which he and Ron had slept last time they had been here; he glanced into it. The wardrobe doors stood open and the bedclothes had been ripped back. Harry remembered the overturned troll leg downstairs. Somebody had searched the house since the Order had left. **

"Probably Mundungus." Moody growled.

**Snape? **

"It could have been, but I can't see why." Flitwick muttered.

**Or perhaps Mundungus, who had pilfered plenty from this house both before and after Sirius died? **

"I wish he would listen to people when they tell him to stop." Remus sighed, "most of the stuff is junk, but there are some nasty objects in that house."

"Can't you bar him from the house?" Regulus asked.

"He's a member of the Order, so needs to be able to get in to give his reports." Minerva said, shaking her head exasperatedly.

"Damn." Orion grimaced.

**Harry's gaze wandered to the portrait that sometimes-contained Phineas Nigellus Black, Sirius's great-great grandfather, but it was empty, showing nothing but a stretch of muddy backdrop. Phineas Nigellus was evidently spending the night in the headmaster's study at Hogwarts.**

"Well, whoever the new head is, will be oh so happy about that." Regulus said sarcastically.

"Why?" Pansy asked, trying not to drool when she looked at the eighteen-year-old Black.

"Because Phineas Nigellus Black was the least popular headmaster ever, and he doesn't know when to shut up." Regulus replied, "and his voice is like nails down a blackboard."

"Oh dear." Theo grimaced.

"Yes, grandfather was annoying, death did not change that one bit." Dorea sighed.

**Harry continued up the stairs until he reached the topmost landing where there were only two doors. The one facing him bore a nameplate reading _Sirius_. **

"I wonder what his room looks like now." Regulus muttered, rolling his eyes tiredly as he remembered some of the pictures he'd seen on the walls the last time he'd been in there.

**Harry had never entered his godfather's bedroom before. He pushed open the door, holding his wand high to cast light as widely as possible.**

**The room was spacious and must, once, have been handsome. There was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains and a chandelier thickly coated in dust, with candle scrubs still resting in its sockets, solid wax banging in frost-like drips. A fine film of dust covered the pictures on the walls and the bed's headboard; a spider's web stretched between the chandelier and the top of the large wooden wardrobe and as Harry moved deeper into the room, he head a scurrying of disturbed mice.**

"How lovely." Lily said dryly.

"What the hell was Kreacher doing to let the place get in such a state?" Orion wondered.

"Undoubtedly he was worshipping the portrait of blasted Walburga." Cygnus snorted.

"Of course." Orion grimaced, "I do wish she hadn't had that portrait made."

"We can't have everything." Caruso commiserated.

**The teenaged Sirius had plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that little of the wall's silvery-grey silk was visible. Harry could only assume that Sirius's parents had been unable to remove the Permanent Sticking Charm that kept them on the wall because he was sure they would not have appreciated their eldest son's taste in decoration. **

"Either it was blatantly against Voldemort's ideals, or it was not something that young children should see." Charlus grinned.

"Or both." Lucius smirked, having seen it all.

"This sounds interesting." All the males in fourth year and above muttered, leaning forwards as if it would help them hear more clearly, as was Regulus. Harry, Ron, Draco, James, Remus and the others who had had their souls sent back didn't, because they already knew what the decorations were like.

**Sirius seemed to have long gone out of his way to annoy his parents. There were several large Gryffindor banners, faded scarlet and gold, just to underline his difference from all the rest of the Slytherin family. There were many pictures of Muggle motorcycles, and also (Harry had to admire Sirius's nerve) several posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls; **

"OOOOOH." Lily shrieked, causing dust to fall from the ceiling, "THAT – THAT – THAT NEANDERTHAL. THAT UTTER CHAUVINISTIC PIG. HOW DARE HE PERPETUATE THE DENIGRATION OF WOMEN IN THAT WAY. WHEN HE NEXT RETURNS TO THAT HOLE, HE IS TO TAKE THOSE POSTERS DOWN AND DESTROY THEM, AND IF HE DOESN'T I WILL COME BACK AND HAUNT HIM."

"Lily, calm down." James said gently, not wanting his wife's ire pointed in his direction, "he's not here for you to yell at, and you are deafening everyone."

"Oh, sorry." Lily muttered apologetically, while still glaring at the book.

"Please remind me to try and avoid getting on her bad side." Abraxas begged of Eileen, who had, along with Snape, moved to sit beside him at the middle table during the evening meal.

"Yes dear." Eileen nodded, wondering if that was going to be easier said than done.

**Harry could tell that they were Muggles because they remained quite stationary within their pictures, faded smiles and glazed eyes frozen on the paper. This was in contrast to the only wizarding photograph on the walls, which was a picture of four Hogwarts students standing arm in arm, laughing at the camera.**

James grinned, while Remus smiled wistfully, both remembering the day that photo was taken.

**With a leap of pleasure, Harry recognized his father; his untidy, black hair stuck up at the back like Harry's and he, too, wore glasses. **

"You two really do look alike." Blaise commented, glancing between Harry and James, "though Harry's hair is darker."

**Beside him was Sirius, carelessly handsome, his slightly arrogant face so much younger and happier than Harry had ever seen it alive. To Sirius's right stood Pettigrew, **

Remus growled angrily at the mention of the rat, while James grabbed Lily, who was beginning to look crushed at the thought of the traitor who condemned her son to orphanhood.

**more than a head shorter, plump and watery-eyed, flushed with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, with the much admired rebels that James and Sirius had been.**

"That's all we were to him." James sighed, "the rebels, the cool gang."

"Was he ever really our friend?" Remus asked, "or were we just the ones he hung around with because he wanted someone to protect him?"

"I wish we knew." James said.

**On James's left was Lupin, even then a little shabby-looking, but he had the same air of delighted surprise at finding himself liked and included **

"I'm nothing like him." Remus said, "I was happy at having real friends, ones who knew of my lycanthropy and didn't care."

"Take a look around Remus." Cygnus grinned, "you have more than a few friends now, I think most of the students here today would be proud to know you."

"We are." The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws cheered, with a few Slytherins' joining in, especially the ones in third year and up who didn't believe in pureblood superiority or Voldemort's ideals.

"You were the best DADA teacher we have had in a long time." Angelina said forcefully, with the rest of the students nodding in agreement, causing poor Remus to blush and hide his face in embarrassment.

"I told you." Cygnus smirked.

**or was it simply because Harry knew how it had been, that he saw these things in the picture? He tried to take it from the wall; it was his now, after all – Sirius had left him everything – but it would not budge. Sirius had taken no chances in preventing his parents from redecorating his room.**

"Undoubtedly there is a Permanent Sticking Charm on everything in his room." Orion said, "I know that I wouldn't have cared about what he had on his walls, but Walburga would have been incensed and done her best to redecorate."

**Harry looked around at the floor. The sky outside was growing brighter: a shaft of light revealed bits of paper, books and small objects scattered over the carpet. Evidently Sirius's bedroom had been searched too, although its contents seemed to have been judged mostly, if not entirely, worthless. **

"It probably is now." Regulus muttered, "I know that he left most of his school books behind, only taking what he would be able to carry, and unless no new advancements have been made in the last however many years, all those books are out of date."

"Even if they are out of date, no book is worthless." Hermione retorted.

"I'm not going to argue with you, we're both certain of our opinions, and I'm sure we'd never get anywhere if I did argue." Regulus sighed, "I'm just going to say this, there is no point reading an out-of-date book when there is an up-to-date copy available. The information in the new copy is more useful, and less likely to be completely wrong."

**A few of the books had been shaken roughly enough to part company with the covers, and sundry pages littered the floor.**

"I wonder what whoever searched the house wanted to find." Dorea said.

**Harry bent down, picked up a few of the pieces of paper, and examined them. He recognized one as a part of an old edition of _A History of Magic_, by Bathilda Bagshot, and another as belonging to a motorcycle maintenance manual. The third was handwritten and crumpled: he smoothed it out.**

_**Dear Padfoot,**_

"Which one of us sent that letter?" James asked.

"I did." Lily replied, "that was the last letter I wrote before the attack. I wrote it just after we went into hiding, before we changed Secret-Keepers, and after the switch, I didn't think it would be safe, especially with the fact that Sirius was going into hiding as well. I didn't want to accidentally lead the Death Eaters right to him."

_**Thank you, thank you, for Harry's birthday present! It was his favourite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself, I'm enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat **_

"That poor cat." Millicent whispered.

_**and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course James thought it was so funny, says he's going to be a great Quidditch player, **_

"He is." The Gryffindor team cheered.

_**but we've had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don't take our eyes off him when he gets going.**_

"Yeah, Harry's one of the best Seekers I've ever seen." Seamus grinned.

"He's also one of the scariest." Minerva nodded, "pulling Wronski Feints left-right and centre."

"He is the acknowledged master of the Wronski Feint." Draco pointed out, "he's so good at them."

"Yes, but I do wish he wouldn't wait until he was less than two feet above the ground before pulling up." Minerva sighed.

"Oh Merlin, I don't think I'm going to enjoy watching him." Lily groaned.

_**We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old Bathilda who has always been sweet to us and who dotes on Harry. We were so sorry you couldn't come, but the Order's got to come first, and Harry's not old enough to know it's his birthday anyway! James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell – also Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions.**_

"Why would you do a stupid thing like giving your cloak to a teacher?" Fred and George wailed.

"I dunno, I can't remember." James shrugged.

"Oh." George sighed.

"Professor, why did you have his cloak?" Fred asked.

"You will see." Albus smiled, though many could tell that it was forced.

"It's a Hallow." Luna whispered in an other-worldly tone, "the Hallows are here, they are just waiting to be reunited, and the Master of Death will bring the Empire of the Ancients back to true glory."

"What is she babbling on about?" Smith asked acerbically.

"You'll see." Ron grinned, putting his goblet down, having finally quenched his thirst, "be patient."

_**If you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy was here last weekend. I thought he seemed down,**_

"We should have known." Remus sighed.

"If only Sirius and I hadn't thought to suggest the switch." Lily grimaced.

"I thought it was his idea, and you were just quick to agree." Remus frowned.

"I had already been wondering if a switch would be a good idea, and when he suggested it, I thought that I had been right to wonder." Lily said sadly.

"I understand." Remus nodded.

_**but that was probably the news about the McKinnons; I cried all evening when I heard.**_

_**Bathilda drops in most days, she's a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore. I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually because it seems incredible that Dumbledore**_

"What?" Susan squeaked, wanting to know more.

"The letter ends there." Kingsley said apologetically, "there is no more."

"Oh, Mrs Potter, what does the rest of the letter say?" Hannah asked, staring at Lily, who jumped at the way she had been addressed. Even after nearly two years of marriage, she still hadn't got used to not being called miss Evans.

"Er …" Lily stammered, but was cut off by Albus.

"All will be revealed in due time." The headmaster said, not really wanting all his secrets to come out into the open, but knowing that he couldn't do anything to stop that happening.

"And please, given the fact that there are three Mr Blacks, two Mrs Potters, three Mr Potters, and three Mr Malfoys in the room, please use our first names, so we know which one you're talking to." Orion added, before urging Kingsley to continue.

**Harry's extremities seemed to have gone numb. He stood quite still, holding the miraculous paper in his nerveless fingers while inside him a kind of quiet eruption sent joy and grief thundering in equal measure through his veins. Lurching to the bed, he sat down. **

"Oh my poor boy." Lily cried, climbing into Harry's lap to grab him in a crushing grip once again, nearly kicking James and Lucius in her rush.

"Blimey." Lucius mumbled, crouching down in his seat to avoid Lily's flailing limbs.

Harry grimaced at the fact that Lily was crushing his face into her chest, but still wrapped his arms around her, to try and comfort her, knowing she needed it.

**He read the letter again, but could not take in any more meaning than he had done the first time, and was reduced to staring at the handwriting itself. She had made her g's the same way he did: he searched through the letter for every one of them, and each felt like a friendly little wave glimpsed from behind a veil. The letter was an incredible treasure, proof that Lily Potter had lived, really lived, that her warm hand had once moved across this parchment, tracing ink into these letters, these words, words about him, Harry, her son.**

**Impatiently brushing away the wetness in his eyes, he reread the letter, this time concentrating on the meaning. It was like listening to a half-remembered voice.**

**They had had a cat … perhaps it had perished, like his parents at Godric's Hollow … **

"Nope, I gave Smudge to Arabella after I found out that she was to keep an eye on you." Remus smiled.

"Obviously she changed his name, there were no cats called Smudge around her house." Harry grinned, though his words were muffled by Lily's chest.

"Actually the cat was female, and I think Arabella changed her name to Snowy, or some such other rubbish." Remus said.

"Mrs … mmph … Mrs Figg has never been … mmph … very good at naming her cats." Harry said, trying desperately not to appear to be sucking on his mother's chest as he spoke.

"Er, Lils, I think it might be a good idea if you loosened your grip a little, I don't think our son wants your boobs shoved in his face." James muttered nervously.

"Oops." Lily mumbled sheepishly, allowing Harry to move slightly away, but still sitting in his lap and hugging him.

**or else fled when there was nobody left to feed it … Sirius had bought him his first broomstick … his parents had known Bathilda Bagshot; had Dumbledore introduced them? _Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak_ … there was something funny there …**

"I thought so too." Anthony said, "we all know that there are many spells that can make someone invisible, though they can only be performed by someone powerful, and the headmaster is powerful enough to cast them, so why would he need an Invisibility Cloak?"

"It will be explained." Hermione said.

**Harry paused, pondering his mother's words. Why had Dumbledore taken James's Invisibility Cloak? Harry distinctly remembered his headmaster telling him years before, "_I don't need a cloak to become invisible_." Perhaps some less gifted Order member had needed its assistance, and Dumbledore had acted as a carrier? Harry passed on …**

Albus breathed a quiet sigh of relief, knowing that he had a bit of time to prepare for that momentous revelation.

**_Wormy was here_ … Pettigrew, the traitor, had seemed 'down', had he? Was he aware that he was seeing James and Lily alive for the last time?**

"Wouldn't surprise me." Remus growled.

**And finally Bathilda again, who told incredible stories about Dumbledore: _it seems incredible that Dumbledore_ –**

**That Dumbledore what? But there were any number of things that would seem incredible about Dumbledore; that he had once received bottom marks in a Transfiguration test, for instance, or had taken up goat charming like Aberforth …**

"If only it was so simple." Albus whispered brokenly.

**Harry got to his feet and scanned the floor: perhaps the rest of the letter was here somewhere. He seized papers, treating them, in his eagerness, with as little consideration as the original searcher, he pulled open drawers, shook out books, stood on a chair to run his hand over the top of the wardrobe, and crawled under the bed and armchair.**

"Blimey, you really are stubborn." Lavender said.

**At last, lying face down on the floor, he spotted what looked like a torn piece of paper under the chest of drawers. When he pulled it out, it proved to be most of the photograph that Lily had described in her letter. A black-haired baby was zooming in and out of the picture on a tiny broom, roaring with laughter, and a pair of legs that must have belonged to James was chasing after him.**

"I'd love to see that." Lily whispered, still in Harry's lap with his face quite close to her chest, even with the little bit of breathing room she had given him.

"Lily, don't you think you ought to let him go now?" Remus asked gently, watching Harry's expression get more and more murderous.

"No." Lily pouted, "I like it here."

"Tough." Harry growled, transforming into a black mamba and slithering out of her grasp, straight onto Lucius' shoulders, around which he coiled himself. Then, staring Lily straight in the eye, he blew a sibilant raspberry.

"Dendroapsis polylepsis." Dorea whispered in amazement, while peering at the snake her grandson had turned into, "one of the most beautiful snakes in the world, and also one of the most venomous."

"Did you have to tell us that?" James squeaked, leaning away from the snake despite the fact that Lily was between him and Lucius, on whom the snake was resting.

"Yes." Abraxas grinned.

"What is the English name for that kind of snake?" Seamus asked, always interested in snakes, despite being a Gryffindor.

"Black Mamba." Lucius replied, gently running a finger down Harry's scaled back, eliciting a pleasured hiss.

"I will send for a registration form so that young Mr Potter does not get fined for being an unregistered Animagus." Percy said, staring nervously at the gun-metal grey snake that was still wrapped around Lucius' shoulders. He really did not like venomous snakes, not after the stories he had heard about the basilisk that had been roaming the school during his sixth year.

"I will note it down so we don't forget." Kingsley nodded, once more scribbling on his piece of parchment.

"Now that he is not being squashed by his over-emotional mother, maybe Harry could transform back so we can continue." Scrimgeour suggested with a wry smile.

Harry blew another raspberry, this time in the direction of the Minister, before reluctantly unwinding and returning to human form. Then he glared at Lily, who jumped and moved back to her original seat.

"Do you know how odd it is to hear a snake blow a raspberry?" Alicia grinned.

"Yeah." Harry smirked, "it's even odder when they snigger."

**Harry tucked the photograph into his pocket with Lily's letter and continued to look for the second sheet.**

**After another quarter of an hour, however, he was forced to conclude that the rest of his mother's letter was gone. Had it simply been lost in the sixteen years that had elapsed since it had been written, or had it been taken by whoever had searched the room? **

"It being taken sounds more likely." Tracy said, again shocking everyone who had thought she was asleep, "but why I do not know."

"Well, given that there has been a mystery every year, and Harry's solved each one, it stands to reason that we will find out eventually." Pansy smirked, wondering whether Regulus was single and therefore whether she had any chance of getting near him.

**Harry read the first sheet again, this time looking for clues as to what might have made the second sheet valuable. His toy broomstick could hardly be considered interesting to the Death Eaters … the only potentially useful thing he could see her was possible information on Dumbledore. _It seems incredible that Dumbledore_ – what?**

"That's what I want to know." Colin whined, fed up of keeping quiet.

"**Harry? Harry? _Harry!_"**

"**I'm here!" he called, "What's happened?"**

"You didn't let them know what you were doing." Lee sniggered.

**There was a clatter of footsteps outside the door, and Hermione burst inside.**

"**We woke up and didn't know where you were!" she said breathlessly. She turned and shouted over her shoulder, "Ron! I've found him!"**

**Ron's annoyed voice echoed distantly from several floors below.**

"**Good! Tell him from me he's a git!"**

"Harry, you're a git." Draco said, dutifully passing on the message.

"You're too late, or too early, depending on how you look at it." Ron grinned.

"Oh Merlin, time-travel makes my head hurt." Draco grimaced.

"**Harry don't just disappear, please, we were terrified! Why did you come up here anyway?" She gazed around the ransacked room. "What have you been doing?"**

"**Look what I've just found."**

**He held out his mother's letter. Hermione took it out and read it while Harry watched her. When she reached the end of the page she looked up at him.**

"**Oh, Harry …"**

"Hermione, what have you learned over the years about pitying Harry?" Ron asked exasperatedly.

"That he hates it." Hermione mumbled sheepishly.

"Exactly." Daphne nodded.

"**And there's this, too."**

**He handed her the torn photograph, and Hermione smiled at the baby zooming in and out of sight on the toy broom.**

"**I've been looking for the rest of the letter," Harry said, "but it's not here."**

**Hermione glanced around.**

"**Did you make all this mess, or was some of it done when you got here?"**

"**Someone had searched before me," said Harry.**

"**I thought so. Every room I looked into on the way up had been disturbed. What were they after, do you think?"**

"Information most likely." Cho said, frowning slightly as she thought.

"**Information on the Order, if it was Snape."**

"**But you'd think he'd already have all he needed. I mean was in the Order, wasn't he?"**

"Yes, but if it really was me, then I would know that the Order had moved out and taken everything of importance." Snape sighed.

"**Well then," said Harry, keen to discuss his theory, "what about information on Dumbledore? The second page of the letter, for instance. You know this Bathilda my mum mentions, you know who she is?"**

"**Who?"**

"Her-Hermione doesn't kn-know something?" Ginny stammered, before falling to the floor in a dramatic faint.

"What the hell?" Pansy asked, staring at the rather dramatic former redhead.

Bill sloshed cold water over Ginny's face, causing her to splutter and glare at him, "what was that for?"

"To wake you up, and hopefully get you to explain." Ron grinned.

"Oh." Ginny said sheepishly, "it's just, I've never known Hermione to admit to not knowing something, and it surprised me."

"S'not that odd." Hermione mumbled, "there are plenty of things I don't know."

"**Bathilda Bagshot, the author of –"**

"**_A History of Magic_," said Hermione, looking interested. "So your parents knew her? She was an incredible magic historian."**

"**And she's still alive," said Harry, "and she lives in Godric's Hollow. Ron's Auntie Muriel was talking about her at the wedding. She knew Dumbledore's family too. Be pretty interesting to talk to, wouldn't she?"**

"Yes, Bathilda Bagshot is an interesting person to talk to." Dorea said, "she knows a hell of a lot about history, especially the history she's seen."

**There was a little too much understanding in the smile Hermione gave him for Harry's liking. He took back the letter and the photograph and tucked them inside the pouch around his neck, so as not to have to look at her and give himself away.**

"**I understand why you'd love to talk to her about your mum and dad, and Dumbledore too," said Hermione. "But that wouldn't really help us in our search for the Horcruxes, would it?" **

"It might not, though there is the possibility that she would be able to tell you about historical artefacts that Voldemort may have turned into Horcruxes." Flitwick pointed out.

"I didn't think of that." Hermione sighed.

"Besides, we already thought we knew _what_ he'd used, we just didn't know where they were hidden." Harry added.

**Harry did not answer, and she rushed on, "Harry, I know you really want to go to Godric's Hollow, but I'm scared. I'm scared at how easily those Death Eaters found us yesterday. It just makes me feel more than ever that we ought to avoid the place where your parents are buried, I'm sure they'd be expecting you to visit it."**

"I hate to say it, but she's right." Cho said, "You-Know-Who will have put guards around every place that he knows has an emotional connection to you."

"He'll have put guards around the ones that aren't protected like Grimmauld Place is." Terry clarified, "places like Grimmauld Place, well, he'll have just placed someone to watch the vague location because he doesn't know exactly where they are."

"Yes, all right you nitpicker." Cho snarked.

"**It's not just that," Harry said, still avoiding looking at her, "Muriel said stuff about Dumbledore at the wedding. I want to know the truth …"**

**He told Hermione everything that Muriel had told him. When he had finished, Hermione said, "Of course, I can see why that's upset you, Harry –"**

"– **I'm not upset," he lied, **

"She'll see right through that." Fay said, "Hermione's annoying like that."

"**I'd just like to know whether or not it's true or –"**

"**Harry do you really think you'll get the truth from a malicious old woman like Muriel, or from Rita Skeeter? How can you believe them? You knew Dumbledore!"**

"**I thought I did," he muttered.**

"You know him better than most." Padma smiled.

"**But you know how much truth there was in everything Rita wrote about you! Doge is right, how can you let these people tarnish your memories of Dumbledore?"**

**He looked away, trying not to betray the resentment he felt. There it was again: choose what to believe. He wanted the truth. Why was everybody so determined that he should not get it?**

"Because the truth is too painful." Albus whimpered quietly, "I can never forgive myself for what happened, I can't stand it when the people I care for hate me."

"I don't hate you." Harry said, "I don't think I could. I was just disappointed, and a little bit pissed off, that you seemed to believe that I was someone to be used, but not trusted."

"I am so sorry." Albus whispered, for what felt like the twentieth time, but he knew that his feelings of guilt wouldn't allow him to not apologise.

"**Shall we go down to the kitchen?" Hermione suggested after a little pause. "Find something for breakfast?"**

**He agreed, but grudgingly, and followed her out onto the landing and past the second door that led off it. There were deep scratch marks in the paintwork below a small sign that he had not noticed in the dark. He paused at the top of the stairs to read it. It was a pompous little sign, neatly lettered by hand the sort of thing that Percy Weasley might have stuck on his bedroom door.**

"Oh dear." Regulus grimaced, "that's not a compliment Percy, that's probably my room, and I was a snotty little brat when I was younger."

"Oh." Percy groaned, burying his head in his hands in despair and wondering whether he ought to take the sign off his door as soon as the reading was over for the day, or whenever he next had a chance.

_**Do Not Enter**_

_**Without the Express Permission of**_

_**Regulus Arcturus Black**_

"R.A.B." Remus whispered, "I did wonder if it was you."

"I did say there was a good chance that it was me." Regulus snorted.

"True, but the fact that you weren't sure, added to the fact that Harry and his friends knew, but refused to either confirm or deny your involvement, meant that I was less-than certain, and having the book confirm it, is rather nice."

"Indeed." Regulus nodded.

**Excitement trickled through Harry, but he was not immediately sure why. He read the sign again. Hermione was already a flight of stairs below him.**

"**Hermione," he said, and he was surprised that his voice was so calm. "Come back up here."**

"**What's the matter?"**

"**R.A.B. I think I've found him."**

"I'm sure you did." Regulus nodded, "I know that I would have written a note like the one you found, so I suspect that that extremely creepy replica did so in my place."

**There was a gasp, and then Hermione ran back up the stairs.**

"**In your mum's letter? But I didn't see –"**

**Harry shook his head, pointing at Regulus' sign. She read it, then clutched Harry's arm so tightly that he winced.**

"What is it with people grabbing my arms when they're either scared, excited or in pain?" Harry wondered.

"I dunno." Hermione admitted sheepishly.

"How often has that happened?" Lily asked.

"Quite a lot." Harry grinned, "Hermione was the one who did it most often, and the last time she did that, she was going into labour, and as it so happened, I was also going into labour at the same time, which was extremely awkward timing."

"That must have been unpleasant." Pansy muttered.

"It was." Harry nodded, "and Hermione wasn't the only one to go into labour at the same time as me."

"Who else?" Fred asked with a grin.

"Me." Lucius grimaced, "when our second son decided to make his appearance, our first set of twins were set on joining him."

"And then when David Janus decided _he_ wanted to be born, his sister Cassandra decided she didn't want to be left behind." Harry snorted.

"Of course, none of the check-ups I'd had during that pregnancy showed more than just David, so we didn't know that his brother Julius was there too, and instead of the two children we thought we were having, we had three." Lucius added.

"Are David and Julius identical or not?" Lily asked.

"Not quite." Harry grinned, "apart from the fact that David has black hair like mine and Julius is blond, they are almost identical."

"Incredible." James whispered, beginning to accept that his son was going to marry Lucius and that there really was nothing he could do to separate them.

"The last time I went into labour at the same time as someone else, was when our youngest son, Logan John made his appearance, and our youngest daughter, Charisma appeared less than three hours later." Harry grinned.

"Merlin." James grimaced, "I still can't believe you had sixteen children."

"**Sirius's brother?" she whispered.**

"**He was a Death Eater," said Harry. "Sirius told me about him, he joined up when he was really young and then got cold feet and tried to leave – so they killed him."**

"That's not quite true." Regulus said, "I found out about one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and the day before I was planning to go and steal it, I got replaced. I assume that if I hadn't, then I would have died."

"You would have." Hermione nodded sadly, "the replica died in your place, so the time-line wasn't damaged by us saving you."

"Nice to know." Regulus muttered.

"**That fits!" gasped Hermione. "If he was a Death Eater he had access to Voldemort, and if he became disenchanted, then he would have wanted to bring Voldemort down!"**

**She released Harry, leaned over the banister, and screamed, "Ron! RON! Get up here, quick!"**

**Ron appeared, panting, a minute later, his wand ready in his hand.**

"**What's up? If it's massive spiders again I want breakfast before I –"**

Fred and George laughed, along with Dean and Seamus, who both knew about Ron's arachnophobia, but when they caught sight of Harry's glare and Ron's pale features, they all stopped, realising that the time Fred had accidentally turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider had affected him more than they had thought.

**He frowned at the sign on Regulus' door, in which Hermione was silently pointing.**

"**What? That was Sirius's brother, wasn't it? Regulus Arcturus … Regulus … _R.A.B.!_ The locket – you don't reckon –?"**

"Oh Merlin, Ron, does your brain _ever_ work before you've eaten?" Daphne whined.

"No." Ron admitted, "nor does it really work if I haven't had any coffee."

"I'm surrounded by coffee addicts." Daphne groaned.

"**Let's find out," said Harry. He pushed the door: it was locked. Hermione pointed her wand at the handle and said, "_Alohomora_." There was a click, and the door swung open.**

**They moved over the threshold together, gazing around. Regulus' bedroom was slightly smaller than Sirius's, though it had the same sense of former grandeur. Whereas Sirius had sought to advertise his diffidence from the rest of the family, Regulus had striven to emphasize the opposite. **

"I wanted to protect them, why I don't know." Regulus sighed.

"I don't know why you wanted to protect Walburga, but I am grateful you managed to protect the rest of us." Orion whispered, "I wish it had been different, and that I had been able to protect you, but we cannot change what has happened, and we're still alive."

**The Slytherin colours of emerald and silver were everywhere, draping the bed, the walls, and the windows. The Black family crest was painstakingly painted over the bed, along with its motto, TOUJOURS PUR. **

**Beneath this was a collection of yellow newspaper cuttings, all stuck together to make a ragged collage. Hermione crossed the room to examine them.**

"I'm amazed that something as old and not well-made as that, has stood the test of time." Regulus muttered.

"**They're all about Voldemort," she said. "Regulus seems to have been a fan for a few years before he joined the Death Eaters …"**

"I wasn't, but I had to pretend to be." Regulus sighed.

**A little puff of dust rose from the bed-covers as she sat down to read the clippings. Harry, meanwhile, had noticed another photograph: a Hogwarts Quidditch team was smiling and waving out of the frame. He moved closer and saw the snakes emblazoned on their chests: Slytherins. Regulus was instantly recognizable as the boy sitting in the middle of the front row:**

"You were Seeker?" Theo asked.

"Yeah." Regulus nodded.

"He was pretty good too." James grinned.

"Of course, Slytherin never beat Gryffindor until after Sirius graduated." Regulus grumbled, "no matter how many times I caught the bloody Snitch."

"That sounds like what it's been like the last few years." Draco grimaced, "Harry's just too good."

"Maybe we ought to play against each other." Regulus suggested, looking at Harry.

"Once we've finished reading." Orion said, "this book will take time."

**He had the same dark hair and slightly haughty look of his brother, though he was smaller, slighter,**

"I'm younger." Regulus smirked, "of course I'm gonna be smaller."

**and rather less handsome than Sirius had been.**

"**He played Seeker," said Harry.**

"**What?" said Hermione vaguely; she was still immersed in Voldemort's press clippings.**

"**He's sitting in the middle of the front row, that's where the Seeker … never mind," said Harry, realizing that nobody was listening.**

"Oh dear." Angelina said, "Harry's showing how obsessed with Quidditch he is, and no one's paying attention."

"That's a shame." Oliver nodded.

**Ron was on his hands and knees, searching under the wardrobe. Harry looked around the room for likely hiding places and approached the desk. Yet again, somebody had searched before them. The drawers' contents had been turned over recently, the dust disturbed, but there was nothing of value there: old quills, out-of-date textbooks that bore evidence of being roughly handled, a recently smashed ink bottle, its sticky residue covering the contents of the drawer.**

"**There's an easier way," said Hermione, as Harry wiped his inky fingers on his jeans. She raised her wand and said, "_Accio Locket!_"**

"Won't work." Regulus said, "Voldemort would have put an anti-summoning charm on his Horcruxes."

**Nothing happened. Ron, who had been searching the folds of the faded curtains, looked disappointed.**

"**Is that it, then? It's not here?"**

"I wouldn't hide it in my room." Regulus shuddered, "that's just a bit disturbing."

"Definitely." Orion nodded with a shiver.

"**Oh, it could still be here, but under counter-enchantments," said Hermione. "Charms to prevent it from being summoned magically, you know."**

"**Like Voldemort put on the stone basin in the cave," said Harry, remembering how he had been unable to Summon the fake locket.**

"**How are we supposed to find it then?" asked Ron.**

"**We search manually," said Hermione.**

"**That's a good idea," said Ron, rolling his eyes, and he resumed his examination of the curtains.**

"That's one of the most ridiculous places to search." Cygnus snorted, "no one would hide something in the curtains."

**They combed every inch of the room for more than an hour, but were forced, finally, to conclude that the locket was not there.**

**The sun had risen now; its light dazzled them even through the grimy landing windows.**

"**It could be somewhere else in the house, though," said Hermione in a rallying tone as they walked back downstairs. As Harry and Ron had become more discouraged, she seemed to have become more determined. "Whether he'd manage to destroy it or not, he'd want to keep it hidden from Voldemort, wouldn't he? Remember all those awful things we had to get rid of when we were here last time? That clock that shot bolts at everyone and those old robes that tried to strangle Ron; Regulus might have put them there to protect the locket's hiding place, even though we didn't realize it at … at …"**

"Oh no." Mr Weasley muttered, along with Fred & George.

"Oh shit!" Ginny shouted in horror.

"Language Ginny." Mrs Weasley said.

"There was a locket, and none of us could get it open, so we threw it out." Ginny said, ignoring her adoptive mother.

"Nothing can be easy for you lot." The fifth, sixth and seventh years sighed.

**Harry and Ron looked at her. She was standing with one foot in mid-air, with the dumbstruck look of one who had just been Obliviated: her eyes had even drifted out of focus.**

"That look is annoying." Harry said.

"Why?" Dorea asked.

"Whenever Hermione looks like that, she goes off on a tangent, without explaining herself." Harry grinned.

"Harry does that too." Hermione giggled.

"… **at the time," she finished in a whisper.**

"**Something wrong?" asked Ron.**

"**There was a locket."**

"**What?" said Harry and Ron together.**

"**In the cabinet in the drawing room. Nobody could open it. And we … we …"**

"That's got to be unpleasant to remember." Seamus grimaced.

"It was." Hermione sighed, "especially when we all touched it, trying to get it open."

**Harry felt as though a brick had slid down through his chest into his stomach. He remembered. He had even handled the thing as they passed it around, each trying in turn to pry it open. It had been tossed into a sack of rubbish, along with the snuffbox of Wartcap powder and the music box that had made everyone sleepy …**

"Everyone except Ginny." George grinned.

"Yeah, she was the only one who had the presence of mind to slam that box shut." Fred added.

"It reminded me of the diary." Ginny sighed, "I never wanted to feel that again, and knew that the only way to stop it was to shut the box."

"I really wish you hadn't had to experience something like that." Mrs Weasley whispered.

"**Kreacher nicked loads of things back from us," said Harry. It was the only chance, the only slender hope left to them, and he was going to cling to it until forced to let go. "He had a whole stash of stuff in his cupboard in the kitchen. C'mon."**

"I hope he did manage to rescue it." Minerva said nervously, hoping the locket could be found and destroyed quickly.

**He ran down the stairs taking two steps at a time, the other two thundering along in his wake. They made so much noise that they woke the portrait of Sirius's mother as they passed through the hall.**

"Oh crap." Remus muttered.

"**_Filth! Mudbloods! Scum!_" she screamed after them as they dashed down into the basement kitchen and slammed the door behind them.**

"Oh shut up, Mother." Regulus snarled, "we don't care what you think any more, you're dead."

"And you're talking to a book." Orion grinned.

"Oh leave me alone." Regulus grumbled, "you've had several years to tell her what you think of her now that the bitch is dead, I haven't had a chance yet."

**Harry ran the length of the room, skidded to a halt at the door of Kreacher's cupboard, and wrenched it open. There was the nest of dirty old blankets in which the house-elf had once slept, but they were not longer glittering with the trinkets Kreacher had salvaged. The only thing there was an old copy of _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_. **

"Damn." Ginny cursed quietly.

"What the hell happened to it?" Regulus muttered, "something like that should be kept as far away from people as possible."

**Refusing to believe his eyes, Harry snatched up the blankets and shook them. A dead mouse fell out and rolled dismally across the floor. **

**Ron groaned as he threw himself into a kitchen chair; Hermione closed her eyes.**

"**It's not over yet," said Harry, and he raised his voice and called, "_Kreacher!_"**

"Hopefully he will have hidden it somewhere and you can get it off him." Michael said, crossing his fingers.

**There was a loud _crack_ and the house elf that Harry had so reluctantly inherited from Sirius appeared out of nowhere in front of the cold and empty fireplace: tiny, half human-sized, his pale skin hanging off him in folds, white hair sprouting copiously from his bat like ears.**

"Strangely, he's very very proud of that hair." Cygnus shuddered.

"That's just weird." Bill said.

"And the best way to make him change his mind about something is to threaten to trim it." Ron sniggered.

"How do you know that?" Fred asked.

"Because the Burrow once got overrun with pests so no one could live there, and Harry invited us all to stay at Potter Manor while the Burrow was being fumigated, and Kreacher collaborated with Wobble to ban Mum from the kitchen." Ron replied, "Mum told Kreacher that if he didn't allow her to do at least some of the cooking, she would introduce his ear hair to pair of scissors. He let her back in the kitchen quite quickly after that."

"Oh dear." Mr Weasley muttered.

"What did Wobble do?" Charlus asked nervously.

"She compromised, and decided that if Mum was going to do the cooking, then she herself would do all the washing up." Ron grinned, "of course, she wasn't happy allowing someone else into her kitchen, so stocked the pantry with tins of Surströmming and hákarl."

"Ron, you actually managed to pronounce those words correctly, even though you hate foreign languages and they aren't English words." Harry smirked.

"What precisely are Surströmming and hákarl?" Mrs Weasley queried.

"Surströmming is fermented herring, and hákarl is cured shark meat." Hermione replied, "they are both delicacies in the countries they originate from, Sweden and Iceland respectively."

"They are also extremely smelly." Harry added, "and I do mean extremely. A freshly opened can of Surströmming can clear a room in five seconds, even a room as big as this. I don't know how fast hákarl can clear a room."

"That sounds unpleasant." Minerva whispered.

"Definitely." Harry agreed.

**He was still wearing the filthy rag in which they had first met him, and the contemptuous look he bent upon Harry showed that his attitude to his change of ownership had altered no more than his outfit.**

"**Master," croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog's voice, and he bowed low; muttering to his knees, "back in my Mistress's old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudblood –"**

"**I forbid you to call anyone 'blood traitor' or 'Mudblood,'" growled Harry. He would have found Kreacher, with his snout like nose and bloodshot eyes, a distinctively unlovable object even if the elf had not betrayed Sirius to Voldemort.**

"I still can't believe he would do something like that." Orion sighed, "I know he didn't see it as a betrayal, talking to Bellatrix, because she is a Black, but …"

"**I've got a question for you," said Harry, his heart beating rather fast as he looked down at the elf, "and I order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?"**

"**Yes, Master," said Kreacher, bowing low again. Harry saw his lips moving soundlessly, undoubtedly framing the insults he was now forbidden to utter.**

"**Two years ago," said Harry, his heart now hammering against his ribs, "there was a big gold locket in the drawing room upstairs. We threw it out. Did you steal it back?"**

**There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up to look Harry full in the face. Then he said, "Yes."**

"Good." Regulus said.

"**Where is it now?" asked Harry jubilantly as Ron and Hermione looked gleeful. Kreacher closed his eyes as though he could not bear to see their reactions to his next word.**

"**Gone."**

"Damn." The students shouted.

"Bloody hell." Regulus growled, earning another cuff to the back of the head.

"**Gone?" echoed Harry, elation flooding out of him, "What do you mean, it's gone?"**

**The elf shivered. He swayed.**

"**Kreacher," said Harry fiercely, "I order you –"**

"**Mundungus Fletcher," croaked the elf, his eyes still tight shut. **

"That cowardly little worm." The students bellowed, really getting into the story now that things were getting more interesting. Even the five from the past were getting into it, despite the fact that they were trying to keep their minds clear and remember that the events in the book weren't going to happen this time round.

"**Mundungus Fletcher stole it all; Miss Bella's and Miss Cissy's pictures,**

"I don't know why he wanted them." Regulus muttered, "the pictures weren't particularly flattering."

**my Mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and – and –"**

**Kreacher was gulping for air: His hollow chest was rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and he uttered a blood-curdling scream.**

"– **_and the locket, Master Regulus' locket. Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!_"**

"Dammit, grab him." George said, "he's going to attempt to hurt himself."

**Harry reacted instinctively: as Kreacher lunged for the poker standing in the grate, he launched himself upon the elf, flattening him. **

"Good reflexes." Moody growled approvingly.

"Harry is the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen." Charlie sniggered.

"It also sounds like Harry has experience with trying to stop house-elves beating themselves up." Kingsley frowned.

"I do." Harry nodded, "I repeatedly had to remove blunt objects from Dobby's hands in second year."

"You never did say how you met Dobby." Neville said.

"He was trying to keep me away from Hogwarts that year, because he knew about the Chamber being opened, and wanted me safe." Harry sighed, "unfortunately, most of his attempts were more dangerous than the Chamber itself."

"Wow." Seamus whistled.

"Oh yes, and at the end of the year, Harry tricked me into freeing Dobby." Lucius mumbled, blushing bright red, "that was extremely embarrassing.

"I can imagine." Charlus grinned.

**Hermione's scream mingled with Kreacher's but Harry bellowed louder than both of them: "Kreacher, I order you to stay still!"**

**He felt the elf freeze and released him. Kreacher lay flat on the cold stone floor, tears gushing from his sagging eyes.**

"**Harry, let him up!" Hermione whispered.**

"**So he can beat himself up with the poker?" snorted Harry, kneeling beside the elf. "I don't think so. Right. Kreacher, I want the truth: How do you know Mundungus Fletcher stole the locket?"**

"**Kreacher saw him!" gasped the elf as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of greying teeth. "Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher's cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher's treasures. Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus Fletcher laughed and r-ran …"**

"That stupid idiot." Regulus muttered, "stealing that locket could have ruined everything."

"**You called the locket 'Master Regulus's,'" said Harry. "Why? Where did it come from? What did Regulus have to do with it? Kreacher, sit up and tell me everything you know about that locket, and everything Regulus had to do with it!"**

"He'll tell you." Charlus said, "though I'm not entirely certain we want to know."

"No, but we do need to know." Orion grimaced.

**The elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen.**

"**Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress's heart with his lawless ways. **

"From what I remember, that bitch didn't have a heart." Regulus snarled.

"Sounds like my mother." Abraxas grimaced, "and my sister."

"Yes, well, Walburga and Lavinia were frigid bitches, they were almost like two peas in a pod." Eileen said, "and guess who had to share a dorm with Lavinia."

"I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was you." Dorea chuckled.

**But Master Regulus had proper order; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns …**

"And I felt sick every time I did." Regulus said.

**and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. **

"I can't believe you were only sixteen when you took the Mark." Orion whimpered sadly, "I didn't think you had got it until after you graduated. This makes me seem like a really bad father."

"Don't think like that." Regulus said, "Voldemort was looking at our generation for his new recruits, and I don't think there was anything you could have said or done to convince him to wait. I may not have wanted to take the Mark, but I did it to protect the family, I knew what kind of risks I was taking, but I wanted to feel like I was contributing to the safety of the family."

"You brave boy." Orion whispered.

**So proud, so proud, so happy to serve … And one day, a year after he joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said … he said …"**

**The old elf rocked faster than ever.**

"… **he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."**

"What for?" Justin asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"You'll see." Regulus sighed sadly.

"Evidently what he needed to do, was not going to be healthy for the house-elf." Minerva said angrily, breathing heavily with her nostrils flaring and her Scottish brogue coming through very clearly.

"**Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry repeated, looking around at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as puzzled as he did.**

"**Oh yes," moaned Kreacher. "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher.**

"I don't like where this is going." Luna muttered, managing to sound dreamy and disgusted at the same time.

**It was an honour, said Master Regulus, an honour for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do … and then to c-come home."**

**Kreacher rocked still faster, his breath coming in sobs.**

"**So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake …"**

"Harry, is the cave he is talking about, near where the orphanage took Tom and the rest of the chilren on holiday?" Albus asked suddenly.

"Yes." Harry replied, "he decided it was the perfect place to hide a piece of his soul, having perfected the art of magical torture there."

**The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up. Kreacher's croaking voice seemed to come to him from across the dark water. He saw what had happened as clearly as though he had been present.**

"How do you know what the cave is like?" Lily asked brokenly.

"Because I was there." Harry replied.

"… **There was a boat …"**

**Of course there had been a boat; Harry knew the boat, ghostly green and tiny, bewitched so as to carry one wizard and one victim toward the island in the centre. This, then, was how Voldemort had tested the defences surrounding the Horcrux, by borrowing a disposable creature, a house-elf …**

"Disgusting." Charlus muttered, "house-elves are incredibly powerful creatures, and to hear about someone doing something like that to one, is horrible."

"**There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it …"**

**The elf quaked from head to foot.**

"**Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible things … Kreacher's insides burned … **

"I think I know what that potion is." Snape whispered, "it's Dementor's Essence. It's one of the few potions I cannot brew, but Voldemort can."

"I thought being a Potions Master meant that you could brew anything." Blaise said.

"I don't mean my physical ability to brew it." Snape sighed, "I mean morally. I made a vow to myself, that I would never brew a potion such as that one."

"Oh." Millicent muttered.

**Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed … He made Kreacher drink all the potion … He dropped a locket into the empty basin … He filled it with more potion."**

"So how did you get the fake?" Regulus asked, hoping against hope that Harry hadn't drunk the potion.

"Professor Dumbledore drank it, and ordered me to force feed it to him when he couldn't carry on." Harry replied sadly, "he said that no matter what happened, he must keep drinking."

"Then you did the right thing my boy." Albus said softly.

"**And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island …"**

**Harry could see it happening. He watched Voldemort's white, snakelike face vanishing into darkness, those red eyes fixed pitilessly on the thrashing elf whose death would occur within minutes, whenever he succumbed to the desperate thirst that the burning poison caused its victim … But here, Harry's imagination could go no further, for he could not see how Kreacher had escaped.**

"House-elves have different magic to wizards, they can Apparate in places that we can't." Flitwick said.

"**Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake … and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface …"**

"Inferi." Regulus whispered.

"**How did you get away?" Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself whispering.**

**Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes.**

"**Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said.**

"**I know – but how did you escape the Inferi?"**

**Kreacher did not seem to understand.**

"**Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated.**

"**I know, but –"**

"**Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry?" said Ron. "He Disapparated!"**

"**But … you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, "otherwise Dumbledore –"**

"I don't think he would have been able to Apparate anyway." Draco said, "from what I could see that night, he looked so frail and fragile, I don't think he would have had the strength."

"Unfortunately, I agree." Harry nodded, "if I hadn't been supporting him, the poor man would have collapsed, so I had to bring us back. That was the very first time I'd ever taken someone by side-along, let alone Apparated that distance."

"Merlin." Lily whispered, "how far was it?"

"The cave was somewhere near Beachy Head." Harry replied.

"So you Apparated almost the length of Britain." Dorea said, shocked.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"Impressive." Charlus murmured.

"**Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron, "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."**

**There was a silence as Harry digested this. How could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy.**

"**Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the pure-bloods who treat them like animals … it would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't."**

"Tom never understood that beings such as House-elves were stronger than they looked." Albus sighed sadly, "he always thought they were beneath him."

"**The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher. "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home …"**

"**Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Hermione kindly. "You didn't disobey orders at all!"**

"And of course Kreacher won't accept sympathy from a Muggle-born." Cygnus grimaced, "no matter how much he deserves it."

**Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever.**

"**So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked. "What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?"**

"**Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then … it was a little while later … Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind,**

"Thanks for that." Regulus mumbled sarcastically, though it was half-hearted at best.

**Kreacher could tell … and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord …"**

**And so they had set off. Harry could visualize them quite clearly, the frightened old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius … Kreacher knew how to open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat; this time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with him to the island with its basin of poison …**

"**And he made you drink the poison?" said Harry, disgusted.**

"No, I would have drunk it myself and I'm betting that's what the replica did." Regulus said, causing many people to go green and throw up at the idea.

Pomfrey and Snape threw each other significant glances before they summoned several house-elves to fetch all the stomach-soothing potions they had in stock.

"Headmaster." Pomfrey called, "Severus has agreed that we should distribute the stomach-soother, and he will brew more when he has time."

"A very good idea." Albus said, "why didn't I think of that?"

"It wasn't something that we thought vital, but given the direction things are going, it probably is now." Snape replied, "as Poppy said, I'll brew more when I have time, but what we have should last until tomorrow at least."

"Very well." Albus nodded, waving his wand and gently floating vials over to each student who had thrown up, with a few also being floated to those who were looking a little green.

**But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Hermione's hands leapt to her mouth: she seemed to have understood something.**

"Why didn't you tell someone?" Orion asked, tears pouring down his face, "we could have helped you, so you didn't have to die so young."

"I knew what I was doing." Regulus replied, "I knew that it was better for only one of us to know what was going on, so that at least one of us would survive to carry on the name without carrying the guilt of failure. I may not be a pureblood supremacist, but I do think we should preserve the Old family lines, as much as possible."

"**M – Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snout like nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets …"**

**Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him.**

"**And he order – Kreacher to leave – without him. And he told Kreacher – to go home – and never to tell my Mistress – what he had done – but to destroy – the first locket. And he drank – all the potion – and Kreacher swapped the lockets – and watched … as Master Regulus … was dragged beneath the water … and …"**

"If you hadn't been replaced, and were going to do that yourself, why not order him to take you with him?" Dorea asked, unable to stop herself crying at the thought of her youngest great-nephew sacrificing himself.

"Because I knew that even if it broke your hearts, I couldn't go back." Regulus sighed, "that would have put you all in even more danger, and I wanted to do everything I could to protect you. Even if it meant my death."

"Merlin, my son is braver than me." Orion sobbed.

"I doubt it." Regulus said, shaking his head.

"**Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, who was crying. She dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug him. **

**At once he was on his feet, cringing away from her, quite obviously repulsed.**

"**The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?"**

Everyone was still horrified and awed by the way Regulus had sacrificed his life, and didn't have the heart to shout at the elf.

"**I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled Harry, but the elf was already punishing himself. He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor.**

"**Stop him – stop him!" Hermione cried. "Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?"**

"God yes." Lucius whispered, "it is horrible, but there are many who don't care."

"**Kreacher – stop, stop!" shouted Harry.**

**The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snout, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. Harry had never seen anything so pitiful.**

"**So you brought the locket home," he said relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full story. "And you tried to destroy it?"**

"**Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work … so many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open … Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! **

"Dammit I wouldn't want him to punish himself." Regulus sighed, "I would hope that if he couldn't destroy the locket himself, then he would try and find someone who could."

**And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave …"**

**Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words. Tears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him again. Even Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubled. Harry sat back on his heels and shook his head, trying to clear it.**

"**I don't understand you, Kreacher," he said finally. "Voldemort tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to Voldemort through them …"**

"It was just Bella, not Cissy." Cygnus said softly, "Bella was the oldest, Cissy was the youngest, and therefore Bella was the one he deferred to."

The rest of the hall was silent, knowing that the events in this chapter were affecting the Blacks much more deeply than them, so let them talk about it, without commenting or otherwise interrupting.

"**Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that," said Hermione, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "He's a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what Voldemort did to Kreacher wasn't that far out of the common way. What do wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher? He's loyal to people who are kind to him, and Mrs Black must have been, and Regulus certainly was, so he served them willingly and parroted their beliefs. I know what you're going to say," she went on as Harry began to protest, "that Regulus changed his mind … but he doesn't seem to have explained that to Kreacher, does he? And I think I know why. Kreacher and Regulus's family were all safest if they kept to the old Pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all."**

"You're a hero Reggie." Orion whispered, "you're a better man than me. If I'd had half the guts you did, I would have left Walburga, and taken both you and Sirius as far away from her as possible, so that neither of you would have had to suffer."

"No, I'm not a hero." Regulus said, "I'm just a guy who had to watch a house-elf nearly die to realise how bad Voldemort really was, and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I hadn't tried to do something about it."

"You'd have done well in Gryffindor." James smiled.

"I doubt it." Regulus said, shaking his head, "I wasn't as brave as Sirius. I wasn't as good as him, even though mother called him a disappointment, I looked up to him, and wished I was more like him, I wished I was brave enough to go against her, but I saw what it did to Sirius, and I didn't think I would be able to survive that, so I did the next best thing. I pretended to believe what she said so Voldemort didn't have a reason to get rid of our entire family. I knew how much mother worshipped him, she'd already told him about Sirius running away, if I'd done the same, then the entire family would have been targeted, and no one would have been safe."

"He's right." Lucius agreed sadly, "I wish he wasn't, but after Sirius ran away, Voldemort was giving Bella and Cissy suspicious looks. He seemed to be waiting for them to follow Sirius' lead, even though he knew that Bella was completely under his control. If either of them had shown even the slightest sign of disagreeing with him, Voldemort would have gone after every single Black he could find, and it was even worse after Cissy and I were married and Draco was born. Voldemort had the perfect leverage over the pair of us, he knew that we would do anything to protect our child, and he made sure that we knew that he would kill Draco if we even thought of betraying him."

"Merlin." Regulus whispered in shock.

"How I wish we'd been able to do something." Cygnus murmured sadly.

"**Sirius –"**

"**Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for such a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favour and told them everything they wanted to know. I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did … and so did Sirius."**

"I really regret saying that." Hermione whispered.

"It's the truth." Orion sighed, "when I spoke to Sirius the first time after he'd been found on Volia, he did say that he wished he'd been able to get over his bitterness and treated Kreacher better."

"But that still doesn't mean I should have said that." Hermione murmured.

"Maybe not, but it needed to be said." Orion pointed out.

**Harry had no retort. As he watched Kreacher sobbing on the floor, he remembered what Dumbledore had said to him, mere hours after Sirius's death: _I do not think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human's …_**

"**Kreacher," said Harry after a while, "when you feel up to it, er … please sit up."**

**It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccoughed himself into silence. Then he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child.**

"**Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something," said Harry. He glanced at Hermione for assistance. He wanted to give the order kindly, but at the same time, he could not pretend that it was not an order. However, the change in his tone seemed to have gained her approval: she smiled encouragingly.**

"I still wish it didn't have to be an order." Hermione grumbled.

"**Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where the locket – where Master Regulus's locket it. It's really important. We want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to – er – ensure that he didn't die in vain."**

"He'll listen to you now." Regulus said, "mentioning my name would earn his respect."

**Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at Harry.**

"**Find Mundungus Fletcher?" he croaked.**

"Oh good." Tonks grinned, "pointing Kreacher in Dung's direction. I would love to see that."

"Though I'm not sure the one who had to pretend to be Dung because his true identity was too controversial for him to be safe, would agree." Remus smirked.

"Definitely not, and unfortunately, that poor bloke had to experience Mrs Figg's cat-food laden bag." Harry sniggered.

"What are you talking about?" Susan asked quietly.

"One of the members of the Order has had to pretend to be Dung when attending Order meetings, because he wouldn't have been trusted if he hadn't." Remus replied, "there were other times when he had to impersonate Dung, and one of them was the day Harry and Dudley were attacked by Dementors. Of course, he really wished he hadn't, because Arabella Figg, a squib who lives in Little Whinging, hadn't been warned, and she thought that he was the real Dung, and attacked him with a bag full of tins of cat-food."

"The poor man has been terribly unlucky when he's impersonated Dung." Harry laughed, "I happen to know that he was the version Kreacher found."

"Strangely enough, the fake Dung had more bad luck when he was pretending to be Dung than he did when he wasn't." Hermione giggled, "he also had more bad luck than the real Dung."

"That poor man." Hannah said, "who was it?"

"We'll tell you when we get to his appearance." Ron grinned.

"**And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place," said Harry. "Do you think you could do that for us?"**

**As Kreacher nodded and got to his feet, Harry had a sudden inspiration. He pulled out Hagrid's purse and took out the fake Horcrux, the substitute locket in which Regulus had placed the note to Voldemort.**

"**Kreacher, I'd, er, like you to have this," he said, pressing the locket into the elf's hand.**

"Merlin." Regulus muttered, "he'll love you now. Even though he'll probably overreact."

"**This belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you –"**

"**Overkill, mate," said Ron as the elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock and misery, and threw himself back onto the ground.**

"Wow." Ernie muttered, "I didn't think he would react like that."

"House-elves are rarely given jewellery of any sort, so I'm not surprised." Lucius said, "some would react like that even when someone merely says thank you to them. They're not used to it, and they don't have any self-esteem whatsoever."

"Merlin." Dean muttered, never having seen a house-elf that badly off.

**It took them nearly half an hour to calm down Kreacher, who was so overcome to be presented with a Black family heirloom for his very own that he was too weak at the knees to stand properly. When finally he was able to totter a few steps they all accompanied him to his cupboard, watched him tuck up the locket safely in his dirty blankets, and assured him that they would make its protection their first priority while he was away. **

"Somehow I can't see that happening." Smith muttered.

**He then made two low bows to Harry and Ron, and even gave a funny little spasm in Hermione's direction that might have been an attempt at a respectful salute, before Disapparating with the usual loud _crack_. **

"That was the end of the chapter." Kingsley said, putting the book down and watching as some of the first years tried to stifle yawns.

"I think it would be a good idea for everyone to head to bed now, and we can continue in the morning." Albus suggested, noticing the tired expressions the younger students were wearing.

"Indeed." The rest of the staff agreed, so Albus indicated that the students could head to their dorms.


	15. Chapter 15

**The Bribe**

Next morning, as soon as almost everyone had finished eating breakfast, Albus stood up and asked who wanted to read the next chapter.

"I'll go next." Tonks grinned, summoning the book to herself, knocking several goblets over in the process. "**The Bribe**," she read as people cleaned up the spillage.

"Odd title." Sinistra muttered to Vector, who was sitting next to her.

Tonks was about to carry on with the chapter, when she was interrupted by the Great Hall doors opening to admit a regal-looking blonde in expensive Acromantula silk robes, who strode in as if she owned the place.

"Welcome, Narcissa." Albus said with a low bow.

"My thanks." She nodded, moving to sit at the middle table, between Draco and Charlie. "How far had you got?"

"We read the first ten chapters yesterday, and Nymphadora was just about to start chapter eleven." Cygnus replied with a smile.

"Don't call me Nymphadora." Tonks snapped, "it's Tonks."

"Ah." Narcissa nodded, gazing imperiously at her niece, who, as usual, had bubblegum pink hair and purple eyes. "Carry on then."

**If Kreacher could escape a lake full of Inferi, Harry was confident that the capture of Mundungus would take a few hours at most, and he prowled the house all morning in a state of high anticipation.**

"You were pretty scary during those few days, you do know that?" Ron asked with a grin.

"Sorry, but I knew that until we could 'talk' to Mundungus, we weren't really going to get anywhere in our mission." Harry replied, "there was no way I was going to be able to just sit around and wait."

**However, Kreacher did not return that morning, or even that afternoon. By nightfall, Harry felt discouraged and anxious, and a supper composed largely of mouldy bread, upon which Hermione had tried a variety of unsuccessful Transfigurations, did nothing to help.**

"Oh dear." The various mothers whispered, "that's not good."

**Kreacher did not return the following day, nor the day after that. However, two cloaked men had appeared in the square outside number twelve, and they remained there into the night, gazing in the direction of the house that they could not see.**

"Death Eaters." Bill said, "they think you're there, but they don't know for sure, nor do they know the exact address."

"**Death Eaters, for sure," said Ron, as he, Harry and Hermione watched from the drawing-room windows. "Reckon they know we're in here?"**

"**I don't think so," said Hermione, though she looked frightened, "or they'd have sent Snape in after us, wouldn't they?"**

"**D'you reckon he's been in here and had his tongue tied by Moody's curse?" asked Ron.**

"I probably had." Snape said, "I would have gone deliberately to get my tongue tied, so I had at a viable reason for not telling Voldemort the address or how to get in."

"**Yes," said Hermione, "otherwise he'd have been able to tell that lot how to get in, wouldn't he? But they're probably watching to see whether we turn up. They know that Harry owns the house, after all."**

"**How do they –?" began Harry.**

"It was in Sirius' will." Kingsley said gently, as Narcissa wiped a few tears from the corners of her eyes, "the Ministry would know, and with the fact that the Ministry had fallen, then the Death Eaters would know too."

"**Wizarding wills are examined by the Ministry, remember? They'll know Sirius left you the place."**

**The presence of the Death Eaters outside increased the ominous mood inside number twelve. They had not heard a word form anyone beyond Grimmauld Place since Mr Weasley's Patronus, and the strain was starting to tell. **

"That's not good." Dean muttered, "when those three get stressed, the best thing to do is run away as fast as you can."

"Sounds unpleasant." Charlus said.

"We do keep saying that he's inherited my temper." Dorea snorted, "and combined it with Lily's."

**Restless and irritable, Ron had developed an annoying habit of playing with the Deluminator in his pocket: this particularly infuriated Hermione, who was whiling away the wait for Kreacher by studying _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ and did not appreciate the way the lights kept flashing on and off.**

"I'm not surprised." Katie giggled, "it sounds like a good way of irritating someone."

"Of course it was." Harry snorted, "it was a perfect way to drive Hermione completely loony."

"Loony Hermione is not fun to be around." Hannah grimaced.

"At least you don't share a dorm or common room with her when she's in that kind of mood." Parvati snorted.

"Which happens about once a month." Dean sniggered, "she, like most girls, turns into a ravening, bloodthirsty monster, worse than any werewolf."

"I have to agree." Harry winced, "if I had a choice between Hormonal Hermione and Moony without Wolfsbane, I'd rather face Moony without Wolfsbane."

"Oh dear." Lily whispered with wide eyes, while Narcissa's emotionless mask began to crack as she tried not to laugh.

"**Will you stop it!" she cried on the third evening of Kreacher's absence, as all the light was sucked from the drawing room yet again.**

"**Sorry, sorry!" said Ron, clicking the Deluminator and restoring the lights. "I don't know I'm doing it!"**

"**Well, can't you find something useful to occupy yourself?"**

"**What, like reading kids' stories?"**

"**Dumbledore left me this book, Ron –"**

"– **and he left me the Deluminator, maybe I'm supposed to use it!"**

**Unable to stand the bickering, **

"You have a lot more patience than most people I know." Seamus grinned, "you've known them for six years, and they've probably bickered for the same length of time. I'd have got fed up a lot earlier."

"He does seem to have infinite patience." Colin chirruped.

"It's not infinite." Hermione snorted, "he does have a lot of patience, but when it snaps, boy does it snap."

"You lot are so lucky to not know what it's like facing the storm of Harry's temper." Ron added.

"Sounds interesting." Narcissa commented to Draco, gently slipping her hand onto Charlie's thigh under the table.

**Harry slipped out of the room unnoticed by either of them. He headed downstairs towards the kitchen, which he kept visiting because he was sure that was where Kreacher was most likely to reappear. Halfway down the flight of stairs into the hall, however, he heard a tap on the front door, then metallic clicks and the grinding of the chain.**

"Oh no." Lily and Mrs Weasley grimaced, "what now?"

"It might be someone from the Order." Minerva said, "we'd be wanting to check on the place occasionally just in case Harry and his friends went there, and to make sure that the wards were still functional."

"That's good I suppose." Mrs Weasley whispered, looking slightly better, though Lily didn't. Even Dorea wasn't particularly calm, but she was able to remember that Harry had survived, and was clearly able to look after himself.

**Every nerve in his body seemed to tauten: he pulled out his wand, moved into the shadows beside the decapitated elf heads **

"Eurgh." The Hufflepuffs who didn't have house-elves groaned, going a bit green.

"Horrible." Ernie muttered, "that's brutal, and not something a decent family would do."

"Er, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but apart from a few of us, the Black family hasn't been exactly decent." Orion snorted.

"Unfortunately." Cygnus sighed, "the bitch I was forced to marry decided to disown our oldest daughter, Andromeda, because she fell in love with Ted Tonks, who is a Muggle-born."

"Any Black who exhibits even a shred of decency seems to either get disowned or tortured in some way." Orion grimaced, while Narcissa sighed sadly, wishing she had had the courage to stand up to her mother when Andromeda left.

"Why?" Justin asked.

"Because most of our ancestors were pureblood bigots." Regulus replied, "there are a total of nine Blacks who aren't pureblood bigots, and we've all suffered in some way due to the fact that none of us wanted to worship Voldemort or believe in his ideals."

"My brother Marius was disowned for being a squib, and I was the only one who tried to keep in touch with him." Dorea added, "I was the only one who went to his wedding, my sister and my other brother refused to acknowledge Marius' existence, purely because he couldn't do magic."

"Merlin." Dean murmured, very glad that, as far as he knew, he wasn't part of the Black family.

**and waited. The door opened: he saw a glimpse of the lamplit square outside, and a cloaked figure edged into the hall and closed the door behind it. The intruder took a step forward, and Moody's voice asked, "_Severus Snape_?" Then the dust figure rose from the end of the hall and rushed him, raising its dead hand.**

"That's still horrible to think about." Flitwick mumbled, not wanting to think about his old friend being killed by anything other than old age.

"**It was not I who killed you, Albus," said a quiet voice.**

**The jinx broke: the dust-figure exploded again, and it was impossible to make out the newcomer through the dense grey cloud it left behind.**

"That has to be a bit of an oversight." Michael said quietly, "I don't think being unable to see would be very helpful if there was a duel."

"It probably was an oversight, or we're just not as paranoid as Moody is." Terry pointed out.

"Yeah, his mind doesn't work in the same way as ours do." Anthony grinned.

**Harry pointed the wand into the middle of it.**

"**Don't move!"**

**He had forgotten the portrait of Mrs Black: at the sound of his yell the curtains hiding her flew open and she began to scream, "_Mudbloods and filth dishonouring my house_ –"**

"Oh shut up you bloody hag." Orion groaned.

**Ron and Hermione came crashing down the stairs behind Harry, wands pointing, like his, at the unknown man now standing with his arms raised in the hall below.**

"**Hold your fire, it's me, Remus!"**

"Remus, did you have to give us all heart attacks?" Lily asked weakly.

"I don't know, this hasn't happened yet." Remus mumbled.

"Oh Remus." Harry said sweetly, "prepare to grovel later in this chapter."

"Why?" Remus asked nervously.

"Well, you said some things that I don't think people will be happy with, especially the women at this table." Harry grinned.

"Oh dear." Remus groaned, just knowing that Harry was probably talking about one of his pity-parties, and no one was going to be happy about that.

"**Oh, thank goodness," said Hermione weakly, pointing her wand at Mrs Black instead; with a bang, the curtains swished shut again and silence fell. Ron too lowered his wand, but Harry did not.**

"That is a scary image." Lucius grimaced, attracting a confused look from Narcissa, who didn't know about their relationship or that they were from the future. All the letter she had received had said, was that the school was reading a book about what would have been her son's seventh year, and would she like to join in. She hadn't even been told that her father, uncle Orion and cousin Regulus were there, but, like the pureblood noblewoman she was raised to be, she showed no sign of her shock.

"Agreed." Remus nodded, "I wouldn't want Harry to point his wand at me, but I am glad to know he's keeping his guard up."

"**Show yourself!" he called back.**

**Lupin moved forward into the lamplight, hands still held high in a gesture of surrender.**

"**I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag."**

"Well, now that it's changed, that statement is less-than-accurate." Remus snorted.

"And I would really like to throw my first name away." Tonks added with a grin before going back to reading.

"**Oh, all right," said Harry, lowering his wand, "but I had to check, didn't I?"**

"**Speaking as your ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, I quite agree that you had to check. Ron, Hermione, you shouldn't be so quick to lower your defences."**

"CONTSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed once more, realising he hadn't said it recently and wanting to keep everyone on their toes.

**They ran down the stairs towards him. Wrapped in a thick black travelling cloak, he looked exhausted, but pleased to see them.**

"Of course I would be." Remus smiled, "you're my honorary godson, and I don't think I'd be happy if I wasn't able to see you."

"**No sign of Severus, then?" he asked.**

"**No," said Harry. "What's going on? Is everyone OK?"**

"**Yes," said Lupin, "but we're all being watched. There are a couple of Death Eaters in the square outside –"**

"That's one of the problems with putting a Fidelius on a house in a Muggle area." Justin said.

"What do you mean?" Flitwick asked, eager to try and find a way around the problem, whatever it was.

"Well, if one house on a Muggle street was under a Fidelius, all anyone wanting to find it would have to do is look at the houses either side of it." Justin shrugged, "with a place like Grimmauld, then all the Death Eaters would have to do is look at numbers eleven and thirteen, and they would immediately know that number twelve was the one they wanted, and even if they couldn't see it, they could still attack it, by destroying the houses either side."

"So you're saying that if the Death Eaters wanted to set number twelve on fire, they'd have to set numbers eleven and thirteen on fire, and number twelve would burn, if the fire-suppression wards were taken down." Snape said.

"Exactly." Justin nodded.

"Merlin, we never thought of that." Flitwick squeaked.

"In other places it would be a bit more difficult, because there are streets where one side has the even numbers, and the other has the odd numbers." Hermione pointed out, "the street I live on is an example of that, with numbers one and three next to each other, and number two opposite."

"Interesting." Sprout murmured.

"**We know –"**

"**I had to Apparate very precisely onto the top step outside the front door to be sure that they would not see me. They can't know you're in here or I'm sure they'd have more people out there; they're staking out everywhere that's got any connection with you, Harry. Let's go downstairs, there's a lot to tell you, and I want to know what happened after you left the Burrow."**

"Well, that's gonna help, especially when you return to the rest of the Order and tell them what you find out." Lily said softly.

**They descended into the kitchen, where Hermione pointed her wand at the grate. A fire sprang up instantly: It gave the illusion of cosiness to the stark stone walls and glistened off the long wooden table. Lupin pulled a few butterbeers from beneath his travelling cloak and they sat down.**

"**I'd have been here three days ago but I needed to shake off the Death Eater tailing me," said Lupin. "So, you came straight here after the wedding?"**

"**No," said Harry, "only after we ran into a couple of Death Eaters in a café on Tottenham Court Road."**

**Lupin slopped most of his butterbeer down his front.**

"Wow, someone has finally managed to surprise Moony." James whistled, "we've never been able to do that, even though we've known him for nearly twenty-five years."

"That makes you sound old." Regulus sniggered.

"I feel old." Remus snorted, "I've started going grey."

"You were already going grey in seventh year." James pointed out, "your grey hairs are not a good indicator of age."

"I'm sure it's just stress." Tonks grinned, "I think he looks good regardless."

"You would, you're the one married to him." James snorted.

"Not yet she isn't." Remus muttered, blushing slightly.

"**_What_?"**

**They explained what had happened; when they had finished, Lupin looked aghast.**

"**But how did they find you so quickly? It's impossible to track anyone who Apparates, unless you grab hold of them as they disappear."**

"**And it doesn't seem likely they were just strolling down Tottenham Court Road at the time, does it?" said Harry.**

"**We wondered," said Hermione tentatively, "whether Harry could still have the Trace on him?"**

"Like we said yesterday, it wouldn't work." Snape frowned.

"**Impossible," said Lupin. Ron looked smug, and Harry felt hugely relieved. "Apart from anything else, they'd know for sure Harry was here if he still had the Trace on him, wouldn't they? But I can't see how they could have tracked you to Tottenham Court Road, that's worrying, really worrying."**

**He looked disturbed, but as far as Harry was concerned, that question could wait.**

"**Tell us what happened after we left, we haven't heard a thing since Ron's dad told us the family was safe."**

"**Well, Kingsley saved us," said Lupin. "Thanks to his warning most of the wedding guests were able to Disapparate before they arrived."**

"That's fortunate." Alicia whispered.

"Indeed it was." Lucius nodded, "but it didn't stop the ones who didn't have anywhere else to go being tortured."

"Merlin. Which Death Eaters were there?" Percy asked, ready to take notes.

"I only remember Mulciber, Yaxley and Travers crowing about having crashed the wedding." Lucius sighed, "they were three of the Death Eaters Voldemort sent out that day. I don't know where Rabastan, Jugson, Rookwood and Macnair went, dragging Bella and Rodolphus along with them, but it's possible they also went to the Burrow."

"I understand." Percy nodded, scribbling away.

"Oh Bella, I wish there was something we could do to help her." Narcissa whispered sadly.

"There is." Cygnus smiled, "the current Lord Black can declare the marriage null and void, once she's away from Voldemort. That will free her of the Imperius your mother cast on her, then someone can remove her Mark, which will free her of Voldemort's control."

"But I don't know that there is a Lord Black at the moment, the only one who can claim the title isn't seventeen yet." Narcissa whispered, completely forgetting about the clause in the law that stated that orphans could claim their inheritances at fourteen.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't preclude him from claiming the title." Orion pointed out, "which he did about three days ago. All we're waiting for now is an opportunity to remove Bella, and Rodolphus, from Voldemort's hide-out. We want them here when we free them."

"I understand." Narcissa whispered, then turned to Harry and said, "thank you for not hating my sister for what she was forced to do."

"I don't blame her, I know several people who know what it's like to not be in control of their own actions, so can't hold her completely responsible." Harry smiled.

"**Were they Death Eaters or Ministry people?" interjected Hermione.**

"I doubt there would be a difference." Ernie growled, "with the Ministry in Voldemort's hands, then anyone working there, especially in the DMLE, would be forced to either follow the Death Eaters or die."

"They were." Hermione nodded, "there were a few who didn't believe in Voldemort's ideals, and they went on the run so they couldn't be killed, but there were others who only pretended to be pureblood bigots so they could work within the system to bring it down."

"**A mixture; but to all intents and purposes they're the same thing now," said Lupin. "There were about a dozen of them, but they didn't know you were there, Harry. Arthur heard a rumour that they tried to torture your whereabouts out of Scrimgeour before they killed him; if it's true, he didn't give you away."**

"Well, at least I didn't truly become a self-serving git." Scrimgeour muttered, "no matter how much I acted like one."

**Harry looked at Ron and Hermione; their expressions reflected the mingled shock and gratitude he felt. He had never liked Scrimgeour much, but if what Lupin said was true, the man's final act had been to try to protect Harry.**

"I'd do that for anyone." Scrimgeour nodded, "not doing so would go against everything I believe in."

"**The Death Eaters searched the Burrow from top to bottom," Lupin went on. "They found the ghoul, but didn't want to get too close – and then they interrogated those of us who remained for hours. They were trying to get information on you, Harry, but of course nobody apart from the Order knew that you had been there.**

"**At the same time that they were smashing up the wedding, more Death Eaters were forcing their way into every Order-connected house in the country. No deaths," he added quickly, forestalling the question, "but they were rough. They burned down Dedalus Diggle's house, but as you know he wasn't there, and they used the Cruciatus Curse on Tonks's family. **

"Merlin, were they OK?" Regulus and Narcissa asked Harry and Hermione.

"Yeah, they were OK, apparently the Death Eaters didn't use it for long." Hermione smiled, "Andy said that it was a bit of a shock when their evening meal was interrupted, and apparently the Death Eaters weren't too happy being attacked by the food."

"Oh thank Merlin." Mrs Weasley whispered, very thankful that the woman she had become good friends with was all right. Narcissa too, was glad that her sister hadn't suffered too much, though she didn't say anything, not because she didn't want to, but because she was trying not to cry.

**Again, trying to find out where you went after you visited them. They're all right – shaken, obviously, but otherwise okay."**

"**The Death Eaters got through all those protective charms?" Harry asked, remembering how effective these had been on the night he had crashed in Tonks's parents' garden.**

"**What you've got to realize, Harry, is that the Death Eaters have got the full might of the Ministry on their side now," said Lupin. "They've got the power to perform brutal spells without fear of identification or arrest. They managed to penetrate every defensive spell we'd cast against them, and once inside, they were completely open about why they'd come."**

"The world has gone down the crapper if the Ministry are condoning their actions." Dorea snarled.

"**And are they bothering to give an excuse for torturing Harry's whereabouts out of people?" asked Hermione, an edge to her voice.**

"**Well," Lupin said. He hesitated, then pulled out a folded copy of the _Daily Prophet_.**

"What's that _rag_ saying now?" Charlus asked with a growl, not quite understanding how far the Daily Prophet's standards had fallen.

"**Here," he said, pushing it across the table to Harry, "you'll know sooner or later anyway. That's their pretext for going after you."**

**Harry smoothed out the paper. A huge photograph of his own face filled the front page. He read the headline over it:**

_**WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

"That's just ridiculous." James snorted bitterly, "how the hell could anyone believe that?"

"No one who knows Harry would, that's for certain." Lily said, shaking with fury at the sheer audacity of the Death Eaters.

"It really is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Neville snorted, surprising himself with his increasing self-confidence.

**Ron and Hermione gave roars of outrage, but Harry said nothing. He pushed the newspaper away; he did not want to read any more: he knew what it would say. Nobody but those who had been on top of the tower when Dumbledore died knew who had really killed him **

"Only four of the people there knew the full truth of that night." Draco sighed.

"And one of those four didn't survive the night." Harry added.

"The world lost a great man that night." Draco said sombrely.

**and, as Rita Skeeter had already told the Wizarding world, Harry had been seen running from the place moments after Dumbledore had fallen.**

"**I'm sorry, Harry," Lupin said.**

"**So Death Eaters have taken over the _Daily Prophet_ too?" asked Hermione furiously.**

"Ooh, Hermione's furious, duck and cover, before she blows." Ginny snorted.

**Lupin nodded.**

"**But surely people realize what's going on?"**

"**The coup has been smooth and virtually silent," said Lupin.**

"It must have been bad." Regulus whispered, "Voldemort was pretty powerful the first time round, I can't imagine how bad it would have been if he had taken the Ministry then."

"**The official version of Scrimgeour's murder is that he resigned; he has been replaced by Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse."**

"A puppet." Justin said bitterly.

"**Why didn't Voldemort declare himself Minister of Magic?" asked Ron.**

**Lupin laughed.**

"**He doesn't need to, Ron. Effectively, he _is_ the Minister, but why should he sit behind a desk at the Ministry? His puppet, Thicknesse, is taking care of everyday business, leaving Voldemort free to extend his power beyond the Ministry.**

"Very true." Remus nodded, agreeing with himself.

"You just agreed with yourself." Lucius pointed out, slightly worriedly.

"I'm right though." Remus grinned.

"Narcissist." Narcissa 'coughed', giving up on keeping her mask up and deciding to go with the flow, despite not really knowing what was going on.

"Isn't that your name?" Regulus asked innocently.

"Oh behave." Narcissa snorted.

"Pots and kettles come to mind." Cygnus muttered.

"**Naturally many people have deduced what has happened: there has been such a dramatic change in Ministry policy in the last few days, and many are whispering that Voldemort must be behind it. However, that is the point: they whisper. They daren't confide in each other, not knowing whom to trust; they are scared to speak out, in case their suspicions are true and their families are targeted.**

"That's not good." Angelina murmured, "an enemy that's afraid is already half defeated."

"This is why I find it so irritating when people don't use Voldie's name." Harry said.

"So why do you call him Tom?" Hermione giggled.

"He hates it, and I will not inflate his ego by using a stupid nickname that not only translates to flight-from-death, but is also an anagram of the name his mother gave him." Harry snorted.

**Yes, Voldemort is playing a very clever game. Declaring himself might have provoked open rebellion: remaining masked has created confusion, uncertainty, and fear."**

"**And this dramatic change in Ministry policy," said Harry, "involves warning the Wizarding world against me instead of Voldemort?"**

"**That's certainly a part of it," said Lupin, "and it is a master-stroke. Now that Dumbledore is dead, **

At the mention of the great man's death, everyone, bar Albus and those who supported the Death Eaters, even if they weren't actually planning on taking the Mark themselves, shuddered and closed their eyes in sorrow.

**you – the Boy Who Lived – were sure to be the symbol and rallying point for any resistance to Voldemort. But by suggesting that you had a hand in the old hero's death, Voldemort has not only set a price upon your head, but sown doubt and fear amongst many who would have defended you.**

"That's really not good." Lily and Mrs Weasley fretted, the older of the two redheads wishing that Harry was safe and well away from the war.

"**Meanwhile, the Ministry has started moving against Muggle-borns."**

"I don't want to know how they're justifying that." Kellah, another dorm-mate of Hermione's, who was just as quiet as Fay Dunbar, said disgustedly.

**Lupin pointed at the _Daily Prophet_.**

"**Look at page two."**

**Hermione turned the pages with much the same expression of distaste she had when handling Secrets of the Darkest Art.**

"Lovely image, really." Ginny giggled, trying not to notice the fact that her boobs now bounced. She had not got used to her new body yet, and because her original clothes didn't fit any more, had had to borrow some off Hermione's dorm-mates, none of whom had a bra that fit her. That was why, she wasn't wearing a bra. "Hermione, next time we take a break, can I borrow a bra, preferably one that fits?"

"I think so." Hermione said, "I certainly have one you can borrow, but whether it fits or not, I don't know."

"I'll take anything." Ginny begged, "these puppies need some kind of restraints, and my bra definitely won't fit any more, like the rest of my clothes."

"Is that why you're wearing Lavender's pink belly-top?" Ron asked curiously.

"Yes." Ginny nodded, "I need new clothes, pink is so not my colour, but as shown by the fact that the buttons popped off my shirt last night, I have nothing that fits."

"Why not?" Narcissa asked, "and why do you look like a miniature Bella?"

"Because I found out yesterday that she's my mother, and had been under a glamour for the last fifteen years." Ginny replied with a small smile at her blonde aunt, "this is my true appearance."

"Merlin." Narcissa whispered, "it's so good to see you, all grown up. You were such a beautiful baby, and when we weren't allowed to take you in, I dreaded the thought of you growing up in an orphanage, without anyone to show you love. Now, as your aunt, I think it's my duty to buy you a whole new wardrobe, and I would love to try and make up for missing fifteen years of your life."

Ginny nodded hesitantly, not really sure what to make of this new side of Narcissa that she was seeing, but willing to give the woman the benefit of the doubt.

"'**_Muggle-born Register_'," she read aloud. "_'The Ministry of Magic is undertaking a survey of so-called 'Muggle-borns' the better to understand how they came to possess magical secrets._**

"'**_Recent research undertaken by the Department of Mysteries reveals that magic can only be passed from person to person when Wizards reproduce. Where no proven Wizarding ancestry exists, therefore, the so-called Muggle-born is likely to have obtained magical power by theft or force._**

"That's ridiculous." Michael snorted, "if that were true, then there would be no squibs."

"Exactly." Charlus nodded, "there have been people trying to find out why Muggle-borns exist, but I wasn't privy to the results, so I don't know what the conclusions were."

"We do." Hermione smiled.

"Well, then, would you like to share what you know?" Albus suggested.

"OK." Harry grinned, "one of the studies that we were involved with, found out that magic is genetic."

"Does that mean that it is passed down from magical parents?" Snape asked.

"In an ideal world, it would be." Hermione replied, "the gene for magic is known in the world of genetics, as a dominant gene, so in a perfect world, if a Muggle were to marry a witch or wizard, there would be a one hundred percent chance of their children being magical. Of course, that doesn't take into account the possibility of mutation in the genes due to excessive inbreeding, which throws up a hell of a lot more possibilities, and is how squibs come into being."

"Oh Merlin, genetics is a subject that not many wizards know anything about." Flitwick grimaced.

"We know, which is why we're trying to explain it in simple terms." Harry smirked, "what we do know, having looked at the DNA of almost fifty percent of Earth's population, is that in about a thousand to two thousand years, there will be no Muggles left. This is due to something that the Muggle world has known about since the late eighteen-hundreds, when a man named Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution."

"You're talking about the book, On the Origin of Species." Albus whispered in realisation.

"Exactly." Hermione nodded.

"When did that get published, and is there a way to get it produced in the magical world?" Burbage asked curiously.

"The book was published in November eighteen-fifty-nine, and yes, there may be a way to buy a few copies for the magical world." Harry replied.

"In fact, I think there's a copy in the archives of the Department of Mysteries." Draco frowned, "I'm not sure though, there are just too many books for me to remember a specific one, the titles have all just blurred together."

"We'll look into that after we've finished reading." Scrimgeour said.

"'**_The Ministry is determined to root out such usurpers of magical power, and to this end has issued an invitation to every so-called Muggle-born to present themselves for interview by the newly appointed Muggle-born Registration Commission.'_"**

"Who was running it, and what did they do with the Muggle-borns who did go?" Alicia asked.

"You'll see." Hermione snarled.

"**People won't let this happen," said Ron.**

"**It _is_ happening, Ron," said Lupin. "Muggle-borns are being rounded up as we speak."**

"**But how are they supposed to have 'stolen' magic?" said Ron. "It's mental, if you could steal magic there wouldn't be any Squibs, would there?"**

"Ron's actually using his brain." The twins whispered, glancing at the ceiling in fake-horror.

"I do occasionally." Ron retorted.

"**I know," said Lupin. "Nevertheless, unless you can prove that you have at least one close Wizarding relative, you are now deemed to have obtained your magical power illegally and must suffer the punishment."**

**Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, "What if pure-bloods and half-blood's swear a Muggle-born's part of their family? I'll tell everyone Hermione's my cousin –"**

"So sweet." Mrs Weasley cooed.

**Hermione covered Ron's hand with hers and squeezed it.**

"**Thank you, Ron, but I couldn't let you –"**

"**You won't have a choice," said Ron fiercely, gripping her hand back. "I'll teach you my family tree so you can answer questions on it."**

"That'll take a while." Mr Weasley muttered, "our family is huge."

"Especially your mother's side." Dorea snorted.

"Yeah, two first cousins once removed, one first cousin twice removed, three second cousins, six second cousins once removed, and two second cousins twice removed." Orion grinned, "and those are only the ones we know about, there may well be others."

"I don't understand." Mr Weasley frowned.

"Aunt Dorea's your first cousin once removed, as is Frank Longbottom, which means that Neville's your first cousin twice removed; Orion, James and I are your second cousins, which means our children are your second cousins once removed; and finally, Ginny, Nymphadora and Draco are your second cousins twice removed." Cygnus shrugged.

"Oh." Mr Weasley muttered.

"I said, don't call me Nymphadora." Tonks growled irritably, switching her grandfather's feet around.

"It's a nice name though." Narcissa smiled slightly.

**Hermione gave a shaky laugh.**

"**Ron, as we're on the run with Harry Potter, the most wanted person in the country, I don't think it matters. If I was going back to school it would be different. What's Voldemort planning for Hogwarts?" she asked Lupin.**

"**Attendance is now compulsory for every young witch and wizard," he replied. "That was announced yesterday. It's a change, because it was never obligatory before. Of course, nearly every witch and wizard in Britain has been educated at Hogwarts, but their parents had the right to teach them at home or send them abroad if they preferred. This way, Voldemort will have the whole Wizarding population under his eye from a young age.**

"There's more to it than that." Charlus frowned, "by making attendance compulsory, Voldemort's effectively hamstrung seventy percent of the population."

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked nervously.

"The parents." Charlus grimaced, "with their children being forced to attend Hogwarts, they are less likely to fight back, and if they do, Voldemort would just have to either torture or kill their children to get them to capitulate."

"No parent wants their child in danger, and will do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means not supporting the resistance." Dorea added sadly.

**And it's also another way of weeding out Muggle-borns, because students must be given Blood Status – meaning that they have proven to the Ministry that they are of Wizard descent – before they are allowed to attend."**

"Merlin's balls." Justin uncharacteristically swore, "that's terrible."

"Not just for those who aren't allowed to go." Ernie nodded.

"Yeah, given who some of the new teachers were, Hogwarts wasn't Hogwarts." Draco sighed, "it had become nothing more than a training camp for Voldemort's followers"

"Who were the teachers?" Minerva asked fearfully.

"You'll see." Lucius replied sadly.

"It sounds awful." Narcissa whispered, wrapping an arm around her son as if to make sure he was safe and whole.

**Harry felt sickened and angry: at this moment, excited eleven-year-olds would be poring over stacks of newly purchased spellbooks, unaware that they would never see Hogwarts, perhaps never see their families again, either.**

"That's just wrong." Vector said, "They're only children."

"Tom didn't care about that." Harry muttered, "I still can't believe I'm related to that maniac."

"**It's … it's …" he muttered, struggling to find words that did justice to the horror of his thoughts, but Lupin said quietly, "I know."**

**Lupin hesitated.**

"**I'll understand if you can't confirm this, Harry, but the Order is under the impression that Dumbledore left you a mission."**

"**He did," Harry replied, "and Ron and Hermione are in on it and they're coming with me."**

"**Can you confide in me what the mission is?"**

"Really, Remus." James said, "What are you doing?"

"I really have no idea." Remus grimaced.

"What about Tonks, what would she do without you?" Lily asked angrily.

"I don't know." Remus sighed, "this is the future, so don't ask me to try and understand what's going through my mind."

**Harry looked into the prematurely lined face, framed in thick but greying hair, and wished that he could return a different answer.**

"**I can't, Remus, I'm sorry. If Dumbledore didn't tell you, I don't think I can."**

"**I thought you'd say that," said Lupin, looking disappointed. "But I might still be of some use to you. You know what I am and what I can do. I could come with you to provide protection. There would be no need to tell me exactly what you were up to."**

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Lily screeched, reaching heretofore unknown pitches, "I SWEAR IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOD, LOGICAL REASON TO ABANDON YOUR WIFE, I WILL CURSE YOU SO HARD YOUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL FEEL IT."

"Grovel Remus, grovel." Ron sniggered, watching the werewolf cower.

"Idiotic … can't believe … stupid … not thinking …" Lily muttered, glowering at Remus and anyone who looked like they were planning to argue with her while her hand inched towards her wand, worrying everyone in her vicinity.

"Please calm down Lily." James said softly, not wanting to anger his wife even more than she already was, "you'll get your chance to hex him later, but for now, please just relax."

Lily glared at him, but subsided, still shooting angry glances at Remus, planning what she was going to do to him, to hopefully knock some sense into his head.

**Harry hesitated. It was a very tempting offer, though how they would be able to keep their mission secret from Lupin if he were with them all the time he could not imagine.**

**Hermione, however, looked puzzled.**

"**But what about Tonks?" she asked.**

"**What about her?" said Lupin.**

"Moron." Tonks grumbled, "be grateful there are children in here, otherwise you would be in even more trouble mister."

"**Well," said Hermione, frowning, "you're married! How does she feel about you going away with us?"**

"**Tonks will be perfectly safe," said Lupin, "She'll be at her parents' house."**

"Oh for Merlin's sake Remus." Lily said exasperatedly, "you are being a prat. And I'm not just saying that because you seem to think that she's female therefore she can't fight."

**There was something strange in Lupin's tone, it was almost cold. There was also something odd in the idea of Tonks remaining hidden at her parents' house; she was, after all, a member of the Order and, as far as Harry knew, was likely to want to be in the thick of the action.**

"**Remus," said Hermione tentatively, "is everything all right … you know … between you and –"**

"**Everything is fine, thank you," said Lupin pointedly.**

"Why the flaming hell, are you being such an idiot?" James asked, throwing his hands in the air.

"I wish I knew." Remus mumbled.

"Please remember that this is the future, and these events will not happen." Lucius said, "we will change it."

"And if we have anything to say about it, Remus will never have another pity-party again." Harry added forcefully.

**Hermione turned pink. There was another pause, an awkward and embarrassed one, and then Lupin said, with an air of forcing himself to admit something unpleasant, "Tonks is going to have a baby."**

"Congratulations." Dorea smiled.

"We did say yesterday that they had had children." Harry grinned.

"True." Charlus nodded.

"**Oh, how wonderful!" squealed Hermione.**

"**Excellent!" said Ron enthusiastically.**

"**Congratulations," said Harry.**

**Lupin gave an artificial smile that was more like a grimace, then said, "So … do you accept my offer? Will three become four? I cannot believe that Dumbledore would have disapproved, he appointed me your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, after all. And I must tell you that I believe we are facing magic many of us have never encountered or imagined."**

Angelina huffed and stood up, glaring at Remus with a strange glint in her eye before she ran over to the table he was sitting at and slugged him right on the jaw.

"What was that for?" Remus whined, rubbing his chin.

"I thought that if someone who wasn't part of this little group, gave you just what an idiot like you deserved, maybe you would take heed, and stop pitying yourself." Angelina grinned.

"She's right you know." Harry said, "it's all very well for us lot to tell you you're being an idiot, but you need someone who isn't one of us to confirm it, which I think she did very well."

"I only wish I'd got round to slugging Oliver while he was captain." Angelina smirked.

"Would that have worked?" Harry frowned.

"Probably not, but it would have felt good." Angelina shrugged before returning to her own seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Not to me it wouldn't." Oliver yelped.

"Good." Angelina snorted.

**Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry.**

"Are we going to see your temper come to the surface again." James asked, grinning at Harry.

"Yeah." Harry said, "Remus needed a kick up the arse and I was all too willing to provide it."

"**Just – just to be clear," he said. "You want to leave Tonks at her parents' house and come away with us?"**

"**She'll be perfectly safe there, they'll look after her," said Lupin. He spoke with a finality bordering on indifference: "Harry, I'm sure James would have wanted me to stick with you."**

"When you were at school, you seemed to be in possession of a small thing called tact, Remus." Narcissa sighed, "but no, you've just proved that you're a typical male with the tact of a blunt axe."

"She's right." Lily growled, "but I'm going to wait until the end of the chapter to see what kind of idiot you truly are, and then, well, we'll see."

"I don't blame you." Remus mumbled, burying his head in his hands.

"Besides, I died for my son." James said, "and even though I haven't known the man he has become for long, I can tell that Harry's plenty capable of completing his mission without you, so no, I cannot say, with any honesty, that I would want you to leave your son without a father."

"**Well," said Harry slowly, "I'm not. I'm pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren't sticking with your own kid, actually."**

"The calm before the storm." Fred whispered ominously.

"Storm? What storm?" Justin asked, looking at the redhead worriedly.

"The storm that is the snapping of Harry's patience." George replied, "and therefore, the volcanic eruption that is his temper."

"Oh dear." Charlus mumbled, glancing occasionally at his grandson.

**Lupin's face drained of colour. The temperature in the kitchen might have dropped ten degrees. Ron stared around the room as though he had been bidden to memorize it, while Hermione's eyes swivelled backward and forward from Harry to Lupin.**

"**You don't understand," said Lupin at last.**

"**Explain, then," said Harry.**

"He's gonna blow." Dean screamed, crawling under the Gryffindor table and trying to drag those closest to him down too.

"It's not that bad." Harry snorted.

"Errr … yes it is." Everyone who knew Harry said in unison.

"Oh." Harry muttered sheepishly.

**Lupin swallowed.**

"**I – I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgement and have regretted it very much every since."**

"**I see," said Harry, "so you're just going to dump her and the kid and run off with us?"**

**Lupin sprang to his feet: His chair toppled over backward, and he glared at them so fiercely that Harry saw, for the first time ever, the shadow of the wolf upon his human face.**

"Oh, he's mad." James grimaced, "I've seen that look before."

"Yeah, and I know when too." Harry growled, glaring at his father, "but I'll give you a well-deserved bollocking when it gets mentioned."

"**Don't you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!"**

**Lupin kicked aside the chair he had overturned.**

"**You have only ever seen me amongst the Order, or under Dumbledore's protection at Hogwarts! You don't know how most of the Wizarding world sees creatures like me! When they know of my affliction, they can barely talk to me! Don't you see what I've done? Even her own family is disgusted by our marriage, what parents want their only daughter to marry a werewolf? And the child – the child –"**

"I can't believe you thought that." Tonks said, "I can't believe you thought mum would be disgusted by our marriage. There is no way in hell that could possibly happen."

"She's right." Orion and Cygnus nodded with big grins on their faces.

"You're still going on a diet." Dorea added, giving Remus a once-over, "you look like you could lose a bit of weight."

"It's all the food Mum cooks." Ron snorted, "she practically shoves it down his throat."

"She does the same to everyone." Mr Weasley pointed out, "but I haven't heard anyone complaining."

"That's because it's all so nice." George grinned, watching his mother blush and try and hide her face in Mr Weasley's shoulder, "I've never met anyone who cooks as well as Mum."

**Lupin actually seized handfuls of his own hair; he looked quite deranged.**

"**My kind don't usually breed! It will be like me, I am convinced of it – how can I forgive myself, when I knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!"**

"I don't think Teddy could be ashamed of you." Ron said, "and Cassie loves to brag about you, to anyone who will listen."

"Has it got through yet?" Regulus asked tiredly, "has the fact that no one really cares that you get hairy and howl at the moon once a month, got through that thick skull of yours yet?"

"Merlin, I hope so." Alicia growled from her seat at the Gryffindor table.

"**Remus!" whispered Hermione, tears in her eyes. "Don't say that – how could any child be ashamed of you?"**

"**Oh, I don't know, Hermione," said Harry. "I'd be pretty ashamed of him."**

"Uh oh, the eruption is coming." Dean mock-wailed.

"I'm glad it's not aimed at me." Seamus murmured.

**Harry did not know where his rage was coming from, but it had propelled him to his feet too. Lupin looked as though Harry had hit him.**

"I'm not surprised, Harry's good at saying things that feel like physical punches." Neville said.

"**If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad," Harry said, "what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father's in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with us?"**

"**How – how dare you?" said Lupin. "This is not about a desire for – for danger or personal glory – how dare you suggest such a –"**

"**I think you're feeling a bit of a daredevil," Harry said, "You fancy stepping into Sirius's shoes –"**

"That's not gonna go down well, but I think it was a good point and needed to be said." James grimaced.

"**Harry, no!" Hermione begged him, but he continued to glare into Lupin's livid face.**

"Crap." Remus said. "That's not good, it seems my future self is very close to losing control to the wolf."

"And Harry's temper was boiling, barely controlled." Hermione added.

"**I'd never have believed this," Harry said. "The man who taught me to fight Dementors – a coward."**

"That was a low blow." James winced.

"Very, but I think the lower the blow, the more likely he is to listen." Millicent said, "besides, if he isn't willing to do something that makes him happy then he is a bit cowardly."

**Lupin drew his wand so fast that Harry had barely reached for his own; there was a loud bang and he felt himself flying backward as if punched; as he slammed into the kitchen wall and slid to the floor, he glimpsed the tail of Lupin's cloak disappearing around the door.**

"While I wish you hadn't hexed my son, I think he said the right thing, and hope that it got through." Lily said.

"Maybe he should have hexed you first." James added wryly.

"**Remus, Remus, come back!" Hermione cried, but Lupin did not respond. A moment later they heard the front door slam.**

"**Harry!" wailed Hermione. "How could you?"**

"**It was easy," said Harry. He stood up, he could feel a lump swelling where his head had hit the wall. He was still so full of anger he was shaking.**

"That's not good, some of that anger needs to be worked out, then it won't cause more strain." Flitwick whispered, knowing that Remus' pity-party was over for the moment, and that those who weren't involved with trying to calm the werewolf down could speak again, without feeling like they were intruding on something private.

"**Don't look at me like that!" he snapped at Hermione.**

"**Don't you start on her!" snarled Ron.**

"**No – no – we mustn't fight!" said Hermione, launching herself between them.**

"Wow, Ron's now stuck in the middle, usually Harry is stuck between Ron and Hermione." Ginny giggled, though it was slightly strained.

"**You shouldn't have said that stuff to Lupin," Ron told Harry.**

"**He had it coming to him," said Harry.**

"He did." Katie nodded.

**Broken images were racing each other through his mind: Sirius falling through the veil; Dumbledore suspended, broken, in mid-air; a flash of green light and his mother's voice, begging for mercy …**

A lone tear made its way down Albus' cheek, while Lily and James were both sobbing and Remus was pale and shaking. They weren't the only ones crying or trying not to cry, almost everyone in the hall was in a similar state, except those who supported Voldemort, who were hiding smirks at the pain everyone else was showing.

"**Parents," said Harry, "shouldn't leave their kids unless – unless they've got to."**

"**Harry –" said Hermione, stretching out a consoling hand, but he shrugged it off and walked away, his eyes on the fire Hermione had conjured. He had once spoken to Lupin out of that fireplace, seeking reassurance about James, and Lupin had consoled him. **

"When was that?" James asked.

"Last year, after I saw you three doing something that truly disgusted me." Harry replied, "it made me ashamed of you."

"What did you see?" James asked nervously.

"You'll see." Harry growled, "the event will be mentioned in a later chapter."

**Now Lupin's tortured white face seemed to swim in the air before him. He felt a sickening surge of remorse. Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke, but Harry felt sure that they were looking at each other behind his back, communicating silently.**

"That's a regular occurrence." Harry snorted.

"Only when they think you're crazy." Seamus grinned, "which, let's face it, is most of the time."

**He turned around and caught them turning hurriedly away from each other.**

"**I know I shouldn't have called him a coward."**

"Yes, you should have." James nodded, "he was being a coward, like Wormtail."

"I am nothing like that rat." Remus snapped.

"Actually, you were." Harry growled, "you wanted to abandon your family, which, in my opinion, is actually worse than abandoning your friend. I know you don't like the comparison, but if it gets you to realise that you were being a coward, then I don't care."

"Thanks." Remus sighed, "I'll try and keep that in mind."

"**No, you shouldn't," said Ron at once.**

"**But he's acting like one."**

"Too right he is." Neville said lowly.

"**All the same …" said Hermione.**

"**I know," said Harry. "But if it makes him go back to Tonks, it'll be worth it, won't it?"**

"More than worth it." Tonks nodded, "and I hope he listened."

"He did." Hermione nodded, "he crawled back, with his tail between his legs, begging for your forgiveness."

"Good." Tonks grinned.

**He could not keep the plea out of his voice. Hermione looked sympathetic, Ron uncertain. Harry looked down at his feet, thinking of his father. Would James have backed Harry in what he had said to Lupin, or would he have been angry at how his son had treated his old friend?**

"I'd have backed you up, and maybe punched him." James admitted, "or hexed him, whichever was quicker or would make me feel better."

"Good to know." Remus nodded, "you'll do that if my fear gets the better of me this time?"

"Most definitely." James smiled.

"And he'll have me to help him." Lily added with a slightly malicious grin.

"Professor Lupin would have to face us as well." Angelina, Alicia and Katie smirked, "along with most of the students here."

"Yeah, I hope I don't end up having another pity-party." Remus muttered, not looking forward to the prospect of having James, Lily and a bunch of students hexing him.

**The silent kitchen seemed to hum with the shock of the recent scene and with Ron and Hermione's unspoken reproaches. The _Daily Prophet_ Lupin had brought was still lying on the table, Harry's own face staring up at the ceiling from the front page. He walked over to it and sat down, opened the paper at random, and pretended to read. He could not take in the words; his mind was still too full of the encounter with Lupin. He was sure that Ron and Hermione had resumed their silent communications on the other side of the _Prophet_. He turned a page loudly, and Dumbledore's name leapt out at him.**

Albus grimaced, just knowing that it was going to be another article degrading him, and not really wanting to know what would be said, but feeling that he would have to face his fears so he could move on.

**It was a moment or two before he took in the meaning of the photograph, which showed a family group. Beneath the photograph were the words: _The Dumbledore family, left to right, Albus, Percival, holding newborn Ariana, Kendra, and Aberforth_.**

**His attention caught, Harry examined the picture more carefully. Dumbledore's father, Percival, was a good-looking man with eyes that seemed to twinkle even in this faded old photograph. The baby, Ariana, was a little longer than a loaf of bread and no more distinctive-looking. **

"What an odd way of describing a baby." Narcissa remarked.

"You do have to admit, babies in photographs do look a little odd." Orion said, "and in a photograph as old and faded as that one sounds, well, not many of the details will have survived."

"True." Narcissa sighed, "it's a shame that there is no real way to preserve photographs. Preservation charms only do so much, and once they've worn off, that's it, the picture will be lost."

"We might be able to use the Alteran computers on Atlantis to preserve pictures, and project them as holograms." Caruso muttered, "I don't know how easy it would be, but that is one thing that could be attempted."

"Indeed. We didn't think about that in the original time-line, because there was just too much Alteran history to wade through and try to catalogue." Abraxas nodded, "but, that shouldn't be too difficult now that we know what we're doing, so we can move onto new projects."

**The mother, Kendra, had jet black hair pulled into a high bun. Her face had a carved quality about it. Despite the high-necked silk gown she wore, Harry thought of Native Americans**

"Indeed, my mother was descended from Native Americans who came to England in the late seventeen-hundreds." Albus said, beginning to cry, yet again.

**as he studied her dark eyes, high cheekbones and straight nose. **

"She was beautiful." Flitwick whispered, "she was also one of the nicest people I'd ever met. I refuse to believe that she could have ever locked her own daughter away, she just wouldn't have been capable of it."

"Then you are one of the very few who think that." Albus murmured, "there are far more people who would believe anything Skeeter writes, so I cannot hold much hope that others will think like you."

"Many will, especially those who know you." Flitwick snapped, making some of those who heard him jump at the fact that such a sweet and cheerful man could exhibit such anger.

**Albus and Aberforth wore matching lacy collared jackets and had identical, shoulder-length hairstyles. Albus looked several years older, but otherwise the two boys looked very alike, for this was before Albus's nose had been broken and before he started wearing glasses.**

"When was your nose broken for the first time sir?" Mark asked curiously.

"During Ariana's funeral." Albus replied quietly, not wanting to relive the moment, but also not wanting to disappoint the students who were curious.

**The family looked quite happy and normal, smiling serenely up out of the newspaper. Baby Ariana's arm waved vaguely out of her shawl. Harry looked above the picture and saw the headline:**

_**EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM THE UPCOMING BIOGRAPHY OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**by Rita Skeeter**_

"Stupid, bitch of a bug-woman." Ginny growled quietly, going unnoticed over the growls and snarls emanating from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

**Thinking it could hardly make him feel any worse than he already did, Harry began to read:**

"I thought the same thing when I read that." Draco grimaced, "I thought the article would help me ignore the fact that Voldemort was ruining our lives and home, but it just made me feel far worse."

"That's the power of Rita Skeeter." Daphne spat, "why anyone believes a word she writes, I don't know."

"She does take small nuggets of fact, and then spins a fanciful tale around them." Hermione sighed, "the worst thing is, the very basic facts are true."

"Can no one stop her writing?" Susan asked, "her articles are not just libellous, they ruin lives, and I don't know why anyone would employ her."

"The problem is that the _Daily Prophet_ only prints what they think will sell, no matter whether it's true or not." Lucius said, "so until the newspaper gets taken over, and new people work there, I don't think anything can really be done."

"Someone could sue her, but I doubt that would help." Cygnus pointed out, "it would probably just make her think that what she'd written was the truth and they just wanted to shut her up."

"That's annoying." Hannah grumbled.

_**Proud and haughty, Kendra Dumbledore could not bear to remain in Mould-on-the-Wold after her husband Percival's well-publicized arrest and imprisonment in Azkaban. She therefore decided to uproot the family and relocate to Godric's Hollow, the village that was later to gain fame as the scene of Harry Potter's strange escape from You-Know-Who.**_

"Yeah, the Killing Curse is generally considered to be unblockable and unsurvivable." Regulus nodded, "I would like an explanation as to how it is possible to survive it."

"It should be explained later on in the book, but if not, then I will try at the end." Harry smiled.

_**Like Mould-on-the-Wold, Godric's Hollow was home to a number of wizarding families, but as Kendra knew none of them, she would be spared the curiosity about her husband's crime she had faced in her former village. By repeatedly rebuffing the friendly advances of her new wizarding neighbours, she soon ensured that her family was left well alone.**_

Albus grimaced once again, knowing that everyone would be begging for an explanation that he didn't really want to give.

"DAMN HER!" Lily screamed, getting fed up of listening to Skeeter's lies, "DAMN THAT WOMAN TO HELL! SHE HAS NO RIGHT TO GO NOSING AROUND IN ANYONE ELSE'S BUSINESS, AND I DON'T BLAME KENDRA DUMBLEDORE FOR NOT LETTING ANYONE IN!"

"Nor do I, but please, tone it down." James said quietly, noticing the pained expressions those sitting closest to Lily were wearing.

"My ears are ringing." Harry muttered, sticking a finger in his right ear and wiggling it around slightly.

"She does have an impressive pair of lungs." Snape nodded, giving his head a quick shake to try and recover his hearing.

"Sorry." Lily mumbled sheepishly, "it's just, she's driving me up the wall with her insinuations."

"We know, she's irritating us too, but if you could make sure you don't deafen us next time you explode, that would be appreciated." James said, raising a hopeful eyebrow.

"I'll try." Lily nodded, blushing slightly.

"_**Slammed the door in my face when I went round to welcome her with a batch of homemade Cauldron Cakes," says Bathilda Bagshot. "The first year they were there I only ever saw the two boys. Wouldn't have known there was a daughter if I hadn't been picking Plangentines by moonlight the winter after they moved in, and saw Kendra leading Ariana out into the back garden. Walked her round the lawn once, keeping a firm grip on her, then took her back inside. Didn't know what to make of it."**_

"Trust Bathilda to be extremely nosy." Charlus murmured, remembering the way the woman had asked him all sorts of uncomfortable questions as soon as he had arrived home after his first year.

"Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has ever managed to keep a secret from her." Albus sighed, "partly why she was able to get such personal views on parts of history when she was writing her book."

_**It seems that Kendra thought the move to Godric's Hollow was the perfect opportunity to hide Ariana once and for all, something she had probably been planning for years. The timing was significant. Ariana was barely seven years old when she vanished from sight, and seven is the age by which most experts agree that magic will have revealed itself, if present. Nobody now alive remembers Ariana ever demonstrating even the slightest sign of magical ability.**_

"Now that's a lie." Neville yelled, "I didn't show magic until I was eight."

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"It wasn't my fault." Neville grimaced, "my relatives weren't the nicest people around. They kept trying to force me to show magic, and it came to a head when Great-Uncle Algie dropped me out of a second-floor window. Fortunately, I bounced, and that was the last time they tried."

"That's awful." Lily, Narcissa and Mrs Weasley whispered, all three of them utterly horrified at the casual cruelty.

_**It seems clear, therefore, that Kendra made a decision to hide her daughter's existence rather than suffer the shame of admitting that she had produced a Squib. Moving away from the friends and neighbours who knew Ariana would, of course, make imprisoning her all the easier. The tiny number of people who henceforth knew of Ariana's existence could be counted upon to keep the secret, including her two brothers, who had deflected awkward questions with the answer their mother had taught them: "My sister is too frail for school."**_

_**Next week: Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts – the Prizes and the Pretence.**_

"Well that was a waste of paper." Minerva snarled angrily, not believing a word of it. Oh she knew that there was a reason for Ariana to be hidden away, but there was no way she was going to believe that it was because the poor girl was a squib. No, there had to be some other reason for Ariana to be kept away from people, and Minerva was going to somehow make sure Skeeter knew that those lies wouldn't be tolerated.

**Harry had been wrong: what he had read had indeed made him feel worse. He looked back at the photograph of the apparently happy family. Was it true? How could he find out? He wanted to go to Godric's Hollow, even if Bathilda was in no fit state to talk to him: he wanted to visit the place where he and Dumbledore had both lost loved ones. He was in the process of lowering the newspaper, to ask Ron's and Hermione's opinions, when a deafening _crack_ echoed around the kitchen.**

"Please tell me I came to my senses and returned to apologise." Remus begged.

"That wasn't you." Harry said, shaking his head, "and besides, it wasn't me you needed to apologise to."

**For the first time in three days Harry had forgotten all about Kreacher. His immediate thought was that Lupin had burst back into the room, and for a split second, he did not take in the mass of struggling limbs that had appeared out of thin air right beside his chair. He hurried to his feet as Kreacher disentangled himself and, bowing low to Harry, croaked, "Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Master."**

"That was the fake one, but oh well." Hermione giggled.

"Is that all you've got to say about the pain and humiliation you three put that poor man to?" Lucius whined quietly.

"Well if it helped him learn some humility, then being humiliated would have been good for him." Ron smirked.

"I think pretending to be Dung, of all people, would be humiliating enough." Harry said, "it's not as if he needed to learn humility anyway."

"Are you ever going to tell us who it was impersonating Dung?" Fred whined.

"Maybe." Harry sniggered, enjoying the way the twins were beginning to grovel.

**Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his wand; Hermione, however, was too quick for him.**

"**_Expelliarmus!_"**

**Mundungus's wand soared into the air, and Hermione caught it. Wild-eyed, Mundungus dived for the stairs. Ron rugby-tackled him and Mundungus hit the stone floor with a muffled crunch.**

"That must have been painful." Draco commented, "especially if, as I suspect, his nuts were crushed."

"I'm sure they were." Ron snorted, "I know my head impacted that area with a bit of force."

"Oh dear." Narcissa sighed, trying not to smile at the image.

"**What?" he bellowed, writhing in his attempts to free himself from Ron's grip. "Wha've I done? Setting a bleedin' 'house-elf on me, what are you playing at, wha've I done, lemme go, lemme go, of –"**

"The impersonator certainly knew how Mundungus would react." Snape snorted, revelling in being in close proximity to his mother once more.

"I'm sure it would have been easy to know." Flitwick smirked, "Mundungus has always been rather transparent and simple to imitate."

"**You're not in much of a position to make threats," said Harry.**

"I'm not surprised." Dean grinned, "he's on the floor with crushed nuts, and Ron, who is not exactly light, lying on top of him."

"Yeah, he may be a bean-pole, but having Ron lying on you is no laughing matter." Seamus nodded.

**He threw aside the newspaper, crossed the kitchen in a few strides, and dropped to his knees beside Mundungus, who stopped struggling and looked terrified. Ron got up, panting, and watched as Harry pointed his wand deliberately at Mundungus's nose. **

"Not exactly the most pleasant thing to experience." Narcissa muttered, still wondering why Harry and Lucius seemed so happy to sit next to each other, especially when she remembered Harry telling her he thought Lucius was a loser, at the beginning of the year. One thing she did know, was that when there was a break, she would be asking her son for an explanation.

**Mundungus stank of stale sweat and tobacco smoke: his hair was matted and his robes stained.**

"Urgh, that can't have been a nice experience." Lavender whispered, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"It may not have been nice for the trio, but I cannot imagine how bad it must have been for the impersonator, surrounded by that smell for most of the day." Parvati pointed out, "he must have spent the next several days bathing, just to feel clean again."

"It's his own fault." Jimmy Peakes grinned, "he was the one who chose to impersonate the thief. If it had been me, I would have chosen someone who didn't stink."

"Unfortunately, Mundungus is the only member of the Order who doesn't have a proper job, so the impersonator can easily take his place whenever he needs it." Minerva sighed.

"Oh." Jimmy nodded in understanding.

"**Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the thief, Master," croaked the elf. "Fletcher knows how to avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and accomplices. Nevertheless, Kreacher cornered the thief in the end."**

"He caught him, that's all that matters." Remus said, "I just hope the one impersonating Dung knows what you want to ask him, because if he doesn't, then I don't know what you're going to do."

"Thank Merlin he did know." Harry grinned, "I'm still not sure how he knew, but we were very glad he did."

"Why did you want to question Fletcher?" Narcissa asked confusedly.

"He was likely to know the whereabouts of a locket that he'd stolen from that house." Harry replied, "we needed the locket, in order to destroy Voldemort."

"Ah." Narcissa nodded.

"**You've done really well, Kreacher," said Harry, and the elf bowed low.**

"**Right, we've got a few questions for you," Harry told Mundungus, who shouted at once.**

"Wow, you really are scary." Orla Quirke, a third year Ravenclaw who hadn't said anything since the beginning of the book, commented.

"He has inherited, and combined, two terrifying tempers." James grinned, "he's got the Evans temper, and my mother's."

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, knowing just how bad her aunt Dorea's temper had been, and wondering just how bad Harry's would be if he had combined it with that of Lily, who was a red-head.

"**I panicked, okay? I never wanted to come along, no offence, mate, but I never volunteered to die for you, an' that was bleedin' You-Know-Who come flying at me, anyone woulda got outta there. I said all along I didn't wanna do it –"**

"Was the real one the one that abandoned Mad-Eye to his death, or was it the fake?" Kingsley asked.

"It was the real one." Harry replied, "of course, due to the fact that we'd captured the fake, and he thought we'd got him because of Moody's death, he had to improvise quite a bit."

"Understood." Kingsley grinned.

"**For your information, none of the rest of us Disapparated," said Hermione.**

"**Well, you're a bunch of bleedin' 'eroes then, aren't you, but I never pretended I was up for killing meself –"**

"**We're not interested in why you ran out on Mad-Eye," said Harry, moving his wand a little closer to Mundungus's baggy, bloodshot eyes. "We already knew you were an unreliable bit of scum."**

"**Well then, why the 'ell am I being 'unted down by 'ouse-elves? Or is this about them goblets again? I ain't got none of 'em left, or you could 'ave 'em –"**

"Harry, the man is an idiot, please tell me you punched him." Ginny said sweetly.

"No, I didn't, I wish I had." Harry laughed, "but it wouldn't have been quite as satisfying punching the fake, than it would have been punching the real one."

"Well then, I'll just have to go and find him myself." Ginny decided.

"**It's not about the goblets either, although you're getting warmer," said Harry. "Shut up and listen."**

**It felt wonderful to have something to do, someone of whom he could demand some small portion of truth. Harry's wand was now so close to the bridge of Mundungus's nose that Mundungus had gone cross-eyed trying to keep it in view.**

"Ooh, I'm grateful it's not me you're pointing your wand at." Justin sniggered, "that's a scary image."

"**When you cleaned out this house of anything valuable," Harry began, but Mundungus interrupted him again.**

"**Sirius never cared about any of the junk –"**

"Sirius may not have, but it is part of the Black family's history, and a lot of it is quite dangerous." Regulus groaned, "if only there was a way to make sure no more of it was stolen."

"Well, I did try strangling Dung during the last Hogsmeade visit." Harry shrugged, "that might have warned him that stealing from HQ wasn't a good idea."

"And Kreacher will point that out to him as well." Orion grinned, "especially after he called that stuff junk."

"Even though a lot of it actually is junk." Cygnus snorted, "I really never particularly wanted to drink out of a silver goblet with the family crest on, I'd have been quite happy with plain pewter or something."

**There was the sound of pattering fee, a blaze of shining copper, an echoing clang, and a shriek of agony; Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and hit him over the head with a saucepan.**

"Oh now I love Kreacher." Ginny said, barely understandable through her laughter.

Ginny wasn't the only one laughing, almost everyone in the hall was, even the staff, who were supposed to be maintaining control, and Narcissa, who hadn't originally wanted to shed her cold, pureblood persona, but seeing Lucius holding on to Harry while crying tears of laughter, made her realise that there was no point in keeping it up. The only ones who weren't laughing were those who supported the pureblood agenda, who thought that the house-elf should have been punished for harming a wizard, even if said wizard was a coward like Mundungus.

"**Call 'im off, call 'im off, 'e should be locked up!" screamed Mundungus, cowering as Kreacher raised the heavy-bottomed pan again.**

"**Kreacher, no!" shouted Harry.**

**Kreacher's thin arms trembled with the weight of the pan, still held aloft.**

"**Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?"**

**Ron laughed.**

"**We need him conscious, Kreacher, **

"Yes, questioning someone works better when they're conscious." Charlus laughed, "the questions actually get answered."

**but if he needs persuading, you can do the honours," said Harry.**

"That will help Kreacher like you more." Regulus smiled, "he is so loyal to the Black family that he wants to keep all family treasures together, and feels that someone who steals anything should be punished, preferably by him."

"I figured that out." Harry grinned, "especially after he hugged me when I presented him with that slightly dented saucepan, and a hot poker, giving him permission to find the real Dung and get everything back."

"Wow." Hannah whispered.

"**Thank you very much, Master," said Kreacher with a bow, and he retreated a short distance, his great pale eyes still fixed upon Mundungus with loathing.**

"**When you stripped this house of all the valuables you could find," Harry began again, "you took a bunch of stuff from the kitchen cupboard. There was a locket there." Harry's mouth was suddenly dry: he could sense Ron and Hermione's tension and excitement too. "What did you do with it?"**

"**Why?" asked Mundungus. "Is it valuable?"**

"Bloody hell, does that mean he's still got it?" Owen Cauldwell, one of the third year Hufflepuffs, asked.

"Probably not." Susan sighed, "their luck isn't that good. He's probably just wanting to know whether he should have tried to get more money for it."

"Stupid old sod." Hannah grumbled quietly.

"**You've still got it!" cried Hermione.**

"**No, he hasn't," said Ron shrewdly. "He's wondering whether he should have asked more money for it."**

"**More?" said Mundungus. "That wouldn't have been effing difficult … bleedin' gave it away, di'n' I? No choice."**

"That's not good." Lily grimaced.

"Indeed not." Snape nodded, gradually losing the bitterness that he had buried himself in after his friendship with Lily broke. Her return, and the fact that she seemed to have forgiven him was doing him a world of good, as was the fact that he had his mother back as well.

"**What do you mean?"**

"**I was selling in Diagon Alley and she come up to me and asks if I've got a license for trading in magical artefacts. Bleedin' snoop. She was gonna fine me, but she took a fancy to the locket an' told me she'd take it and let me off that time, and to fink meself lucky."**

"**Who was this woman?" asked Harry.**

"**I dunno, some Ministry hag."**

"So he gave to a woman who works at the Ministry." Angelina muttered.

"How helpful." Alicia said sarcastically.

**Mundungus considered for a moment, brow wrinkled.**

"**Little woman. Bow on top of 'er head."**

"Oh not her." Susan yelled, "can't you lot get a break?"

"Our luck isn't that good." Hermione sighed.

"I didn't think it would be." Hannah growled, "but that's just ridiculous."

"Who are you talking about?" James asked confusedly.

"You'll see." Harry replied.

"Not a-bloody-gain." Remus groaned, "that answer is, by far, the most annoying answer in the history of answers."

"Tough." Draco grinned.

**He frowned and then added, "Looked like a toad."**

"Umbridge." Minerva hissed angrily.

"She's the worst person to have the locket." Kingsley grimaced.

"Yeah, she'll definitely want to hide it somewhere, unless she's managed to open it and has been possessed." Percy added with a sigh.

**Harry dropped his wand: it hit Mundungus on the nose and shot red sparks into his eyebrows, which ignited.**

"**_Aguamenti!_" screamed Hermione, and a jet of water streamed from her wand, engulfing a spluttering and choking Mundungus.**

**Harry looked up and saw his own shock reflected in Ron and Hermione's faces. The scars on the back of his right hand seemed to be tingling again.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Tonks said, "that was a long one. Anyway, who wants to go next?"

"I will." Mrs Weasley smiled.

"Here you go Molly." Tonks grinned, tossing the book towards the red-head, missing completely and burying her head in her hands as she noticed it hit some poor Ravenclaw on the back of the head.

"Clumsy." Charlie sniggered quietly.


	16. Chapter 16

**Magic Is Might**

"**Magic Is Might**" Mrs Weasley read nervously.

"That doesn't sound good." Bill muttered.

"Indeed not." Caruso nodded.

"I would have thought you, and the rest of your future group, would know about what happened." Dorea frowned.

"We may know the vague details, but we weren't told everything." Cygnus shrugged, "the only people who know the full story, are those that lived it. We did say we were in Paraguay, and, in our original time-line, we didn't leave until Harry found us, in two thousand and four."

"Oh." Dorea said.

**As August wore on, the square of unkempt grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place shrivelled in the sun until it was brittle and brown. The inhabitants of number twelve were never seen by anyone in the surrounding houses, and nor was number twelve itself. **

"That's the reason it was made Unplottable when the family moved in." Orion smirked.

**The Muggles who lived in Grimmauld Place had long since accepted the amusing mistake in the numbering that had caused number eleven to sit beside number thirteen.**

"As I've already mentioned, a lot of muggles are well used to the idea of number thirteen sitting in between numbers eleven and fifteen." Hermione said, "in fact, it's actually quite rare to not have the odd numbered houses next to each other."

"Interesting." Albus murmured, finally recovering his emotional equilibrium after that horrible article about his family.

**And yet the square was now attracting a trickle of visitors who seemed to find the anomaly most intriguing. Barely a day passed without one or two people arriving in Grimmauld Place with no other purpose, or so it seemed, than to lean against the railings facing numbers eleven and thirteen, watching the join between the two houses.**

"Death Eaters." James groaned, "most likely."

"At least they don't actually know that Harry's there." Lily whispered.

"There is that." James nodded, glad that the Death Eaters were uncertain as to his son's true location.

**The lurkers were never the same two days running, although they all seemed to share a dislike for normal clothing.**

"But what we wear is normal." Narcissa said, panicking slightly due to her fear that her clothes might not be fashionable.

"Muggles don't generally wear robes, and cloaks stopped being worn by ordinary people nearly two hundred years ago." Hermione pointed out gently.

"As far as I know, the wearing of cloaks as everyday items, went out of fashion as early as the middle of the nineteenth century." Harry agreed, "there are still people who do wear cloaks, but really they only wear them as a fashion-statement, and to protect any fine dresses they have on, for going to the opera or similar events. As for robes, the only times they are worn are graduation ceremonies for universities, and special occasions in other schools, when the teachers want to show off what university they went to."

"Merlin, the wizarding world really is a long way behind the times." Dorea murmured.

"In certain areas yes, it is." Hermione nodded, "we would love to be able to drag the entirety of the British Magical World into the twentieth century by the end of the year."

"And it will only be three years before the end of the twentieth century." Harry added, "that's how far behind the times the wizarding world is."

"Unbelievable." Sprout whispered.

**Most of the Londoners who passed them were used to eccentric dressers and took little notice, though occasionally one of them might glance back, wondering why anyone would wear cloaks in this heat. **

**The watchers seemed to be gleaning little satisfaction from their vigil. Occasionally one of them started forward excitedly, as if they had seen something interesting at last, only to fall back looking disappointed.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed, making almost everybody jump in shock. Harry and his friends merely banged their heads against the table, having already suspected that the scarred and paranoid Auror would start yelling his catch-phrase again.

"Oh do be quiet man." Hooch snapped, "it's too early in the morning for your paranoid antics."

**On the first day of September there were more people lurking in the square than ever before. **

"I can't believe they actually expect the most wanted wizard and his friends to just forget their status and go to school." Susan giggled.

"Miss Bones, most of the Death Eaters aren't exactly intelligent." Lucius sniggered, "they are, in fact, rather stupid people really."

"That's an understatement." Neville grinned, "from what I saw during the battle at the end of last year, there was only one who seemed to have anything even resembling a brain."

"Precisely." Lucius smirked.

**Half a dozen men in long cloaks stood silent and watchful, gazing as ever at houses eleven and thirteen, but the thing for which they were waiting still appeared elusive. As evening drew in, bringing with it an unexpected gust of chilly rain for the first time in weeks, there occurred one of those inexplicable moments when they appeared to have seen something interesting. The man with the twisted face**

"Dolohov." Bill snarled.

**pointed and his closest companion, a podgy, pallid man,**

"And that's probably Pettigrew." Remus growled.

**started forward, but a moment later they had relaxed into their previous state of inactivity, looking frustrated and disappointed.**

"They really are idiots to be fooled by three teenagers." Justin chuckled.

"This is a good thing." Hannah pointed out.

**Meanwhile, inside number twelve, Harry had just entered the hall. He had nearly lost his balance as he Apparated onto the top step just outside the front door, and thought that the Death Eaters might have caught a glimpse of his momentarily exposed elbow.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed again, "foolish boy, don't let them see you."

"Moody, have you ever tried to Apparate directly onto the top step while wearing an invisibility cloak?" Harry asked irritably.

"No, but I wouldn't have made such an amateurish mistake." Moody growled.

"That top step isn't exactly large, and it is not easy to Apparate directly on to it without being slightly off-balance." Hermione sighed, "Harry did very well, for someone who hadn't even been able to get his license after the Ministry fell."

"Oh very well, just be careful." Moody grumbled.

"Aye aye sir." Harry and Hermione saluted.

**Shutting the front door carefully behind him he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, draped it over his arm and hurried along the gloomy hallway toward the door that led to the basement, a stolen copy of the _Daily Prophet_ clutched in his hand.**

"I hate the fact that you've had to resort to theft, just to get the news." Lily sighed.

"This time around, we won't have to." Harry smiled.

"Good." James nodded.

**The usual low whisper of "_Severus Snape?_" greeted him, the chill wind swept him and his tongue rolled up for a moment.**

"Did that have to happen every time you entered the house?" Regulus asked, not really wanting to hear about that creepy dust-figure.

"Probably." Charlie grimaced, "it's not exactly the most pleasant greeting, but it could be a perfect way to deter burglars."

"There won't be any of them, hardly anyone knows where the place is." Bill snorted.

"**I didn't kill you," he said, once it had unrolled, then held his breath as the dusty jinx-figure exploded. He waited until he was halfway down the stairs to the kitchen, out of earshot of Mrs Black and clear of the dust cloud before calling, "I've got news, and you won't like it."**

"What's going on now?" Percy asked nervously.

"Let Mum read and you'll find out." Charlie sniggered, enjoying the fact that his brother felt comfortable enough to not only speak in their presence, but also to stick his tongue out in response.

"Come on Perce, don't be a stick in the mud, sit with us, we won't bite." Bill called invitingly, so Percy, with a nervous glance towards Scrimgeour, scuttled down to where his brothers were sitting. He was still wary of how the twins would act around him, but he was grateful that Bill, at least, wouldn't punish him for leaving the family.

**The kitchen was almost unrecognisable. Every surface now shone: copper pots and pans had been burnished to a rosy glow, the wooden table top gleamed, the goblets and plates already laid for dinner glinted in the light from a merrily blazing fire, on which a cauldron was simmering. **

"Merlin, I don't think I've ever seen that place so clean." Mr Weasley muttered, occasionally glancing towards his third oldest son, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and that Percy really was sitting next to him.

**Nothing in the room, however, was more dramatically different than the house-elf who now came hurrying toward Harry, dressed in a snowy-white towel, his ear hair as clean and fluffy as cotton wool, Regulus's locket bouncing on his thin chest. **

"Bloody hell." Ginny spluttered, choking on thin air in surprise.

"He's clean." George whispered.

"How did that happen?" Fred wondered with wide eyes.

"They gave him the fake locket." Regulus said, "I did wonder if he liked me more than mother, that just proves it."

"Your mother wasn't the easiest person to get along with." Orion snorted, "I still can't quite work out how I was able to touch her for long enough to have both you and your brother."

"Was Kreacher one of the house-elves your friends the Nox, managed to free?" Padma asked.

"No, he died of old age before they succeeded." Harry replied.

"Oh that's so sad." Lisa whispered, "that poor house-elf."

"**Shoes off, if you please, Master Harry, and hands washed before dinner," croaked Kreacher, seizing the Invisibility Cloak and slouching off to hang it on a hook on the wall, beside a number of old-fashioned robes that had been freshly laundered.**

"Wow, not only has he never been that polite, those robes haven't been washed since before Sirius went to Azkaban." Orion murmured.

"Yeah, last time he saw me, he called me a filthy Mudblood whore." Tonks grimaced.

"He called me one too." Hermione smiled, "but I don't take offence to it any more. I am a Mudblood, and proud of it."

Most of the Muggle-borns looked at Hermione in awe, remembering the few times they had been offended by being called Mudbloods, and wondering why they hadn't thought of turning the word into a rallying cry.

"**What's happened?" Ron asked apprehensively. He and Hermione had been poring over a sheaf of scribbled notes and hand drawn maps that littered the end of the long kitchen table, but now they watched Harry as he strode toward them and threw down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment.**

"Merlin, it sounds like you're planning a siege." James whistled.

"Well, not quite, but you'll see." Hermione giggled.

**A large picture of a familiar, hook-nosed, black-haired man stared up at them all, beneath a headline that read: _SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER_**

"Oh great." Snape groaned, "I don't want to be headmaster. I hate paperwork, and I really do not wish to be in that position."

"At least you'd be in a position to help protect the students." Charlus said soothingly.

"I'd also be in more danger." Snape sighed, "either Voldemort has put me in that position because he trusts me, or he wants to keep an eye on me."

"True." Dorea grimaced, "but if Voldemort leaves you to get on with the job, without peering over your shoulder all the time, you can do your best to keep those who aren't on his side, safe."

"Yes, and if it comes to that, I would definitely try." Snape nodded, "I would never deliberately put a student in danger, no matter how much I disliked them."

"**No!" said Ron and Hermione loudly.**

**Hermione was quickest; she snatched up the newspaper and began to read the accompanying story out loud.**

"Why read it out loud?" Ernie asked, "can't Harry and Ron read it for themselves?"

"There were two reasons for Hermione to read it out loud." Ron sniggered, "one, she absolutely hates people reading over her shoulder, and two, it's far quicker than all three of us reading it to ourselves, one after the other."

"Good point." Justin snorted.

"'**_Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor._**

"So they've let a pair of Death Eaters into the school." Minerva hissed, sounding very like her animagus form.

"That's horrible." Lily shrieked.

"Is it as bad as having a teacher with Voldemort stuck to the back of his head, or a teacher who's merely a useless poser?" Harry asked. "And what about the death eater in disguise, or the toad who wouldn't let us practice the spells we were reading about?"

"That is a lot different." James said, "These are death eaters, and with Voldemort in charge, they will be trying to brainwash the students."

"Not only that, but they won't be teaching the students how to defend themselves from the Dark Arts, they'll actually be teaching the students to use the Dark Arts." Charlus grimaced, "they'll probably include how to cast the Unforgivables, and maybe Fiendfyre."

"That's truly horrible." Sprout murmured.

"I did say that Hogwarts had almost become a training camp for Death Eaters." Draco sighed, "and yeah, you're right, they were teaching the Unforgivables, with the students being forced to practice the Cruciatus and Imperius on each other."

"That's even worse." Pomfrey shrieked, "don't they realise that over-exposure to a curse like the Cruciatus can cause severe problems?"

"They didn't care." Draco snorted, "the worst thing was that they weren't allowing any student who would not convert to the Death Eater way of thinking, to be treated. A lot of the Light-minded students were left to suffer with no medical help, of any sort."

"Couldn't I do anything?" Pomfrey asked.

"The Death Eaters kept the hospital wing under guard, just to make sure the only students there were those who supported them." Draco grimaced, "it was horrible."

"Merlin." Pomfrey whispered.

"'"**_I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values –'_ Like committing murder and cutting off people's ears, I suppose! Snape, headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore's study – Merlin's pants!" she shrieked, making both Harry and Ron jump. **

"Merlin's pants, what an odd exclamation." Lily giggled.

"Did Merlin even wear underwear?" James asked.

"I doubt it, the underwear we wear, wasn't invented back then." Hermione snorted.

"So Merlin went commando?" Susan asked with a giggle.

"He probably wore a loin-cloth." Harry replied, "unless, of course, the Ancients had invented underwear, in which case, he would have worn that."

"Merlin was an Ancient?" Minerva asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "he was known as Moros at the time, and he was the one to allow the Founders to use Avalon as the site for the school."

"What's Avalon?" Justin asked.

"An Alteran city-ship, hidden by an illusion." Draco grinned, "everything you see is illusory, not real. It may be solid, but you are actually sitting on an illusion made up of light particles held together by energy. The true appearance of Hogwarts, or as the ship was originally called, Avalon, is truly breath-taking."

"When the book is over, and after Voldemort is defeated, we will be taking the illusion down, and moving the entire ship to an uninhabited planet, which we hope will become the centre of education for the Empire." Daphne said, "at that point, you will be able to see the truth of Avalon, and in fact, what Atlantis itself looks like."

"You mean you know where the Lost City of the Ancients is?" Narcissa gasped.

"Oh yes, we found it, and raised it from the depths of the ocean it had been submerged in." Draco nodded, "it was in one piece, which is rather impressive, since it had been submerged under nearly a mile of water for ten thousand years."

"Incredible." Sprout whispered, "where is Atlantis?"

"Another galaxy." Harry replied, "the Ancients were forced to flee this galaxy five million years ago, because of a plague that decimated them. Atlantis was the ship they used to leave, it being the only city they had that was free of infection."

"How many people can Atlantis hold, and how many were left?" Pomfrey wondered.

"Atlantis could hold hundreds of thousands, probably as many as a million." Hermione said, "and when the Ancients left, there were barely a hundred thousand, out of trillions. The plague nearly wiped them out."

"Merlin, those poor people." Narcissa murmured.

"Indeed." Albus said.

"But how did the Founders meet Merlin?" Sprout asked, "I can't imagine the Ancients living longer than we would."

"True, but Merlin, like a lot of the Ancients, ascended to the next plane of existence." Hermione smiled, "that meant that he shed his physical form, and became pure energy. We found out that ascended Ancients are pretty much invincible, and though they can appear to mortals like us, they rarely do so, obeying their highest law, that of non-interference. Merlin, and a few others, were oddities, occasionally appearing on this plane, but they still refused to interfere too much in the development of any civilisation."

"Merlin chose to appear to the founders, but didn't do more than show them how to modify the illusion around Avalon." Cygnus added, "then, sometime during the twelfth century, he retook physical form to built a device that he hoped would protect the Ancients from a faction they had left behind when they came to this galaxy forty million years ago."

"That faction were known as the Ori." Orion continued, "they believed that they were Gods, because they hadn't found any signs of intelligent life in their original galaxy, and once the leaders had Ascended, forced their followers to worship them, which is why the ones who didn't believe in the Ori, fled."

"Merlin." Albus whispered in shock, "I never knew any of that."

"No one did." Caruso sighed, "Merlin kept it secret, and after Binns was employed, no one would have been able to learn, since someone had cursed both him and the History position, presumably so that any knowledge of the Ancients was lost."

"That's awful. Our own history has been hidden from us." Babbling said, "I can't believe anyone would be so cruel."

"Neither can we." Abraxas grimaced, "but we won't let it continue. That's why we're here, to make sure the Legacy is not lost."

"Good." Minerva nodded.

**She leapt up from the table and hurtled from the room, shouting as she went, "I'll be back in a minute!"**

"Is she talking about Phineas Nigellus?" Narcissa asked Draco.

"I think so." Draco nodded, "he was a reasonably safe way of finding out what was going on, because he was not only a former headmaster, tied to the school, but he was also a Black, sworn to help the family in any way possible."

"That's good." Narcissa nodded.

"'**_Merlin's pants'?_" repeated Ron, looking amused. "She must be upset." He pulled the newspaper toward him and perused the article about Snape.**

"**The other teachers won't stand for this, McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout all know the truth, they know how Dumbledore died. They won't accept Snape as headmaster. **

"Those of us who knew the truth about his loyalty would definitely stay to help him, and the others would have to put up with anything." Minerva said, "there is no way I would leave the students at the mercy of the Carrows."

"I agree." Sprout spat, "I wouldn't be much of a Hufflepuff if I left."

**And who are these Carrows?"**

"**Death Eaters," said Harry. "There are pictures of them inside. They were at the top of the tower when Snape killed Dumbledore,**

"Who was there that night?" Burbage asked, seemingly morbidly curious.

"Greyback, Yaxley, both Carrows, Uncle Sev, and me." Draco replied sadly, "and apparently Harry was there too, though I didn't see him."

"Of course not, I was wearing the invisibility cloak." Harry snorted.

**so it's all friends together. And," Harry went on bitterly, drawing up a chair, "I can't see that the other teachers have got any choice but to stay. If the Ministry and Voldemort are behind Snape it'll be a choice between staying and teaching, or a nice few years in Azkaban – and that's if they're lucky. I reckon they'll stay to try and protect the students."**

"Of course, if I was facing a choice between staying to protect the students and being sent to Azkaban, I would protect the students to the best of my ability." Minerva said forcefully.

"Hear hear." The rest of the teachers nodded.

**Kreacher came bustling to the table with a large tureen in his hands, and ladled out soup into pristine bowls, whistling between his teeth as he did so.**

"Un-bloody-believable." Tonks muttered, "he really is different."

"Language Nymphadora." Mrs Weasley snapped, getting fed up of the rather crude language everyone was using.

"Oh lighten up." Tonks snorted, "it's not like I'm doing any harm, and everyone else is thinking the same thing, I'm just saying it. Oh, and, here's something else for you to think about, I'm an adult, you're not my mother."

"I'm sure your mother would agree with me." Mrs Weasley sniffed.

"Andy never did really care about what language people used." Narcissa said softly, "she may have scolded them occasionally, but she never really meant it."

"Indeed not, and besides, a lot of us don't like to be forced to censor ourselves." Cygnus added, directing a smile towards his youngest daughter.

"I do know that Great-Aunt Anastasia got really annoyed when I censored myself last time I saw her." Caruso nodded.

"Oh very well, just be careful about you say, some of the younger years don't need to know certain words just yet." Mrs Weasley huffed.

"**Thanks, Kreacher," said Harry, flipping over the Prophet so as not to have to look at Snape's face. **

"Why?" Snape whined, letting his mask fall completely, "I thought you liked looking at my face."

"Flipping the paper over was more to hide the funny faces your picture was pulling." Harry sniggered, "I don't think I'd have been able to refrain from laughing at the way the picture version of you was sticking his tongue out of his mouth and then waggling his head from side to side as fast as he could."

"Oh dear." Snape murmured, "that's worrying."

"**Well, at least we know exactly where Snape is now."**

**He began to spoon soup into his mouth. The quality of Kreacher's cooking had improved dramatically ever since he had been given Regulus's locket: today's French onion was as good as Harry had ever tasted.**

"Astounding." Narcissa muttered, "that elf can actually cook."

"**There are still a load of Death Eaters watching this house," he told Ron as he ate, "more than usual. It's like they're hoping we'll march out carrying our school trunks and head off for the Hogwarts Express."**

**Ron glanced at his watch.**

"**I've been thinking about that all day. It left nearly six hours ago. Weird, not being on it, isn't it?"**

"It always is, especially when you've only just graduated." Bill agreed.

"I wanted to get back on the train at the beginning of Ron's first year. I'd forgotten that I had graduated in the summer of that year." Charlie grinned, a little embarrassed.

**In his mind's eye Harry seemed to see the scarlet steam engine as he and Ron had once followed it by air,**

"What?" Lily, James, Charlus and Dorea murmured.

"What the hell were you doing?" Lily continued.

"We had to get to school, and Dobby had closed the barrier." Harry grimaced, "it was Ron's idea to fly in that battered old Ford Anglia."

"I have to say, the landing may not have been fun, but the view was brilliant." Ron sighed.

"I will want to know what happened during your first few years at this school." Lily said sternly, "and I hope the story won't give me a heart attack."

"We'll explain later." Harry smiled, "when there's more time."

**shimmering between fields and hills, a rippling scarlet caterpillar. He was sure Ginny, Neville, and Luna were sitting together at this moment, perhaps wondering where he, Ron, and Hermione were, or debating how best to undermine Snape's new regime.**

"Oh Merlin, that'll just make protecting you all, a lot more difficult." Snape groaned.

"**They nearly saw me coming back in just now," Harry said. "I landed badly on the top step, and the Cloak slipped."**

"**I do that every time.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed, yet again. Those closest to him were wondering whether it would be possible to somehow cast a silencing charm on him, or find some other way of shutting him up without him hexing them in return.

**Oh, here she is," Ron added, craning around in his seat to watch Hermione re-entering the kitchen. "And what in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts was that about?"**

"Nice image there." Hannah giggled sardonically.

"**I remembered this," Hermione panted.**

**She was carrying a large, framed picture, which she now lowered to the floor before seizing her small, beaded bag from the kitchen sideboard. Opening it, she proceeded to force the painting inside and despite the fact that it was patently too large to fit inside the tiny bag, within a few seconds it had vanished, like so much ease, into the bag's capacious depths.**

"Lot's of room in there then." Justin snorted.

"**Phineas Nigellus," Hermione explained as she threw the bag onto the kitchen table with the usual sonorous, clanking crash.**

"I'd forgotten about his portrait." Minerva sighed, "it's a good thing Hermione thought of that, otherwise Voldemort could try and get him to spy on you."

"He wouldn't be able to." Cygnus said, "great-grandfather Phineas may well have been the least popular headmaster of Hogwarts, but he was, first and foremost, a Black, which means that he wouldn't be able to betray the head of the Black family."

"And he just happens to be one of the portraits I listen to the least." Albus nodded.

"Of course he would be." Dorea smirked, "he was a pureblood bigot and an annoying fool."

"Aren't you related to him?" Blaise asked curiously, knowing that because Dorea and Cygnus were related, then there was the chance that she was related to the portrait.

"He was my grandfather, but that doesn't mean I have to like him." Dorea snorted.

"Ah." Blaise nodded in understanding.

"**Sorry?" said Ron, but Harry understood. **

**The painted image of Phineas Nigellus Black was able to travel between his portrait in Grimmauld Place and the one that hung in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts:**

"He wouldn't be able to betray you." Percy pointed out, "or at least, he shouldn't be able to betray you. Not only is he bound to answer any questions from the headmaster, but he is also bound to follow any requests or orders from the head of the family, which means that he should keep quiet about anything you don't want him to reveal."

"Exactly." Narcissa nodded.

**the circular tower-top room where Snape was no doubt sitting right now, in triumphant possession of Dumbledore's collection of delicate, silver magical instruments, the stone Pensieve, the Sorting Hat and, unless it had been moved elsewhere, the sword of Gryffindor.**

"I'm sure that should say, in triumphant possession of a major headache." Snape grumbled, "to go with an aching heart and a huge amount of guilt."

"**Snape could send Phineas Nigellus to look inside this house for him," Hermione explained to Ron**

"I could, but I doubt I would." Snape denied, "and even if I did, it would be because I wanted to give you some information."

"Yep, Phineas did not like playing messenger-boy." Hermione giggled.

**as she resumed her seat. "But let him try it now, all Phineas Nigellus will be able to see is the inside of my handbag."**

"**Good thinking!" said Ron, looking impressed.**

"**Thank you," smiled Hermione, pulling her soup toward her. "So, Harry, what else happened today?"**

"**Nothing," said Harry. "Watched the Ministry entrance for seven hours. No sign of her. **

"Why were you watching the Ministry entrance?" Minerva asked suspiciously.

"You'll see." Harry replied, smiling mysteriously.

"Why do you never answer our questions?" Sprout asked.

"It's fun." Harry grinned.

"Oh Merlin." Minerva sighed, "this is what I was dreading. James' sense of humour combined with Lily's."

"Dreadful combination." Pomfrey groaned.

**Saw your dad though, Ron. He looks fine."**

**Ron nodded his appreciation of this news. The had agreed that it was far too dangerous to try and communicate with Mr. Weasley while he walked in and out of the Ministry, because he was always surrounded by other Ministry workers. It was, however, reassuring to catch these glimpses of him, even if he did look very strained and anxious.**

"Of course I would be." Mr Weasley said with a strained smile, "I'd be worried about Ron."

"**Dad always told us most Ministry people use the Floo Network to get to work," Ron said. "That's why we haven't seen Umbridge, she'd never walk, and she'd think she's too important."**

"Unfortunately." Kingsley grumbled, "bloody woman thinks she's the queen of the world."

"Or something along those lines." Tonks agreed, "one of these days I would love to show her just how unimportant she truly is."

"Wouldn't we all." Kingsley sighed.

"**And what about that funny old witch and that little wizard in the navy robes?" Hermione asked.**

"**Oh yeah, the bloke from Magical Maintenance," said Ron.**

"**How do you know he works for Magical Maintenance?" Hermione asked, her soup spoon suspended in mid-air.**

"**Dad said everyone from Magical Maintenance wears navy blue robes."**

"**But you never told us that!"**

"Oh here they go again." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Haven't they bickered enough yet?" Ginny whined, "they've been at each other's throats for the last five years already, isn't that long enough?"

"I would hope so, but no." Harry groaned.

**Hermione dropped her spoon and pulled toward her the sheaf of notes and maps that she and Ron had been examining when Harry had entered the kitchen.**

"**There's nothing in here about navy blue robes, nothing!" she said, flipping feverishly through the pages.**

"**Well, does it really matter?"**

"It does matter actually." Eileen said, "you need to know at least some of the little details, like what the people you're going to be impersonating actually do within the Ministry, so that you can be that little bit more convincing."

"However, there are things that you don't necessarily need to know, and after nearly a month of planning, I doubt you're going to be missing much." Abraxas added, "it sounds like you're either in the final stage of planning, or you're ready to put the plan into action."

"**Ron, it _all_ matters! If we're going to get into the Ministry and not give ourselves away when they're _bound_ to be on the lookout for intruders, every little detail matters! We've been over and over this, I mean, what's the point of all these reconnaissance trips if you aren't even bothering to tell us –"**

"A Hermione rant, run for your lives." Seamus and Dean mock-wailed, grabbing on to each other and pretending to burst into tears.

"**Blimey, Hermione, I forget one little thing –"**

"**You do realize, don't you, that there's probably no more dangerous place in the whole world for us to be right now than the Ministry of –"**

"And so begins yet another Hermione versus Ron screaming match." Lavender said, drawing laughter from the older Gryffindors, who had watched many of the arguments between the two sixth year.

"**I think we should do it tomorrow," said Harry.**

Almost everybody in the entire hall turned to stare at Harry in shock, almost as if he had just walked in and announced that he was going to snog Voldemort, while wearing a pink bunny suit.

"You are insane." Lily said faintly.

**Hermione stopped dead, her jaw hanging; Ron choked a little over his soup.**

"**Tomorrow?" repeated Hermione. "You aren't serious, Harry?"**

"Of course he is." Moody growled, "getting that locket is a time-sensitive matter. The longer you leave it, the less chance she'll still have it."

"I wouldn't say that." Percy corrected, "Umbridge has always been obsessed with her heritage. I don't know what families she's actually related to, but I have heard her claim that she's descended from the Selwyns."

"And the locket has the letter S engraved on it." Regulus grimaced, "it may be a Slytherin artefact, but that doesn't mean she can't imply that it's a Selwyn artefact."

"Which would lead me to suspect that she either keeps it hidden in her house, or that she wears it at all times." Percy nodded.

"**I am," said Harry. "I don't think we're going to be much better prepared than we are now even if we skulk around the Ministry entrance for another month. The longer we put it off, the farther away that locket could be. There's already a good chance Umbridge has chucked it away; the thing doesn't open."**

"How are you going to destroy it then?" Tracy asked quietly.

"That will be mentioned later on in the book." Hermione smiled.

"**Unless," said Ron, "she's found a way of opening it and she's now possessed."**

"I doubt that would make much of a difference." Minerva hissed, "she's already evil enough."

"**Wouldn't make any difference to her, she was so evil in the first place," Harry shrugged.**

"Creepy." George said, making his voice deep and ominous-sounding.

"That just proves the theory that great minds think alike." Minerva smiled.

"I don't know whether Harry has a _great_ mind, he definitely has a very dirty mind." Hermione giggled.

"Yes, he really is extremely kinky." Lucius nodded.

"Not as kinky as some." Harry snorted, "remember who tied her poor husband up and poured strawberry jam all over him, before licking it off, in the entrance hall at Potter Manor."

"Nine months later poor Colin Creevey became a father to a set of twins." Draco sniggered.

"You mean Ginny tied Colin up?" Fred asked, slightly squeakily as he stared at Ginny, who was blushing at the images parading across the surface of her mind.

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

"Merlin." Narcissa muttered with wide eyes.

**Hermione was biting her lip, deep in thought.**

"**We know everything important," Harry went on, addressing Hermione. "We know they've stopped Apparition in and out of the Ministry; we know only the most senior Ministry members are allowed to connect their homes to the Floo Network now, because Ron heard those two Unspeakables complaining about it. And we know roughly where Umbridge's office is, because of what you heard the bearded bloke saying to his mate –"**

"'**_I'll be up on level one, Dolores wants to see me,'_" Hermione recited immediately.**

"**Exactly," said Harry. "And we know you get in using those funny coins, or tokens, or whatever they are, because I saw that witch borrowing one from her friend –"**

"I can see a major problem." Padma said, "you don't have any of those token-things."

Harry and Ron burst out laughing while Hermione started giggling, which was slightly worrying for those who didn't know what the joke was, but they just decided to leave the trio alone and continue.

"**But we haven't got any!"**

"Oh." Padma mumbled sheepishly, realising just what the trio had been laughing about, and admitting, if only to herself, that it was a little funny.

"**If the plan works, we will have," Harry continued calmly.**

"**I don't know, Harry, I don't know … there are an awful lot of things that could go wrong, so much relies on chance …"**

"**That'll be true even if we spend another three months preparing," said Harry. "It's time to act."**

"He's right." Moody nodded, "it's good that you've got a plan, but even the best plans don't always work, and improvisation is key for anyone in any situation."

"Especially Aurors." Scrimgeour added with a nod to his former colleague.

**He could tell from Ron's and Hermione's faces that they were scared; he was not particularly confident himself,**

"I'm not surprised, your plan is very risky." James grimaced, "but it is also important, which means it is worth the risk."

**and yet he was sure the time had come to put their plan into operation.**

"You have spent a month preparing, and it is not good to over-prepare, so you need get it done as soon as possible." Kingsley said.

**They had spent the previous four weeks taking it in turns to don the Invisibility Cloak and spy on the official entrance to the Ministry, which Ron, thanks to Mr Weasley, had known since childhood. They had tailed Ministry workers on their way in, eavesdropped on their conversations, and learned by careful observation which of them could be relied upon to appear, alone, at the same time every day. **

"Yeah, there isn't much more you can do to prepare." Moody growled.

"What about planning what they're going to do once they get in, and getting out as well?" Ernie asked.

"That will unfortunately have to rely quite heavily on what the security inside is like." Kingsley sighed, "there is no easy way to make a plan for after they've got in, because they don't have any idea what their reception is going to be like, which would make any plan void."

"And they should be able to get back out the way the went in, as long as they succeed in going unnoticed." Percy added.

**Occasionally there had been a chance to sneak a _Daily Prophet_ out of somebody's briefcase. Slowly they had built up the sketchy maps and notes now stacked in front of Hermione.**

"**All right," said Ron slowly, "let's say we go for it tomorrow … I think it should just be me and Harry."**

"Bad move Ron." Seamus groaned, "you don't say something like that to someone like Hermione."

"I think any woman would be annoyed at a suggestion like that." Lily said, "we aren't that fragile."

"Exactly." Hermione nodded, "a friend of ours once said something that I wholeheartedly agree with. She said, 'Just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside doesn't mean that I can't handle whatever you can handle.'"

"She had a good point." Lily smirked, "though I'm not sure about the wording. It sounds like the woman was a bit on the nerdy side."

"Oh she's most definitely a nerd." Ron sniggered, "Samantha Carter has a Ph.D in Astrophysics, and did a lot of work in the field of quantum mechanics, though she realised that she didn't actually know much, because she couldn't work out why a black hole was causing time to be distorted when the SGC accidentally dialled one."

"What is a Ph.D?" Babbling asked.

"It's the Muggle equivalent of a Mastery." Hermione replied.

"Interesting." Babbling muttered.

"And what is Astrophysics?" Sinistra queried.

"In basic terms, Astrophysics is the study of the universe." Harry replied, "and I don't just mean the locations of the stars in the night sky. An Astrophysicist actually studies the physical properties of celestial objects such as galaxies, stars and planets, as well as how they affect each other. Sam could tell you exactly what a star is made of, how big it is, how hot it is, how bright it actually is, not how it appears, and why that is so. She could also tell you how old a star is, and how long it will continue to shine."

"Merlin." Sinistra muttered, "I think I might like to meet this woman."

"You may be able to." Hermione grinned, "we will be asking her to join us when we start rebuilding the Empire."

"**Oh, don't start that again!" sighed Hermione. "I thought we'd settled this."**

"**It's one thing hanging around the entrances under the Cloak, but this is different. Hermione," Ron jabbed a finger at a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ dated ten days previously. "You're on the list of Muggle-borns who didn't present themselves for interrogation!"**

"Sweet, but really not the best time." Alicia giggled.

"**And you're supposed to be dying of spattergroit at the Burrow! If anyone shouldn't go, it's Harry, he's got a ten thousand Galleon price on his head –"**

"**Fine, I'll stay here," said Harry. "Let me know if you ever defeat Voldemort, won't you?"**

"Sometimes I really worry about anyone who comes into contact with you three." Ginny snorted, "their sanity is unsafe."

"Why?" Ron asked with a grin, knowing the answer would be good.

"Because you and Hermione argue three or more times a day, and Harry's sense of humour is a little odd." Ginny replied.

"Oh so true." Jimmy grinned, "he's also a bloody slave-driver."

"Yeah, he really knows how to torture his team." Demelza Robbins, third year Gryffindor and chaser on the team, nodded.

"It's called Quidditch practice." Harry snorted.

"Hear hear." Oliver grinned, "no team will win a game without practising."

"Oh Merlin." Angelina groaned, burying her head in her hands, "do shut up about it Oliver. Now is really not the time."

"It's always time for Quidditch talk." Oliver snapped.

"No it is not." Angelina retorted, "now shut up, and let the woman read."

**As Ron and Hermione laughed, pain shot through the scar on Harry's forehead. His hand jumped to it. He saw Hermione's eyes narrow, and he tried to pass off the movement by brushing his hair out of his eyes.**

"You failed." Hermione said dryly.

"**Well, if all three of us go we'll have to Disapparate separately," Ron was saying. "We can't all fit under the Cloak any more."**

"Ron's using his brain again." Ginny smirked, "I hope it doesn't overheat and dribble out of his ears from overuse."

"Oi." Ron exclaimed, "I do use my brain occasionally."

**Harry's scar was becoming more and more painful. He stood up. At once, Kreacher hurried forward.**

"**Master has not finished his soup, would master prefer the savoury stew, or else the treacle tart to which Master is so partial?"**

"Hands up who likes treacle tart." Dean sniggered.

Almost everyone did, except Remus, Narcissa and Abraxas.

"I don't know how you people can eat that stuff." Remus said disgustedly.

"I don't know how you can eat as much chocolate as you do." Ron retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Is there a point to this?" James asked Dean curiously.

"Yeah, if you think Professor Lupin is addicted to chocolate, you have never seen Harry attack treacle tart." Dean grinned.

"He also attacks anyone who tries to take a piece." Seamus added, "I think Harry could live on treacle tart."

"Good grief." Lily said.

"Yes, treacle tart is the only thing Harry eats more of than Ron, who eats enough for five." Hermione giggled.

"Merlin." Dorea whispered, "be grateful for your genes, otherwise you'd be a ball."

"**Thanks, Kreacher, but I'll be back in a minute – er – bathroom."**

**Aware that Hermione was watching him suspiciously, Harry hurried up the stairs to the hall and then to the first landing, where he dashed into the bathroom and bolted the door again. Grunting with pain, he slumped over the black basin with its taps in the form of open-mouthed serpents and closed his eyes …**

**He was gliding along a twilit street. The buildings on either side of him had high, timbered gables; they looked like gingerbread houses. He approached one of them, then saw the whiteness of his own long-fingered hand against the door. He knocked. He felt a mounting excitement …**

"You're seeing everything from behind his eyes." Sprout whispered in horror.

"Yeah, most of the times I've been inside Voldemort's head, I've seen, heard, smelled, tasted and felt everything he did, at exactly the same time." Harry nodded, "it was as if I was him."

"That's horrible." Pomfrey murmured, "and I don't think there's anything I could have done to help."

"No." Harry sighed, "there wasn't. The connection was too unique, too strange. The book will explain it in more detail."

**The door opened: A laughing woman stood there. Her face fell as she looked into Harry's face: humour gone, terror replacing it …**

"**Gregorovitch?" said a high, cold voice.**

**She shook her head: She was trying to close the door. A white hand held it steady, prevented her shutting him out …**

"**I want Gregorovitch."**

"**Er wohnt hier nicht mehr!" she cried, shaking her head.**

"What's she saying?" Susan asked, not understanding the foreign words.

"She's telling Voldemort that Gregorovitch doesn't live there any more." Lucius sighed, "she's speaking German."

"That means he really isn't in the country." Justin said.

"He didn't spend much time in Britain that year." Lucius grimaced, "once he'd taken the ministry and put Thicknesse in place as Minister, he was free to embark on his search for something, I'm not quite sure what, but it will be mentioned later on in the book."

"**He no live here! He no live here! I know him not!"**

**Abandoning the attempt to close the door, she began to back away down the dark hall, and Harry followed, gliding toward her, and his long-fingered hand had drawn his wand.**

"**Where is he?"**

"**_Das weiβ ich nicht!_**

"What did she say then?" Hannah queried.

"That she didn't know." Narcissa replied quietly, "the translation, word for word, is 'that know I not'. German is a little bit peculiar. Quite often, the object will be followed by the verb, then the person. German has very odd, and strict grammatical rules, and I don't think we have time, right now, to have a lesson in how to conjugate verbs in other languages."

"Interesting." Hannah muttered.

**He move! I know not, I know not!"**

**He raised his hand. She screamed. Two young children came running into the hall. She tried to shield them with her arms. There was a flash of green light –**

"Merlin, he just killed her because she was there." Lavender cried, bursting into tears at the thought of the poor woman who was an innocent victim.

"That's what Voldemort does." Harry grimaced.

"**Harry! HARRY!"**

**He opened his eyes; he had sunk to the floor. Hermione was pounding on the door again.**

"**Harry, open up!"**

**He had shouted out, he knew it. He got up and unbolted the door; Hermione toppled inside at once, regained her balance, and looked around suspiciously. Ron was right behind her, looking unnerved as he pointed his wand into the corners of the chilly bathroom.**

"I would suggest not lying to Hermione." Anthony said, "she'll figure you out, and probably try and tell you off."

"Try being the operative word." Hermione nodded dryly.

"**What were you doing?" asked Hermione sternly.**

"**What d'you think I was doing?" asked Harry with feeble bravado.**

"**You were yelling your head off!" said Ron.**

"**Oh yeah … I must've dozed off or –"**

"**Harry, please don't insult our intelligence," said Hermione, taking deep breaths. **

"**We know your scar hurt downstairs, and you're white as a sheet."**

**Harry sat down on the edge of the bath.**

"**Fine. I've just seen Voldemort murdering a woman. By now he's probably killed her whole family. And he didn't need to. It was Cedric all over again, they were just _there_ …"**

Cho burst into tears, even though she had promised herself that she would try to move on from Cedric, but hearing about his death was still hard on her.

"Was that really how it was?" Leanne, Katie Bell's best friend, and one of Cedric's friends, asked nervously.

"Yeah." Harry sighed, "unfortunately, Voldemort and Wormtail considered his presence to be unnecessary. Voldemort's precise words were, 'kill the spare', which is one reason why it was so horrible when the Prophet accused me of killing him."

"Merlin." Anthony murmured, while Cho's friend, Marietta, and another seventh year Ravenclaw, Eddy Carmichael, tried to cheer the crying girl up a bit.

"**Harry, you aren't supposed to let this happen any more!" Hermione cried, her voice echoing through the bathroom. "Dumbledore wanted you to use Occlumency! He thought the connection was dangerous – Voldemort can use it, Harry! What good is it to watch him kill and torture, how can it help?"**

"**Because it means I know what he's doing," said Harry.**

"Unfortunately true." Albus sighed, "but caution is advisable."

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed, smirking when he saw the startled glares people were sending him.

"**So you're not even going to try to shut him out?"**

"**Hermione, I can't. You know I'm lousy at Occlumency. I never got the hang of it."**

"Why does the author think that you couldn't learn Occlumency?" Snape wondered.

"We decided that the world didn't need to know about the training." Harry replied, "when these books were being written, the author asked us what we wanted to include, and the nine of us who had been involved, all decided that that shouldn't be included because it could possibly give people a reason to call us Dark and accuse the three of you of training us to take over."

"I understand." Minerva nodded, "it's a good idea."

"Unfortunately, the woman didn't consult us about what we wanted to put into the epilogue." Hermione grumbled, "so she went with what she thought would happen."

"That was annoying." Ron nodded.

"**You never really tried!" she said hotly. "I don't get it, Harry – do you like having this special connection or relationship or what – whatever –"**

**She faltered under the look he gave her as he stood up.**

"**Like it?" he said quietly.**

"Uh oh, duck and cover." Neville muttered.

"What's wrong?" Tracy asked.

"When Harry talks quietly like that, it means that he's utterly furious." Pansy replied.

"He's at his most dangerous at that point." Hermione added.

"Oh dear." Charlus whispered.

"**Would you like it?"**

"**I – no – I'm sorry, Harry. I just didn't mean –"**

"**I hate it, I hate the fact that he can get inside me, that I have to watch him when he's most dangerous. But I'm going to use it."**

"You really are stubborn." Lily said, shaking her head.

"**Dumbledore –"**

"**Forget Dumbledore.**

"Good idea." Moody nodded, "it isn't his decision. That scar is on your head, not his, he doesn't have a say in whether you use it or not, and if you can use something, then do so."

"Even if it causes him pain?" James asked incredulously.

"It would be worth it." Harry said, "the saying, 'no pain, no gain', is rather meaningful. I wouldn't want to sacrifice my ability to take advantage of one of Voldemort's weaknesses, just to spare myself some pain."

"Oh fine, you win." James grumbled.

**This is my choice, nobody else's. I want to know why he's after Gregorovitch."**

"He's after the so-called Wand of Destiny." Charlus realised, "it's apparently the most powerful wand in existence, and as far as I can remember, Gregorovitch was examining it, to try and copy it."

"Merlin, that's not a happy prospect." Babbling whimpered.

"**Who?"**

"**He's a foreign wand maker," said Harry. "He made Krum's wand and Krum reckons he's brilliant."**

"Ollivander is miles better." Regulus snorted, "his wands have finesse, Gregorovitch's wands are like blunt objects in comparison."

"**But according to you," said Ron, "Voldemort's got Ollivander locked up somewhere. If he's already got a wand maker, what does he need another one for?"**

"Merlin, I hope Ollivander doesn't suffer too much." Burbage murmured, "he's an old man who deserves some peace and quiet, not torture."

"**Maybe he agrees with Krum, maybe he thinks Gregorovitch is better … or else he thinks Gregorovitch will be able to explain what my wand did when he was chasing me, because Ollivander didn't know."**

**Harry glanced into the cracked, dusty mirror and saw Ron and Hermione exchanging sceptical looks behind his back.**

"A regular occurrence." Neville grinned.

"**Harry, you keep talking about what your wand did," said Hermione, "but _you_ made it happen! Why are you so determined not to take responsibility for your own power?"**

"From what we read, whatever that magic was, it was neither accidental nor deliberate on Harry's part." Flitwick squeaked, "I don't know what it actually was, but it looked more like raw, uncontrolled magic. It wasn't a spell, that much is certain."

"I know that now, but I didn't then, because I hadn't seen it." Hermione sighed.

"**Because I know it wasn't me! And so does Voldemort, Hermione! We both know what really happened!"**

**They glared at each other; Harry knew that he had not convinced Hermione and that she was marshalling counterarguments, against both his theory on his wand and the fact that he was permitting himself to see into Voldemort's mind. To his relief, Ron intervened.**

"**Drop it," he advised her. **

"Best advice he's ever given anyone." Fred grinned.

"Too bad he doesn't give much of it." Daphne giggled, leaning her head on Ron's shoulder, much to the surprise of Narcissa, who had thought that Ron was with Hermione and Daphne would be a good match for Draco.

"**It's up to him. And if we're going to the Ministry tomorrow, don't you reckon we should go over the plan?"**

**Reluctantly, as the other two could tell, Hermione let the matter rest, though Harry was quite sure she would attack again at the first opportunity. **

"Is it just me, or are all three of them stubborn?" Demelza asked.

"All three are extremely stubborn." Dean grinned.

**In the meantime, they returned to the basement kitchen, where Kreacher served them all stew and treacle tart.**

**They did not get to bed until late that night, after spending hours going over and over their plan until they could recite it, word perfect, to each other. **

"Let me guess," Ginny sniggered, "that was Hermione's idea."

"Of course it was." Harry chuckled, "she likes to be able to recite Binns' lectures word for word, well, most of them anyway."

"Which one didn't she recite?" Ginny asked.

"There were two, one was on the Exploding Snap tournament of eighteen-fifty-six." Harry replied, "no one was able to stay awake during that lecture, not even the most ardent bookworms. And the other was the strange affliction of the school Quidditch teams of eighteen-sixty-nine."

"I don't remember hearing that one." Minerva commented.

"It wasn't very interesting." Harry grinned, "I only stayed awake because he mentioned Quidditch."

"What happened that year for Binns to give a lecture on it?" Sprout enquired.

"Apparently, a sixth-year Slytherin somehow placed a charm on all the players in all four house teams, preventing them from speaking in anything but Shakespeare's sonnets." Harry replied.

"Who?" Pomfrey asked.

"Isaiah Prince." Flitwick said, "I remember that. I was a seventh year, and he was a good friend of mine. He was absolutely obsessed with Shakespeare, and I still don't know how he managed to pull that prank off."

"You mean to tell me, that a Slytherin, liked poetry written by a Muggle?" Marietta sneered.

"Don't insult my great-grandfather." Eileen snarled, "he may have been in Slytherin, but that does not mean that he was a pureblood bigot like most Slytherins. I am ashamed of what my former house has become. Slytherin is supposed to be the house of cunning and ambition, not prejudice and hatred."

"Indeed." The Bloody Baron nodded, having drifted back into the hall, along with the other ghosts, at the beginning of the day, interested in rejoining the reading. "Uncle Salazar would be horrified at what Slytherin has become. I cannot see how most of the students in his house managed to fool the hat into thinking they were suited to the house. There are far more true Slytherins in Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff than are actually in Slytherin."

"Oh yeah, who?" Vaisey, one of the wannabe Death Eaters sneered.

"Miss Granger." The Baron replied, "she has shown her ambition right from the beginning of her first year, and her cunning is impressive. Uncle Salazar would have been proud to have someone like her in his house."

"Let's get back to the book, we do not have much time, and we are wasting it." Snape said, "we will have time to return to this conversation later."

**Harry, who was now sleeping in Sirius's room, lay in bed with his wand light trained on the old photograph of his father, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew, and muttered the plan to himself for another ten minutes. As he extinguished his wand, however, he was thinking not of Polyjuice Potion, Puking Pastilles, or the navy blue robes of Magical Maintenance;**

"You were thinking of Gregorovitch, weren't you?" Lily said.

"Yeah." Harry nodded, "I knew that Voldemort wouldn't give up, and that he was still in danger. I did wonder how long he could stay hidden from a thing with as much talent as Voldemort, no matter how much I wish it wasn't true."

**he thought of Gregorovitch the wand maker, and how long he could hope to remain hidden while Voldemort sought him so determinedly.**

**Dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste.**

"**You look terrible," was Ron's greeting, as he entered the room to wake Harry.**

"**Not for long," said Harry, yawning.**

"No," Hermione giggled, "Not until you've had your customary ten mugs of strong coffee."

"I'm not exactly a morning person, but I can cope." Harry retorted. "Al, on the other hand, gets up at six every morning and is irritatingly chipper, even when he doesn't get to bed until after midnight."

"Blimey," Lily said. "I didn't think men could get up in the morning, no matter what you do. James and Sirius were perfect examples of that, especially during our school years."

"I have the same problems with both Ade and Ron." Daphne snorted, "Ade's sister Jeanie, on the other hand, definitely is a morning person, being horrifically cheerful every morning at seven."

"Who're Ade and Jeanie?" Narcissa wondered.

"Ron and my children." Daphne smiled, "Adrian Arthur and Jeanette Adele."

"And who's Al?" Snape asked.

"Our second son." Lucius smirked, "his full name is Albus Severus."

"Merlin." Snape whispered, "I'm honoured."

"You have Harry to thank." Lucius smiled, "he chose it."

"I … thank you." Snape mumbled, going slightly pink in the cheeks at the thought of Harry naming a child after him.

**They found Hermione downstairs in the kitchen. She was being served coffee and hot rolls by Kreacher and wearing the slightly manic expression that Harry associated with exam revision.**

"Hermione is to be avoided when she's wearing that look." Seamus laughed, "especially if she has her wand in her hand."

"So you've finally learned that it's a bad idea to interrupt her when she's revising." Dean cheered, "this calls for a celebration."

"Congratulations." The Weasley twins yelled, conjuring a sparkly pink banner and waving it around.

"OK, that's enough." Mrs Weasley said.

"And for Merlin's sake, please get rid of the banner. It's too pink." Neville grimaced, covering his eyes as if to try and avoid going blind.

"**Robes," she said under her breath, acknowledging their presence with a nervous nod and continuing to poke around in her beaded bag, "Polyjuice Potion … Invisibility Cloak … Decoy Detonators … You should each take a couple just in case … Puking Pastilles, Nosebleed Nougat, Extendable Ears …"**

"I meant to ask earlier, but forgot, what are they?" James queried.

"Weasley products." George smirked, "the Puking Pastilles and Nosebleed Nougat are part of our Skiving Snackbox range, which temporarily make you ill, but have an antidote on the other end, while the Extendable Ears are self-explanatory, and Decoy Detonators, well, they should also be self-explanatory."

"You'll get to hear about what a Decoy Detonator does, probably in the next chapter." Harry added.

"Cool." James grinned.

**They gulped down their breakfast, then set off upstairs, Kreacher bowing them out and promising to have a steak-and-kidney pie ready for them when they returned.**

"**Bless him," said Ron fondly, "and when you think I used to fantasize about cutting off his head and sticking it on the wall."**

"Which of your ancestors came up with that horrible idea?" Justin asked, looking vaguely green.

"Great-Aunt Elladora." Dorea replied, "she was one of grandfather Phineas' sisters. The other was disowned for marrying a Muggle. I tried to trace her descendants, but because they weren't magical, it was a bit difficult. I did find out that of her three sons and two daughters, only one had children. I didn't manage to discover what happened to their children."

"Do you know any names?" Colin asked, wondering if he was right in thinking that the Black his mother had mentioned as being her great-great-grandmother was the same one Dorea was talking about.

"Isla Black married Bob Hitchens, and the older of their two daughters was called Victoria." Dorea replied with a confused frown.

"I thought so." Colin grinned, "she was Mum's great-great-grandmother."

"That is nice to know." Dorea smiled, "I tried so hard to trace Great-Aunt Isla's family, despite the fact that grandfather Phineas insisted that she be disowned. I'm glad that not only have I finally found out what happened to her, but also that magic has returned to that line."

**They made their way onto the front step with immense caution. They could see a couple of puffy-eyed Death Eaters watching the house from across the misty square. **

"It's nice to know that the Death Eaters are becoming sleepless insomniacs." Bill snorted.

"I'm glad I wasn't one of them." Lucius murmured, "it was hard enough trying to sleep in the same house as Voldemort, without being deprived of sleep by standing watching that house every other night."

**Hermione Disapparated with Ron first, then came back for Harry.**

**After the usual brief spell of darkness and near suffocation, Harry found himself in the tiny alleyway where the first phase of their plan was scheduled to take place. It was as yet deserted, except for a couple of large bins; the first Ministry workers did not usually appear here until at least eight o'clock.**

"**Right then," said Hermione, checking her watch. "she ought to be here in about five minutes.**

"Did they saw who they were going to stun?" Eleanor asked quietly.

"No." Justin replied, "at least I didn't hear a name."

"Oh." Eleanor nodded.

**When I've stunned her –"**

"**Hermione, we know," said Ron sternly. "And I thought we were supposed to open the door before she got here?"**

"I thought it was usually Ron who had to be reminded of the plans, with Hermione doing the reminding." Pansy said, scratching her head in confusion.

"Oh it is." Harry nodded, "Hermione's very good at planning, but not so good at the execution of said plans."

**Hermione squealed.**

"**I nearly forgot! Stand back –"**

**She pointed her wand at the padlocked and heavily graffitied fire door beside them, which burst open with a crash. The dark corridor behind it led, as they knew from their careful scouting trips, into an empty theatre. Hermione pulled the door back toward her, to make it look as thought it was still closed.**

"**And now," she said, turning, back to face the other two in the alleyway, "we put on the Cloak again –"**

"– **and we wait," Ron finished, throwing it over Hermione's head like baize over a budgerigar and rolling his eyes at Harry.**

"It is a good idea to make sure every member of the group knows the plan, but there is little point in going over it again while it is in motion." Moody growled.

**Little more than a minute later, there was a tiny _pop_ and a little Ministry witch with flyaway grey hair Apparated feet from them,**

"That sounds like Mafalda." Percy mused.

"Who?" Eleanor asked.

"Mafalda Hopkirk." Percy replied, "she works in the Improper Use of Magic Office."

"She would be a good person to impersonate." Kingsley nodded, "she can go almost anywhere without being questioned too much."

**blinking a little in the sudden brightness: the sun had just come out from behind a cloud. She barely had time to enjoy the unexpected warmth, however, before Hermione's silent Stunning Spell hit her in the chest and she toppled over.**

"**Nicely done, Hermione," said Ron, emerging behind a bin beside the theatre door as Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak. Together they carried the little witch into the dark passageway that led backstage. Hermione plucked a few hairs from the witch's head and added them to a flask of muddy Polyjuice Potion she had taken from the beaded bag. Ron was rummaging through the little witch's handbag.**

"Honestly Ron, don't you know not to go rummaging through witches' handbags?" George scolded jokingly.

"They would need to find her name-tag." Scrimgeour said, "all Ministry personnel should wear a name-tag on their robes, partly for identification, but also so that people know where they are authorised to go. Not many actually do, and I'm almost sure Voldemort wouldn't enforce that rule, but there are a few who do wear those tags. Madame Hopkirk is one of them."

"I was joking." George snorted.

"**She's Mafalda Hopkirk," he said, reading a small card that identified their victim as an assistant in the Improper Use of Magic Office. "You'd better take this, Hermione, and here are the tokens."**

**He passed her several small golden coins, all embossed with the letters M.O.M., which he had taken from the witch's purse.**

**Hermione drank the Polyjuice Potion, which was now a pleasant heliotrope colour,**

"That's a nice colour." Dennis grinned, "it probably tastes quite nice as well."

**and within seconds stood before them, the double of Mafalda Hopkirk. As she removed Mafalda's spectacles and put them on, Harry checked his watch.**

"**We're running late, Mr Magical Maintenance will be here any second."**

**They hurried to close the door on the real Mafalda; Harry and Ron threw the Invisibility Cloak over themselves but Hermione remained in view, waiting. Seconds later there was another pop, and a small, ferrety looking wizard appeared before them.**

"Remember Crouch." Ginny giggled at Draco.

"Yeah." The blond groaned, "but I try not to remember the idiot that turned me into a creature that ended up being my animagus form."

"You are seriously cute as a ferret though." Hermione whispered.

Draco cheered up as Hermione kept whispering in his ear, and as everyone stared in confusion at him, he began to blush as well.

"Get a room." Ginny yelled, laughing at the pair of them.

"**Oh, hello, Mafalda."**

"**Hello!" said Hermione in a quavery voice, "How are you today?"**

"**Not so good, actually," replied the little wizard, who looked thoroughly downcast.**

**As Hermione and the wizard headed for the main road, Harry and Ron crept along behind them.**

"**I'm sorry to hear you're under the weather," said Hermione, talking firmly over the little wizard and he tried to expound upon his problems; it was essential to stop him from reaching the street. "Here, have a sweet."**

"**Eh? Oh, no thanks –"**

"**I insist!" said Hermione aggressively, shaking the bag of pastilles in his face.**

"Important, never take a sweet off Hermione when she's being aggressive." Ginny giggled.

**Looking rather alarmed, the little wizard took one.**

"Yes, I'm sure he would be rather alarmed." Dean nodded, "Hermione can be scary at times."

**The effect was instantaneous. The moment the pastille touched his tongue, the little wizard started vomiting so hard that he did not even notice as Hermione yanked a handful of hairs from the top of his head.**

"**Oh dear!" she said, as he splattered the alley with sick. "Perhaps you'd better take the day off!"**

"**No – no!" He choked and retched, trying to continue on his way despite being unable to walk straight. "I must – today – must go –"**

"That's not good." Mr Weasley said, "there has got to be some reason he's so desperate to get to the Ministry."

"Who is he?" Justin asked.

"That's Reg Cattermole." Percy grimaced, "and his wife is a Muggle-born. If I'm right, and I really don't want to be, he wants to be there for her, because she's probably being questioned."

"Merlin, that's terrible." Susan gasped.

"Yeah, it really is." Percy sighed, "but I hope that reading this book will prevent that kind of thing happening this time around."

"Indeed." Albus nodded sadly.

"**But that's just silly!" said Hermione, alarmed. "You can't go to work in this state – I think you ought to go to St. Mungo's and get them to sort you out."**

**The wizard had collapsed, heaving, onto all fours, still trying to crawl toward the main street.**

"**You simply can't go to work like this!" cried Hermione.**

**At last he seemed to accept the truth of her words. Using a reposed Hermione to claw his way back into a standing position, he turned on the spot and vanished, leaving nothing behind but the bag Ron had snatched from his hand as he went and some flying chunks of vomit.**

"Oh that's disgusting." Lily grimaced, going slightly green and trying to fight the nausea that seemed to be trying to overtake her.

"**Urgh," said Hermione, holding up the skirt of her robe to avoid the puddles of sick. "It would have made much less mess to stun him too."**

"**Yeah," said Ron, emerging from under the cloak holding the wizard's bag, "but I still think a whole pile of unconscious bodies would have drawn more attention.**

"Ron, have you and Hermione swapped bodies?" Seamus asked, "this is weird."

"Yeah, Ron's being sensible, and Hermione wants to be lazy." Dean agreed, shaking his head as if that would help.

**Keen on his job, though, isn't he? Chuck us the hair and the potion, then."**

**Within two minutes, Ron stood before them, as small and ferrety as the sick wizard, and wearing the navy blue robes that had been folded in his bag.**

"**Weird he wasn't wearing them today, wasn't it, seeing how much he wanted to go?**

"It sounds very much like he wanted to be there for his wife, and that he wasn't actually going to be working." Kingsley.

**Anyway, I'm Reg Cattermole, according to the label in the back."**

"**Now wait here," Hermione told Harry, who was still under the Invisibility Cloak, "and we'll be back with some hairs for you."**

"So you don't even know who you're going to be impersonating." Dorea exclaimed, "that's not good. You won't even know what his job is, and might be more suspicious."

"It worked out all right." Harry smiled, "you'll see."

**He had to wait ten minutes, but it seemed much longer to Harry, skulking alone in the sick-splattered alleyway beside the door concealing the Stunned Mafalda. Finally Ron and Hermione reappeared.**

"**We don't know who he is," Hermione said, passing Harry several curly black hairs, "but he's gone home with a dreadful nosebleed! Here, he's pretty tall, you'll need bigger robes …"**

"Understatement." Harry snorted, "the man was nearly seven foot."

"That's big." Dean laughed.

"I think I know who it is." Mr Weasley muttered, "he's another one who would be good to impersonate."

"If it is who I think it is, then I agree." Percy nodded.

"Who do you think it is?" Hannah asked.

"Albert Runcorn." Percy replied, "he's not a Death Eater, and as far as I know, he hates the Death Eaters, so I'm kind of surprised that he would stick around after the take-over."

"But he is a high-ranking official, and has done underhanded things to get there." Kingsley pointed out, "he doesn't have many friends in the Ministry, either, so you shouldn't be under too much suspicion."

**She pulled out a set of the old robes Kreacher had laundered for them, and Harry retired to take the potion and change.**

**Once the painful transformation was complete he was more than six feet tall and, from what he could tell from his well-muscled arms, powerfully built. He also had a beard. Stowing the Invisibility Cloak and his glasses inside his new robes, he rejoined the other two.**

"**Blimey, that's scary," said Ron, looking up at Harry, who now towered over him.**

"He really is tall, if he's taller than Ron, who is one of the tallest in our year." Neville sniggered.

"Do remember that Ron is Polyjuiced as Reg Cattermole, who is pretty short." Kingsley pointed out, "and Runcorn really does tower over Cattermole."

"And as for Ron being one of the tallest in our year, that's currently." Hermione giggled, "after the war was over, Harry had a massive growth spurt. Between the end of the final battle and us beginning our jobs at the SGC, he grew to about six foot three."

"That's the effect of a Potter curse." Charlus grimaced.

"How many curses are there on the Potter family?" Oliver asked.

"There were four." James grinned, "all male Potters are cursed to have appalling eyesight, really messy hair, be really short until they turn seventeen or eighteen, and there used to be a fourth, which stated that all Potter males would fall for red-heads."

"That one seems to have been broken, though I'm not sure how." Charlus muttered.

"Evidently." Snape smirked, "unless, of course, Lucius is a closet red-head."

"Can you imagine me with red hair?" Lucius yelped.

"No." Draco grinned, cocking his head to one side as he tried.

"**Take one of Mafalda's tokens," Hermione told Harry, "and let's go, it's nearly nine."**

**They stepped out of the alleyway together. Fifty yards along the crowded pavement there were spiked black railings flanking two flights of stairs, one labelled GENTLEMEN, the other LADIES.**

"You need the toilet?" Justin asked with a confused frown, making Susan and Hannah giggle a bit.

"That's the entrance to the Ministry." Moody growled, staring at the curly-haired Hufflepuff with both eyes, "it masquerades as a public toilet to fool the Muggles."

"Oh." Justin, and other Muggle-borns, nodded.

"**See you in a moment, then," said Hermione nervously, and she tottered off down the steps to LADIES. Harry and Ron joined a number of oddly dressed men descending into what appeared to be an ordinary underground public toilet, tiled in grimy black and white.**

"**Morning, Reg!" called another wizard in navy blue robes as he let himself into a cubicle by inserting his golden token into a slot in the door. "Blooming pain in the bum, this, eh? Forcing us all to get to work this way! Who are they expecting to turn up, Harry Potter?"**

"Oh the irony." Abraxas sniggered.

**The wizard roared with laughter at his own wit. Ron gave a forced chuckle.**

"**Yeah," he said, "stupid, isn't it?"**

**And he and Harry let themselves into adjoining cubicles.**

"Oh Merlin." Dean choked, "that's disgusting."

"What's wrong?" Justin asked.

"They have to stand in the toilets." Dean grimaced, "then flush themselves into the Ministry."

"And who knows what's been in those toilets." Seamus added, with a very green complexion.

"Nothing." Moody roared, "those toilets are kept far cleaner than any other toilet around, and no one uses them as proper toilets anyway. No one would want to go near them if they weren't clean."

**To Harry's left and right came the sound of flushing. He crouched down and peered through the gap at the bottom of the cubicle, just in time to see a pair of booted feet climbing into the toilet next door. He looked left and saw Ron blinking at him.**

"**We have to flush ourselves in?" he whispered.**

"**Looks like it," Harry whispered back; his voice came out deep and gravely.**

"Definitely sounds like Runcorn." Percy whispered, nervous about what could happen to his youngest brother.

**They both stood up. Feeling exceptionally foolish, Harry clambered into the toilet.**

"I bet it looked really silly." Dean laughed.

**He knew at once that he had done the right thing; thought he appeared to be standing in water, his shoes, feet, and robes remained quite dry. He reached up, pulled the chain, and next moment had zoomed down a short chute, emerging out of a fireplace into the Ministry of Magic.**

**He got up clumsily; there was a lot more of his body than he was accustomed to.**

"Yes, Runcorn is six foot eleven." Kingsley grinned.

**The great Atrium seemed darker than Harry remembered it. Previously a golden fountain had filled the centre of the hall, casting shimmering spots of light over the polished wooden floor and walls. **

"Is it too much to ask the Ministry not to have a statue that shows just how far up its arse its head is?" Lily asked angrily. "The Fountain of Magical Brethren is utterly degrading, not just to house-elves, goblins and centaurs, but also to witches and wizards."

"What do you mean?" Percy queried, wondering just what was wrong with the statue.

"No witch or wizard would be seen dead wearing a vapid smile like the ones on that statue." Lily snapped, "and no goblin or centaur would be caught dead looking adoringly at any witch or wizard. The only one that statue got right is the house-elf."

"At least that statue was a lot nicer than the one that replaced it after the Ministry fell." Harry said.

**Now a gigantic statue of black stone dominated the scene. It was rather frightening, this vast sculpture of a witch and a wizard sitting on ornately carved thrones, looking down at the Ministry workers toppling out of fireplaces below them.**

**Engraved in foot-high letters at the base of the statue were the words MAGIC IS MIGHT.**

"That's ominous." Charlus muttered.

"Are the Ministry workers blind or something?" Remus asked, "how can they not realise that Voldemort had taken over with a statue like that in the atrium?"

"The ones who were against Voldemort kept their heads down, staying quiet because they didn't know who they could trust, while those who were higher up, like Umbridge, were followers. She became a Death Eater, probably a week after Fudge was kicked out, but I'm not entirely certain of that, and I know that Fudge, too, became a Death Eater at some point." Harry replied, "whether he was coerced or not, I never found out."

"Merlin." Percy muttered, scribbling that information down, along with a lot of other things he wanted to remember.

**Harry received a heavy blow on the back of the legs. Another wizard had just flown out of the fireplace behind him.**

"**Out of the way, can't y – oh, sorry, Runcorn."**

**Clearly frightened, the balding wizard hurried away. Apparently the man who Harry was impersonating, Runcorn, was intimidating.**

"He can be." Mr Weasley nodded.

"**Psst!" said a voice, and he looked around to see a wispy little witch and the ferrety wizard from Magical Maintenance gesturing to him from over beside the statue. Harry hastened to join them.**

"**You got in all right, then?" Hermione whispered to Harry.**

"**No, he's still stuck in the bog," said Ron.**

"Ron, your sense of humour could do with some work." Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes as Ron burst out laughing at his own wit.

"**Oh, very funny … It's horrible, isn't it?" she said to Harry, who was staring up at the statue. "Have you seen what they're sitting on?"**

**Harry looked more closely and realized that what he had thought were decoratively carved thrones were actually mounds of carved humans: hundreds and hundreds of naked bodies, men, women, and children, all with rather stupid, ugly faces, twisted and pressed together to support the weight of the handsomely robed wizards.**

"Gross." Susan grimaced, downing a stomach-calming potion that Snape had levitated over to her.

"**Muggles," whispered Hermione, "In their rightful place. Come on, let's get going."**

"That truly is disgusting." Lily said.

**They joined the stream of witches and wizards moving toward the golden gates at the end of the hall, looking around as surreptitiously as possible, but there was no sign of the distinctive figure of Dolores Umbridge. **

"Yes, she is rather distinctive-looking." Mr Weasley nodded, "especially with that pink cardigan she likes wearing."

**They passed through the gates and into a smaller hall, where queues were forming in front of twenty golden grilles housing as many lifts. They had barely joined the nearest one when a voice said, "Cattermole!"**

"That's bad." Bill grimaced, glancing at his youngest brother concernedly, worried about how much trouble Ron would get into.

**They looked around: Harry's stomach turned over. One of the Death Eaters who had witnessed Dumbledore's death was striding toward them.**

"That's either Yaxley, or Greyback." James grimaced.

"Greyback wouldn't have been allowed in the Ministry." Remus snarled, "he's too much of a monster for Voldemort to allow him there. Voldemort probably wouldn't even allow him to take the Mark."

"He didn't." Harry said, "that was Yaxley."

**The Ministry workers beside them fell silent, their eyes downcast; Harry could feel fear rippling through them.**

"I'm not surprised." Kingsley sighed, "he's one nasty son of a bitch."

**The man's scowling, slightly brutish face was somehow at odds with his magnificent, sweeping robes, which were embroidered with much gold thread. Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, "Morning, Yaxley!" Yaxley ignored them.**

"**I requested somebody from Magical Maintenance to sort out my office, Cattermole. It's still raining in there."**

**Ron looked around as though hoping somebody else would intervene, but nobody spoke.**

"**Raining … in your office? That's – that's not good, is it?"**

**Ron gave a nervous laugh. Yaxley's eyes widened.**

"Laughing in Yaxley's presence is a really bad idea." Percy whispered, terrified that he was going to hear about his youngest brother dying or being horribly injured. He had forgotten that Ron, like Harry, had had a copy of his soul sent back from when he was sixty-six, so he couldn't have died at seventeen.

"**You think it's funny, Cattermole, do you?"**

**A pair of witches broke away from the queue for the lift and bustled off.**

"**No," said Ron, "no, of course –"**

"**You realize that I am on my way downstairs to interrogate your wife, Cattermole? In fact, I'm quite surprised you're not down there holding her hand while she waits.**

"That utter bastard." Lily snarled, "how dare he make fun of someone else just because of their heritage."

"Voldemort and most of his Death Eaters are utter bastards." Harry grimaced, "making fun of people for their heritage is tame for them."

**Already given her up as a bad job, have you? Probably wise. Be sure and marry a Pure-blood next time."**

**Hermione had let out a little squeak of horror. Yaxley looked at her. She coughed feebly and turned away.**

"**I – I –" stammered Ron.**

"**But if _my_ wife were accused of being a Mudblood," said Yaxley, **

"I cannot believe that anyone would be so cruel as to allow that horrible word to be used in the Ministry of all places." James ground out, "Ministry officials are supposed to be polite, up-standing people, so the public can trust that they will do their jobs properly, but that ..." He trailed off, too angry to think of anything other than his desire to find Yaxley and pound his face into pulp.

"– **not that any woman I married would ever be mistaken for such filth – and the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement needed a job doing, **

"Merlin, the Ministry really has gone to the dogs if he's in that position." Remus sighed.

**I would make it my priority to do this job, Cattermole. Do you understand me?"**

"**Yes," whispered Ron.**

"**Then attend to it, Cattermole, and if my office is not completely dry within an hour, your wife's Blood Status will be in even graver doubt than it is now."**

"That is by far, one of the most despicable ways to get someone to do what you want." Charlus whispered in horror.

**The golden grille before them clattered open. With a nod and unpleasant smile to Harry, who was evidently expected to appreciate this treatment of Cattermole, **

"Runcorn may hate the Death Eaters, but because I would assume that he would be expected to enjoy anything they did or said, you should probably pretend to laugh." Kingsley sighed.

**Yaxley swept away toward another lift. Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered theirs, but nobody followed them: it was as if they were infectious. The grilles shut with a clang and the lift began to move upward.**

"**What am I going to do?" Ron asked the other two at once; he looked stricken. "If I don't turn up, my wife … I mean, Cattermole's wife –"**

"Don't get yourself confused, Ron." Fred grimaced, "she's his wife not yours."

"**We'll come with you, we should stick together –" began Harry, but Ron shook his head feverishly.**

"**That's mental, we haven't got much time. You two find Umbridge, I'll go and sort out Yaxley's office – but how do I stop it raining?"**

"**Try _Finite Incantatem_," said Hermione at once, "that should stop the rain if it's a hex or curse; if it doesn't something's gone wrong with an Atmospheric Charm, which will be more difficult to fix, so as an interim measure try _Impervius_ to protect his belongings –"**

"If it's a problem with the Atmospheric charms, then I doubt that there is anything one person can do." Mr Weasley sighed, "it would probably take two or three people, working unison, to fix it."

"**Say it again, slowly –" said Ron, searching his pockets desperately for a quill, but at that moment the lift juddered to a halt. A disembodied female voice said, "Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau," and the grilles slid open again, admitting a couple of wizards and several pale violet paper aeroplanes that fluttered around the lamp in the ceiling of the lift.**

"Evidently they did manage to find a replacement for owl post." Charlus whistled, "I know that a group of people had been petitioning for something cleaner, but there were no results when I was last there."

"Those paper aeroplanes only came into use about ten years ago." Mr Weasley said, trying to take his mind off the danger his youngest son and honorary children were facing.

"**Morning, Albert," said a bushy whiskered man, smiling at Harry. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione as the lift creaked upward once more; Hermione was now whispering frantic instructions to Ron. The wizard leaned toward Harry, leering, and muttering "Dirk Cresswell, eh? From Goblin Liaison? Nice one, Albert. I'm pretty confident I'll get his job now!"**

"What did Runcorn do to poor Dirk?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Had him arrested for being Muggle-born." Hermione replied disgustedly.

"That's horrible." Lily whispered, "he was a couple of years below us. It's such a shame a nice guy like him fell foul of the Death Eaters."

**He winked. Harry smiled back, hoping that this would suffice. The lift stopped; the grilles opened once more.**

"**Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services," said the disembodied witch's voice.**

**Harry saw Hermione give Ron a little push and he hurried out of the lift, followed by the other wizards, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. The moment the golden door had closed Hermione said, very fast, "Actually, Harry, I think I'd better go after him, I don't think he knows what he's doing and if he gets caught the whole thing –"**

"Not a good idea." Moody growled, "that would be too suspicious."

"**Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff."**

**The golden grilles slid apart again and Hermione gasped. Four people stood before them, two of them deep in conversation: a long-haired wizard wearing magnificent robes of black and gold, and a squat, toad like witch wearing a velvet bow in her short hair and clutching a clipboard to her chest.**

"Thicknesse and Umbridge." Kingsley sighed, "you've found her."

"That was the end of the chapter." Mrs Weasley said, "who wants to go next?"

"I might as well." Harry shrugged.

"You are the only one who might stand a chance of not ripping the book to shreds." Hermione nodded, "especially if the chapter is what I think it will be."


	17. Chapter 17

**The Muggle-Born Registration Commission**

"**The Muggle-Born Registration Commission**," Harry read, holding the book with the tips of his fingers, as if he did not wish to touch it.

"I can already tell that I'm not going to like this chapter." Lily grimaced.

"I can't say that any of us will." Minerva sniffed.

"**Ah, Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he?"**

"Simpering toad." The twins growled in unison.

"That is still very creepy." Angelina commented.

"It's even creepier when others, who aren't the twins, do it." Draco snorted.

"I can imagine." Alicia nodded.

"**Y-yes," squeaked Hermione.**

"**Good, you'll do perfectly well." Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold. "That's that problem solved, Minister, if Mafalda can be spared for record-keeping we shall be able to start straight away." She consulted her clipboard. "Ten people today and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee!**

"And I bet that not one of them is going to be given a fair hearing." James grumbled.

"If you thought they would, you'd be living in a dream world." Katie snorted, "Umbridge is a nasty cow, and I bet she's having the time of her life torturing those poor people."

**Tut, tut… even here, in the heart of the Ministry!" She stepped into the lift besides Hermione, as did the two wizards who had been listening to Umbridge's conversation with the Minister. "We'll go straight down, Mafalda, you'll find everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, Albert, aren't you getting out?"**

"**Yes, of course," said Harry in Runcorn's deep voice.**

**Harry stepped out of the life. The golden grilles clanged shut behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Harry saw Hermione's anxious face sinking back out of sight, a tall wizard on either side of her, Umbridge's velvet hair-bow level with her shoulder.**

"**What brings you here, Runcorn?" asked the new Minister of Magic. His long black hair and beard were streaked with silver and a great overhanging forehead shadowed his glinting eyes, putting Harry in the mind of a crab looking out from beneath a rock.**

"Strange imagery." Luna murmured dreamily, garnering odd looks from those who heard her.

"**Needed a quick word with," Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Arthur Weasley.**

"Maybe not the best idea mentioning me." Mr Weasley grimaced, "but I am glad that you think I would possibly be able to help."

**Someone said he was up on level one."**

"**Ah," said Plum Thicknesse. "Has he been caught having contact with an Undesirable?"**

"A what?" Mrs Weasley, Lily, Dorea and Narcissa shrieked, not one of them believing, for a second, that calling people Undesirables, was a good thing.

"If you hadn't interrupted, you'd know by now." Charlie grinned, "I'm sure the book will explain."

"Smart-arse." Narcissa mumbled, trying not to reveal the fact that she and Charlie were together, though she had no idea that Lucius and Harry had already told everyone.

"**No," said Harry, his throat dry. "No, nothing like that."**

"**Ah, well. It's only a matter of time," said Thicknesse. "If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn."**

"They're better than bigoted pureblood fuckheads like you Thicknesse." James howled, glaring at the book.

"Three things, one, language, two, the book can't hear you, and three, mind the ears." Lily said, "I'm just as angry as you, but tone it down."

"**Good day, Minister."**

**Harry watched Thicknesse march away along the thickly carpeted corridor. The moment the Minister had passed out of sight, Harry tugged the Invisibility Cloak out from under his heavy black cloak, threw it over himself, and set off along the corridor in the opposite direction. Runcorn was so tall that Harry was forced to stoop to make sure his big feet were hidden.**

"Wow, he's too tall for the cloak." Charlus whistled, "I don't think I've ever met anyone who couldn't fit under that cloak."

"Nor have I." James said with wide eyes, calmer than he had been.

**Panic pulsed in the pit of his stomach. As he passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon it, the might of the Ministry, its complexity, its impenetrability, seemed to force itself upon him so that the plan he had been carefully concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four weeks seemed laughably childish. **

"You did damn well to get in." Moody growled, "don't get yourself down, you've done better than many Aurors would have done."

**They had concentrated all their efforts on getting inside without being detected: They had not given a moment's thought to what they would do if they were forced to separate.**

"There was no easy way to plan for that." Tonks said, "there are just too many possible scenarios that you can't plan for all of them. Admittedly it might have been a good idea for you to plan for one or two, but as we keep saying, no plan survives first contact with the enemy."

**Now Hermione was stuck in court proceedings, which would undoubtedly last hours;**

"But Harry's really good at thinking on his feet, so you should be all right." Neville said, "I'd trust Harry to get me out of a tight situation, and he doesn't need much time to come up with a good solution, no matter how crazy it may seem."

**Ron was struggling to do magic that Harry was sure was beyond him,**

"Lovely." Ginny said sarcastically.

"I think it was beyond Cattermole, and as has already been said, one wizard alone cannot easily fix a problem with Atmospheric charms." Ron shrugged, not bothered at all.

**a woman's liberty possibly depending on the outcome, and he, Harry, was wandering around on the top floor when he knew perfectly well that his quarry had just gone down in the lift.**

"Which all adds up to another episode of 'Harry Flying by the Seat of his Pants'." The twins grinned.

"That's not exactly reassuring." Lily said.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." James whispered soothingly, "he's got your brains after all."

**He stopped walking, leaned against a wall, and tried to decide what to do. The silence pressed upon him: there was no bustling or talk or swift footsteps here; the purple-carpeted corridors were as hushed as though the _Muffliato_ charm had been cast over the place.**

**_Her office must be up here_, Harry thought.**

"Good idea, the locket might not be in there, but you would feel really stupid if it was and you didn't look." Moody nodded.

"Though I wouldn't wish the sight of that office on anyone." Kingsley grimaced, "it's enough to make people want to gouge their own eyes out with a spoon."

"That doesn't sound pleasant." Stephen muttered.

**It seemed most unlikely that Umbridge would keep her jewellery in her office, but on the other hand it seemed foolish not to search it to make sure. He therefore set off along the corridor again, passing nobody but a frowning wizard who was murmuring instructions to a quill that floated in front of him, scribbling on a trail of parchment.**

"Those quills are by far the most annoying things on earth." Remus said, "especially for those who have to listen to the owners constantly murmuring and mumbling."

**Now paying attention to the names on the doors, Harry turned a corner. Halfway along the next corridor he emerged into a wide, open space where a dozen witches and wizards sat in rows at small desks not unlike school desks, though much more highly polished and free from graffiti. Harry paused to watch them, for the effect was quite mesmerizing. They were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of coloured paper were flying in every direction like little pink kites. After a few seconds, Harry realized that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, that the papers all formed the same pattern and after a few more seconds he realized what he was watching was the creation of pamphlets – that the paper squares were pages, which, when assembled, folded and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks beside each witch or wizard.**

"What's the betting that those pages are going to contain nasty anti-Muggle-born propaganda?" James asked rhetorically.

"No one's going to bet against you." Remus sighed, "we all know they will."

**Harry crept closer, although the workers were so intent on what they were doing that he doubted they would notice a carpet-muffled footstep, and he slid a completed pamphlet from the pile beside a young witch. He examined it beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Its pink cover was emblazoned with a golden title:**

_**Mudbloods**_

_**and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society**_

"Are we absolutely certain Umbridge is not a toad masquerading as a human?" Lily snarled.

"Now that you mention it, not really." James grimaced, "I want to know how anyone can willingly believe any of that tripe."

**Beneath the title was a picture of a red rose with a simpering face in the middle of its petals, being strangled by a green weed with fangs and a scowl. **

"How can anyone believe that purebloods are so much better than Muggle-borns that they liken themselves to roses?" Charlus exclaimed angrily.

"I don't know." Ron said, "but here's something for the bigots to ponder, the three most powerful wizards of this century, all have Muggle ancestors."

"Who are the three most powerful wizards of this century?" Narcissa asked curiously, wanting clarification.

"Professor Dumbledore, whose mother was Muggle-born, Voldemort, whose father was a Muggle, and Harry." Hermione replied.

"Whose mother is Muggle-born." Narcissa whispered.

"Not quite." Harry said, "that side of the family is rather complicated."

"My mother told me, the day before we went into hiding, that my grandfather was almost a squib, and that the man who raped her, leading to my birth, was a wizard." Lily added, "she never mentioned any names though."

"Intriguing." Narcissa muttered, "it would be interesting to find out who your father is."

"I only know that he was a Parselmouth." Lily sighed.

"Merlin." Narcissa gasped, "I hope I'm wrong, because I cannot imagine anyone being that evil, but the only Parselmouth I know of, is the Dark Lord himself."

"There are others." Eileen smiled, "my family are Parselmouths, but we've always kept the ability secret. However, I was an only child, and my father, despite being a harsh perfectionist, would never sink so low as to rape someone, so I know that Lily's father is not a member of my family."

"That just means that the Dark Lord is the most likely suspect." Narcissa whispered in horror, "but I cannot imagine anyone being evil enough to murder their own child."

"Voldemort murdered his own father, and created six Horcruxes, I don't think he could have sunk any further." Harry snorted bitterly.

"Unbelievable." Narcissa murmured, "I cannot believe he would create something as vile as a Horcrux, let alone six. Evidently he would be evil enough to rape someone, leaving them pregnant, and then murder his own child."

"He would indeed." Harry grimaced, "and that is exactly what he did."

"Merlin." Narcissa whispered shakily, "that means you're Voldemort's grandson."

"Unfortunately, yes." Harry nodded, "anyway, I try not to think of how closely related he and I are."

"I'm not surprised." Narcissa mumbled.

**There was no author's name upon the pamphlet, but again, the scars on the back of his right hand seemed to tingle as he examined it. Then the young witch beside him confirmed his suspicion as she said, still waving and twirling her wand, "Will the old hag be interrogating Mudbloods all day, does anyone know?"**

"Obviously the Ministry workers don't like Umbridge either." Dorea snorted.

"Of course not." Kingsley laughed, "she pissed off a lot of people in the Ministry. She has absolutely no moral centre, she's utterly ruthless, and she used any means necessary to get to one of the highest positions possible. So far, the charges against her include; illegal possession of a Blood Quill, torture of minors, and attempted murder."

"Merlin." Narcissa muttered, "and that was the woman Fudge wanted around our children?"

"Unfortunately." Draco grimaced.

"**Careful," said the wizard beside her, glancing around nervously; one of his pages slipped and fell to the floor.**

"**What, has she got magic ears as well as an eye, now?"**

"Oh bloody feck." Seamus swore, "tell me she didn't do what I think she did."

**The witch glanced toward the shining mahogany door facing the space full of pamphlet-makers; Harry looked too, and the rage reared in him like a snake. Where there might have been a peep-hole**

"I know it's a stupid question, but what's a peep-hole?" Draco asked.

"Do you remember the day my Dad tried to teach you how to play golf?" Hermione giggled.

"How could I forget?" Draco snorted, "it wasn't a lesson in golf, it was a lesson in how to tear up a golf course while trying to play golf."

"He is utterly crap at golf." Hermione nodded, "but anyway, do you remember the small, round hole on the front door, above the door-knocker and at about eye-level?"

"Yes." Draco nodded, getting his laughter under control slightly.

"That's a peep-hole." Hermione said.

"Oh." Draco muttered, "I knew it was a stupid question."

**on a Muggle front door, a large, round eye with a bright blue iris had been set into the wood – an eye that was shockingly familiar to anybody who had known Alastor Moody.**

"Bloody buggering fuck." Dean and Seamus shouted.

"That … that … bitch." James bellowed angrily.

Tonks decided that she was going to wait to show her displeasure, and started scribbling plans down on a scrap of parchment she had found in her pocket. She hoped that by waiting, she would get more satisfaction than just shouting obscenities at a book would give her.

**For a split second Harry forgot where he was and what he was doing there: He even forgot that he was invisible. He strode straight over to the door to examine the eye. It was not moving. It gazed blindly upward, frozen. The plaque beneath it read:**

_**Dolores Umbridge**_

_**Senior Undersecretary to the Minister**_

**Below that a slightly shinier new plaque read:**

_**Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission**_

"Of course she would be." Lily sighed.

"Yes, unsurprisingly." Scrimgeour nodded, "she is fanatical in her hatred of those who aren't pureblood. No matter how intelligent or powerful they are, she hates them on principal."

"Yeah, on every test she gave us last year, she marked Hermione and all the other halfbloods and Muggle-borns down, no matter how many of the questions they answered correctly." Harry grimaced, "she was far more biased towards Slytherins than Professor Snape has ever been. One one of the tests, Crabbe and Goyle should have been given zero, because none of their answers were correct, and she gave them full marks, purely because they're pureblood Slytherin."

"That's unprofessional." Snape said, "I may be biased towards my house, only because hardly any other teachers treat them fairly, but there is no way I would ever praise someone who got everything wrong, just because they were in my house."

**Harry looked back at the dozen pamphlet-makers: though they were intent upon their work, he could hardly suppose that they would not notice if the door of an empty office opened in front of them. He therefore withdrew from an inner pocket an odd object with little waving legs and a rubber-bulbed horn for a body. Crouching down beneath the Cloak, he placed the Decoy Detonator on the ground.**

"Ooh, we're actually going to get to see it in action." James cackled.

"James dear, you sound a little unhinged." Dorea remarked.

"I'm just eager." James grinned, rubbing his hands together, reminding the Muggle-borns who saw, of a character in a cartoon featuring yellow people.

**It scuttled away at once through the legs of the witches and wizards in front of him. A few moments later, during which Harry waited with his hand upon the doorknob, there came a loud bang and a great deal of acrid smoke billowed from a corner. The young witch in the front row shrieked: Pink pages flew everywhere as she and her fellows jumped up, looking around for the source of the commotion. Harry turned the doorknob, stepped into Umbridge's office, and closed the door behind him. **

"Smooth." Fred grinned, "see Mum, we told you that our products could be useful."

"Yes, you did." Mrs Weasley nodded, finally admitting defeat and beginning to accept that her twin sons were going to continue with their shop.

**He felt he had stepped back in time. The room was exactly like Umbridge's office at Hogwarts: **

"Oh Merlin." Ginny choked, "that's a horrible image. All that pink."

**Lace draperies, doilies and dried flowers covered every surface. The walls bore the same ornamental plates, each featuring a highly coloured, beribboned kitten, gambolling and frisking with sickening cuteness. The desk was covered with a flouncy, flowered cloth. **

"That's truly disgusting." Padma grimaced.

**Behind Mad-eye's eye, a telescopic attachment enabled Umbridge to spy on the workers on the other side of the door. Harry took a look through it and saw that they were all still gathered around the Decoy Detonator. He wrenched the telescope out of the door, leaving a hole behind, pulled the magical eyeball out of it, and placed it in his pocket. **

"Not a good idea." Moody growled, "they'll know that there's been an intruder."

"It may not have been a good idea, but would you want that toad bitch touching your eye?" Harry asked.

"I'm dead, it's just an eye." Moody replied, trying to hide his pleased expression at the thought that Harry respected him enough to risk his cover being blown.

**Then he turned to face the room again, raised his wand, and murmured, "_Accio Locket_."**

"Given the fact that Voldemort would have put anti-summoning charms on his Horcruxes, that wouldn't work." Regulus sighed.

"And with how possessive Umbridge was with all her belongings, I'm sure she would have done the same." Snape nodded.

**Nothing happened, but he had not expected it to; no doubt Umbridge knew all about protective charms and spells. He therefore hurried behind her desk and began pulling open all the drawers. He saw quills and notebooks and Spellotape; enchanted paper clips that coiled snakelike from their drawer and had be beaten back; a fussy little lace box full of spare hair bows and clips; but no sign of a locket.**

"She's either wearing it, or she's put in her vault at Gringotts." Terry said, "or she could have left it in a safe in her house."

**There was a filing cabinet behind the desk: Harry set to searching it. Like Filch's filing cabinet at Hogwarts, it was full of folders, each labelled with a name. It was not until Harry reached the bottommost drawer that he saw something to distract him from the search: Mr Weasley's file.**

"Oh no." Mrs Weasley whimpered, "they really are watching us."

**He pulled it out and opened it.**

_**Arthur Weasley**_

_**Blood Status:**_

_**Pure-blood, but with unacceptable pro-Muggle leanings. **_

_**Known member of the Order of the Phoenix.**_

_**Family:**_

_**Wife (Pure-blood), seven children, two youngest at Hogwarts. **_

_**NB: Youngest son currently at home, seriously ill, Ministry inspectors have confirmed.**_

_**Security Status:**_

_**TRACKED. All movements are being monitored. **_

_**Strong likelihood Undesirable No. 1 will contact (has stayed with Weasley family previously)**_

"Well, I wonder who Undesirable Number One is." Cho muttered sarcastically.

"**Undesirable Number One," Harry muttered under his breath as he replaced Mr Weasley's folder and shut the drawer. He had an idea he knew who that was, and sure enough, as he straightened up and glanced around the office for fresh hiding places he saw a poster of himself on the wall, with the words UNDESIRABLE NO. 1 emblazoned across his chest. A little pink note was stuck to it with a picture of a kitten in the corner. Harry moved across to read it and saw that Umbridge had written, '_To be punished_.'**

"Bitch." Lily said.

"Calm." James whispered, "we don't want to give anyone a heart attack."

**Angrier than ever, he proceeded to grope in the bottoms of the vases and baskets of dried flowers, but was not at all surprised that the locket was not there. He gave the office one last sweeping look, and his heart skipped a beat. Dumbledore was staring at him from a small rectangular mirror, propped up on a bookcase beside the desk.**

"I don't understand, I thought he was dead." Eleanor mumbled.

"That is odd." Justin nodded.

**Harry crossed the room at a run and snatched it up, but realized that the moment he touched it that it was not a mirror at all. **

"It's that stinking pike of Hippogriff shit Skeeter wrote." Jimmy yelled, "burn it. You're not that desperate for toilet paper."

**Dumbledore was smiling wistfully out of the front cover of a glossy book. Harry had not immediately noticed the curly green writing across his hat; _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_, nor the slightly smaller writing across his chest: _by Rita Skeeter, bestselling author of_ Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?**

"Well, that's proof that it's a pack of lies." Minerva sniffed, "the Master or Moron book was a load of rubbish as well, and not just because she didn't bother to do any true research into what she was writing about. The way it was written was awful as well, with no sign of coherency at all."

**Harry opened the book at random and saw a full-page photograph of two teenage boys, both laughing immoderately with their arms around each other's shoulders. Dumbledore, now with elbow-length hair, had grown a tiny wispy beard that recalled the one on Krum's chin that had so annoyed Ron. **

"That was taken when I'd only just started growing my beard." Albus admitted, trying to ignore the mention of his old friend and lover.

**The boy who roared in silent amusement beside Dumbledore had a gleeful, wild look about him. His golden hair fell in curls to his shoulders. Harry wondered whether it was a young Doge,**

"That's not Elphias." Flitwick said softly, "he was a brunette, not a blond."

"So who was it then?" Smith asked with a slight sneer.

"I don't know." Flitwick replied, "I only know what Elphias looked like because I taught him, but there are plenty of people who knew Albus back then, whom I never met."

**but before he could check the caption, the door of the office opened.**

"Oh that's bad." Hannah whispered.

**If Thicknesse had not been looking over his shoulder as he entered, Harry would not have had time to pull the Invisibility Cloak over himself. **

"Why did you take it off in the first place?" James asked, "that wasn't exactly sensible."

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed, deciding to resume drilling that concept into peoples' heads.

"It was easier to move around without having to constantly try and hold the cloak in place." Harry shrugged.

**As it was, he thought Thicknesse might have caught a glimpse of movement, because for a moment or two he remained quite still, staring curiously at the place where Harry had just vanished. Perhaps deciding that that all he had seen was Dumbledore scratching his nose on the front of the book,**

"Obviously he's just as thick as his name suggests." Remus sniggered.

"Don't forget, he is, unfortunately, under the Imperius, and while he may not be particularly bright at the best of times, the curse will have the effect of suppressing one's true intelligence if held on for too long." Kingsley sighed.

**for Harry had hastily replaced it upon the shelf, Thicknesse finally walked to the desk and pointed his wand at the quill standing ready in the ink pot. It sprang out and began scribbling a note to Umbridge. Very slowly, hardly daring to breathe, Harry backed out of the office into the open area beyond.**

"Careful." Susan whispered imploringly.

**The pamphlet-makers were still clustered around the remains of the Decoy Detonator, which continued to hoot feebly as it smoked. Harry hurried off up the corridor as the young witch said, "I bet it sneaked up here from Experimental Charms, they're so careless, remember that poisonous duck?"**

"When was that?" Lily asked incredulously.

"A few years ago." Scrimgeour replied, "the Committee on Experimental Charms made a duck poisonous for some unknown reason. They never did explain why, or what they were planning on doing with it, but it caused havoc when it escaped."

**Speeding back toward the lifts, Harry reviewed his options. It had never been likely that the locket was here at the Ministry, and there was no hope of bewitching its whereabouts out of Umbridge while she was sitting in a crowded court. Their priority now had to be to leave the Ministry before they were exposed, and try again another day. **

"That wouldn't be a good idea." Kingsley grimaced, "it'll be harder to get in again, especially if they realise that there was an intruder. They'll be obsessed with rooting out imposters, so security measures will be more restrictive."

**The first thing to do was to find Ron, and then they could work out a way of extracting Hermione from the courtroom.**

**The lift was empty when it arrived. Harry jumped in and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak as it started its descent. To his enormous relief, when it rattled to a halt at level two a soaking-wet and wild-eyed Ron got in.**

"**M-morning," he stammered to Harry as the lift set off again.**

"**Ron, it's me, Harry!"**

"**Harry! Blimey, I forgot what you looked like – **

"That, ladies and gentlemen, is our idiotic brother at his idiotic best." George laughed.

"He forgets what his best friend looks like when they're using Polyjuice." Fred added.

**why isn't Hermione with you?"**

"I ended up being dragged away by the toad herself." Hermione said dryly.

"**She had to go down to the courtrooms with Umbridge, she couldn't refuse, and –"**

**But before Harry could finish the lift had stopped again. The doors opened and Mr Weasley walked inside, talking to an elderly witch whose blonde hair was teased so high it resembled an anthill.**

"Ah, Wakanda." Mr Weasley muttered, "the woman who seems to see me as the son she never had."

"How did you know it was her?" Charlus asked curiously.

"She always has her hair teased high." Mr Weasley replied.

"… **I quite understand what you're saying, Wakanda, but I'm afraid I cannot be party to –"**

**Mr Weasley broke off; he had noticed Harry. It was very strange to have Mr Weasley glare at him with that much dislike. **

"It would appear that you don't like Runcorn." Orion grinned.

"I don't really." Mr Weasley sighed, "I know about some of the things he's done to get as high in the Ministry as he has. I can only imagine what he did after Voldemort took over."

**The lift doors closed and the four of them trundled downward once more.**

"**Oh hello, Reg," said Mr Weasley, looking around at the sound of steady dripping from Ron's robes. "Isn't your wife in for questioning today? Er – what's happened to you? Why are you so wet?"**

"Oh I don't know, maybe he had to fix something that was wet." Parvati said sarcastically.

"Never let it be said that those who work in the Ministry have much common sense or logic." Hermione giggled.

"Oi." Kingsley snorted, "I have common sense."

"OK, one or two people do have common sense and logic, but the rest don't." Hermione allowed.

"**Yaxley's office is raining," said Ron. He addressed Mr Weasley's shoulder, and Harry felt sure he was scared that his father might recognize him if they looked directly into each other's eyes.**

"I doubt it." Mr Weasley said, "I'm not young Miss Lovegood, I don't have the strange ability to tell who someone is when they're Polyjuiced."

"Her mother had that talent too." Lucius smiled softly, with a few tears appearing in the corners of his eyes at the memory of his younger sister. He wouldn't let them fall, no matter how much he missed her, he knew she wouldn't want him to wallow in his misery over her death.

"**I couldn't stop it, so they've sent me to get Bernie – Pillsworth, I think they said –"**

"**Yes, a lot of offices have been raining lately," said Mr. Weasley. "Did you try _Meterolojinx Recanto_? It worked for Bletchley."**

"**_Meteolojinx Recanto_?" whispered Ron. "No, I didn't. Thanks, D – I mean, thanks, Arthur."**

"I definitely would have realised that something was going on if you had called me Dad, while Polyjuiced." Mr Weasley smiled.

"Did you tell him that it was you that day?" Bill wondered.

"Eventually." Ron grinned.

**The lift doors opened; the old witch with the anthill hair left, and Ron darted past her out of sight. Harry made to follow him, but found his path blocked as Percy Weasley strode into the lift, his nose buried in some papers he was reading.**

"Oh Merlin." Percy grimaced, knowing that he was probably going to be his typical prat self and either insult his father, or completely ignore him.

**Not until the doors had clanged shut again did Percy realize he was in a lift with his father. He glanced up, saw Mr Weasley, turned radish red, and left the lift the moment the doors opened again. **

"Stubborn twat." Ginny muttered.

"Ginny." Both Narcissa and Mrs Weasley snapped.

"I deserve it." Percy sighed, "I deserve that, and much more."

**For the second time, Harry tried to get out, but this time found his way blocked by Mr Weasley's arm.**

"**One moment, Runcorn."**

"Oh boy." Bill groaned.

"You are so lucky you're talking to Harry and not the real Runcorn." Scrimgeour said.

"I know." Mr Weasley whispered.

**The lift doors closed and as they clanked down another floor, Mr Weasley said, "I hear you laid information about Dirk Cresswell."**

**Harry had the impression that Mr Weasley's anger was no less because of the brush with Percy. He decided his best chance was to act stupid.**

"You always act the complete opposite of what you are." Ginny giggled, "you act stupid when you aren't, and you act innocent when you're clearly not."

"It won't work any more." Luna sing-songed.

"I gathered that." Harry grumbled, "oh well, I can say goodbye to my ability to get out of detention."

"It was rather impressive." Hermione commented, "though I kept telling you that you would get into trouble."

"So it _was_ you who charmed that portrait to moon everyone last week." Minerva huffed, "and I'm sure you were the one who charmed everyone to end every sentence with Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which is, an exceptionally long word."

"There are longer words." Harry smirked, "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysili ogogogoch for example."

"And what does that mean?" Sprout asked.

"It's the name of a village on Anglesey." Hermione giggled, "it's Welsh, and the name is the second longest single word place name in the world with fifty-one letters in it. There is an even longer name."

"Yeah, Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, in New Zealand." Ron sniggered, "and that name has eighty-five letters. We only found out about it when we landed there a few years ago."

"Interesting." Pomfrey muttered, "let's move on."

"**Sorry?" he said.**

"**Don't pretend, Runcorn," said Mr. Weasley fiercely. "You tracked down the wizard who faked his family tree, didn't you?"**

"**I – so what if I did?" said Harry.**

"**So Dirk Cresswell is ten times the wizard you are," said Mr. Weasley quietly, as the lift sank ever lower. "And if he survives Azkaban, you'll have to answer to him, not to mention his wife, his sons, and his friends –"**

"Yes, you really are lucky." Kingsley said, "you would have been in trouble if that was the real Runcorn."

"**Arthur," Harry interrupted, "you know you're being tracked, don't you?"**

"I probably wouldn't take that well." Mr Weasley winced.

"No, but it doesn't matter, at least I had a chance to warn you." Harry smiled.

"**Is that a threat, Runcorn?" said Mr. Weasley loudly.**

"**No," said Harry, "it's a fact! They're watching your every move –"**

**The lift doors opened. They had reached the Atrium. Mr Weasley gave Harry a scathing look and swept from the lift. Harry stood there, shaken. He wished he was impersonating somebody other than Runcorn … the lift doors clanged shut.**

"I'm not surprised." Ernie said, "I don't think I could have done nearly as well as you if it had been me in that position."

**Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and put it back on. He would try to extricate Hermione on his own while Ron was dealing with the raining office.**

"Of course, I hadn't realised that Ron had gone back to Yaxley's office to try again." Charlie gasped.

"That's not good." Anthony muttered.

**When the doors opened, he stepped out into a torch-lit stone passageway quite different from the wood-panelled and carpeted corridors above. As the left rattled away again, Harry shivered slightly, looking toward the distant black door that marked the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.**

"Which just so happens to be the entrance to where some of the ZPMs are stored." Hermione giggled.

"Only a small number." Harry snorted, "there are only about a dozen there, and they're only really supposed to be used in emergencies."

"What are you talking about now?" Ernie asked irritably.

"Zero Point Modules, the power sources for all Alteran vessels." Hermione replied, "they are extremely powerful. I don't know how long one would last under normal conditions, but I do know that three were able to keep the shield on Atlantis, up for over ten thousand years, with no other systems active, and withstanding the massive pressure of nearly a mile of water."

"We also discovered that one Zero Point Module, also known as a Potentia, is capable of destroying an entire solar system, even when not fully charged." Ron added, "that's how powerful they are."

"That's pretty scary." Susan remarked.

"Yeah, it really is." Draco nodded, "it's even scarier when you know that there are three of them, fully charged, powering the shields around this place."

"What?" Justin spluttered.

"Every Alteran city-ship is powered by three ZPMs." Harry replied.

"Definitely scary." Hannah murmured.

**He set off, his destination not the black door, but the doorway he remembered on the left hand side, which opened onto the flight of stairs down to the court chambers. **

"And how do you know that?" Charlus asked.

"After Umbridge sent the Dementors after me, I was summoned for a hearing, which was supposed to be in Amelia Bones' office, but Fudge switched it to one of the courtrooms." Harry sighed.

"That utter bastard." Dorea exploded.

**His mind grappled with possibilities as he crept down them: He still had a couple of Decoy Detonators, but perhaps it would be better to simply knock on the courtroom door, enter as Runcorn, and ask for a quick word with Mafalda? Of course, he did not know whether Runcorn was sufficiently important to get away with this, and even if he managed it, Hermione's non-reappearance might trigger a search before they were clear of the Ministry …**

"Unfortunately, you'll just have to make it up as you go along." Remus sighed.

"Which he does seem to be expert at." Pansy giggled.

**Lost in thought, he did not immediately register the unnatural chill that was creeping over him, as if he were descending into fog. **

"Dementors." Lucius murmured, shivering slightly as he remembered being surrounded by those hideous creatures. Harry gently rubbed the back of the blond's hand to try and provide comfort, while Narcissa looked at her ex-husband sadly, wondering what horrors he had experienced while in Azkaban after being caught at the Ministry back in June.

**It was becoming colder and colder with every step he took; a cold that reached right down his throat and tore at his lungs. And then he felt that stealing sense of despair, or hopelessness, filling him, expanding inside him …**

"Merlin, does it have to be so descriptive?" Susan moaned, going slightly pale at the words Harry was reading out.

**_Dementors_, he thought.**

**And as he reached the foot of the stairs and turned to his right he saw a dreadful scene. The dark passage outside the courtrooms was packed with tall, black-hooded figures, their faces completely hidden, their ragged breathing the only sound in the place. The petrified Muggle-borns brought in for questioning sat huddled and shivering on hard wooden benches. Most of them were hiding their faces in their hands, perhaps in an instinctive attempt to shield themselves from the Dementors' greedy mouths. Some were accompanied by families, others sat alone. The Dementors were gliding up and down in front of them, and the cold, and the hopelessness, and the despair of the place laid themselves upon Harry like a curse …**

"Those poor Muggle-borns." Hannah yelled, "what have they done to deserve that hell?"

"Nothing." Kingsley grimaced, "but according to Voldemort and Umbridge, they were born."

**_Fight it_, he told himself,**

"Don't conjure a Patronus." Moody growled lowly, "they'll know it's you, and you really don't want that."

**but he knew that he could not conjure a Patronus here without revealing himself instantly. So he moved forward as silently as he could, and with every step he took numbness seemed to steal over his brain, but he forced himself to think of Hermione and of Ron, who needed him.**

**Moving through the towering black figures was terrifying: The eyeless faces hidden beneath their hoods turned as he passed, and he felt sure that they sensed him, sensed, perhaps, a human presence that still had some hope, some resilience …**

"Dementors aren't affected by any disguise, so they probably could sense you." Albus nodded.

"I know one disguise that they can't detect." Harry said, "they can't detect Animagus forms. That's how Sirius stayed relatively sane, and how he escaped."

"Merlin." Scrimgeour muttered, "there aren't many Animagi around, but that does seem like one of the big holes in Azkaban's security, that needs to be patched up. Who knows when an Animagus who is actually guilty will be able to just sneak out, especially if it was so easy for an innocent one?"

"It might not be as easy for someone who is guilty." Remus pointed out, "Sirius knew he was innocent, and he held on to that thought, which was neither happy nor depressing, so the Dementors couldn't affect it in any way, so that may have helped him retain a little of his sanity. Someone who is actually guilty would know that they weren't innocent, so they wouldn't have anything to focus on."

**And then, abruptly and shockingly amid the frozen silence, one of the dungeon doors on the left of the corridor was flung open and screams echoed out of it.**

"**No, no, I'm half-blood, I'm half-blood, I tell you! My father was a wizard, he _was_, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he's a well known broomstick designer, look him up, I tell you – get your hands off me, get your hands off –"**

"Arkie Alderton really was a broomstick designer, and his daughter-in-law was a Muggle." Minerva said, "it's a pity he died a few years ago, so we can't really know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if that man was his grandson."

"He might well have been." Hermione nodded sadly.

"**This is your final warning," said Umbridge's soft voice, magically magnified so that it sounded clearly over the man's desperate screams. "If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss."**

"That sick … twisted … toad-bitch." James yelled angrily, "oh when I see her I'm gonna ..."

"James, you'll do no such thing." Dorea exclaimed, cutting her son off and making Mrs Weasley smile at the fact that she seemed to be getting the man to show a good example. "Not without me to help." That last sentence really did not make the Weasley matriarch happy, but she knew there was nothing she could do, not if she didn't want to alienate her sons or husband, who all seemed to agree with Dorea, and were grinning widely.

**The man's screams subsided, but dry sobs echoed through the corridor.**

"**Take him away," said Umbridge.**

**Two Dementors appeared in the doorway of the courtroom, their rotting, scabbed hands clutching the upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. They glided away down the corridor with him, and the darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him from sight.**

"**Next – Mary Cattermole," called Umbridge.**

"I thought so." Percy cringed, "I didn't want to be right though."

**A small woman stood up; she was trembling from head to foot. Her dark hair was smoothed back into a bun and she wore long plain robes. Her face was completely bloodless.**

"I'm not surprised." Colin said quietly, having completely lost all desire to bounce or hero-worship Harry. He knew that now wasn't the time.

"I'm just glad that none of the students were captured." Hermione whispered, beginning to cry, "I cannot imagine how much more heartbreaking it would have been to see children sitting there, waiting to find out whether they could return to their families and Hogwarts, or whether they would be sent to Azkaban."

"I don't want to think of that possibility." Sprout murmured faintly.

**As she passed the Dementors, Harry saw her shudder.**

**He did it instinctively, without any sort of plan, because he hated the sight of her walking alone into the dungeon: as the door began to swing closed, he slipped into the courtroom behind her.**

"You're too damn noble." Lily whimpered.

"I have a feeling that Harry will try and rescue those people towards the end of this chapter." James sighed.

"How do you know?" Tracy asked, surprising those sitting closest to her.

"Because I wouldn't be able to ignore the terror those Muggle-borns are no doubt feeling, and I would want to rescue them all too." James replied.

"I think any decent person would." Cygnus snarled, "only those who have no sense of morality would leave them there."

"Only those who have no humanity would have them there in the first place." Orion snorted bitterly.

**It was not the same room in which he had once been interrogated for improper use of magic. This one was much smaller, though the ceiling was quite as high it gave the claustrophobic sense of being stuck at the bottom of a deep well.**

"Why did you have to put that horrible image in my head?" Mark asked, shuddering as his imagination went wild.

"I wasn't the one who wrote the book." Harry replied gently, knowing that the first year was extremely claustrophobic and any mention of small spaces made him nervous.

**There were more Dementors in here, casting their freezing aura over the place; they stood like faceless sentinels in the corners farthest from the high, raised platform. Here, behind a balustrade, sat Umbridge, with Yaxley on one side of her, and Hermione, quite as white-faced as Mrs Cattermole, on the other.**

"Poor Hermione, having to watch all those trials without being able to do anything to help." Lavender whispered, "I can't imagine how horrible that would have been."

"It must have been torture." Parvati agreed.

"It was horrible, but I wouldn't call that torture." Hermione said, having had forty-odd years to recover from what she had been put through, "I know what torture feels like, and you'll read about that later."

**At the foot of the platform, a bight-silver, long-haired cat prowled up and down, up and down, and Harry realized that it was there to protect the prosecutors from the despair that emanated from the Dementors: that was for the accused to feel, not the accusers.**

"I wouldn't have expected Umbridge to be able to conjure a Patronus." Remus muttered, "I thought she was too evil for that."

"I don't know how she was able to, but maybe the fact that she gained pleasure from the misery of others was enough for her to be able to." Harry sighed.

"**Sit down," said Umbridge in her soft, silky voice.**

**Mrs Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the middle of the floor beneath the raised platform. The moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the arms of the chair and bound her there.**

"That's a bastardisation of their true purpose." Hannah yelled, absolutely incensed because she was utterly dedicated to justice. "I thought those chains were only supposed to be used on those who were guilty, not innocent victims."

"They are." Kingsley growled, beginning to show what he could be like when he got angry.

"**You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" asked Umbridge.**

**Mrs Cattermole gave a single, shaky nod.**

"**Married to Reginald Cattermole of the Magical Maintenance Department?"**

**Mrs Cattermole burst into tears.**

"**I don't know where he is, he was supposed to meet me here!"**

**Umbridge ignored her.**

"Oh that horrible bitch." Ginny snarled, ignoring Mrs Weasley's glare, "she should just fall down and die in a ditch. Better yet, let's toss her into a volcano."

"Preferably one that's erupting." Luna added in a tone lacking her typical dreaminess.

"**Mother to Maisie, Ellie and Alfred Cattermole?" Mrs Cattermole sobbed harder than ever.**

"Oh Bloody hell." Pomfrey snapped uncharacteristically, but even she had her limits, "that's dreadful, I know those children. I was the one to help her give birth, and it's horrible that anyone would even consider what Umbridge is doing."

"How old are they?" Colin asked nervously.

"Maisie is currently eight, Ellie's five, and little Alfred, he only turned one this August." Pomfrey replied, crying at the thought of those children losing their mother at such young ages.

"This won't happen this time around, not if we can help it." Harry said forcefully, lacing his voice with a calming charm, something he had learned to do when he turned forty in the original time-line.

"**They're frightened, they think that I might not come home –"**

"**Spare us," spat Yaxley. "The brats of Mudbloods do not stir our sympathies."**

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Lily shrieked, "just shut up and go away Yaxley."

"He's not here." James said quietly, trying to calm his furious wife down, "he can't hear you, so don't waste your breath. You'll get your chance after the book is finished."

"I hope so." Lily growled, "he won't know what's hit him when I catch up with him."

**Mrs Cattermole's sobs masked Harry's footsteps as he made his way carefully toward the steps that led up to the raised platform. The moment he had passed the place where the Patronus cat patrolled, he felt the change in temperature: It was warm and comfortable here. The Patronus, he was sure, was Umbridge's, and it glowed brightly because she was so happy here, in her element, upholding the twisted laws she had helped to write. **

"Twisted is the right word." Caruso muttered angrily.

**Slowly and very carefully he edged his way along the platform behind Umbridge, Yaxley, and Hermione, taking a seat behind the latter. He was worried about making Hermione jump. He thought of casting the _Muffliato_ charm upon Umbridge and Yaxley, but even murmuring the word might cause Hermione alarm.**

"Can't that spell be cast non-verbally?" Regulus wondered.

"Yeah, but back then, there were a few spells that I had difficulty casting without saying the words." Harry shrugged, "and that was one of them."

"Oh." Regulus nodded, understanding.

**Then Umbridge raised her voice to address Mrs Cattermole, and Harry seized his chance.**

"**I'm behind you," he whispered into Hermione's ear.**

**As he had expected, she jumped so violently she nearly overturned the bottle of ink with which she was supposed to be recording the interview, but both Umbridge and Yaxley were concentrating upon Mrs Cattermole, and this went unnoticed.**

"I think she might have preferred the method you thought about and discarded as a possibility." Dean grinned.

"Yeah, then I might not have nearly had a heart attack." Hermione nodded, mock-glaring at Harry, who smiled innocently.

"**A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry today, Mrs Cattermole," Umbridge was saying. "Eight-and-three-quarter inches, cherry, unicorn-hair core. Do you recognize the description?"**

**Mrs Cattermole nodded, mopping her eyes on her sleeve.**

"**Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard you took that wand?"**

"Can I please find and kill that bitch?" Lily asked, glaring at the book fiercely.

"I would say yes, but that would land you in Azkaban, and I don't want my wife to go to Azkaban, so no." James said quickly, grabbing Lily in a strong hug to try and comfort her.

"That's disappointing." Lily muttered, burying her head in James' shoulder and trying not to cry.

"**T-took?" sobbed Mrs Cattermole. "I didn't t-take it from anybody. I b-bought it when I was eleven years old. It – it – it – chose me."**

**She cried harder than ever.**

**Umbridge laughed a soft girlish laugh that made Harry want to attack her. **

"I'm not surprised you wanted to attack her." Hermione grumbled, "I had to sit through several interrogations like that, and every single time, she laughed at the people she was 'prosecuting'." She mimed quotation-marks when she said the last word, making everyone aware of how much she hated that description of what was going on in the courtroom.

**She leaned forward over the barrier, the better to observe her victim, and something gold swung forward too, and dangled over the void: the locket.**

**Hermione had seen it; she let out a little squeak, but Umbridge and Yaxley, still intent upon their prey, were deaf to everything else.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody roared, thinking that that was the perfect time to see how many people were actually practising what he preached. Unfortunately, not many were, so he glared as they all jumped, except Harry and a few of those sitting at the middle table.

"Pipe down." Slughorn said, "we do not need to go deaf just yet."

"**No," said Umbridge, "no, I don't think so, Mrs Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards.**

"Just because someone's parents aren't magical, doesn't mean they can't be." Dennis screamed, hating the woman who had made his second year highly unpleasant, purely because his parents weren't magical.

**You are not a witch. I have your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here – Mafalda, pass them to me."**

**Umbridge held out a small hand: she looked so toad-like at that moment that Harry was quite surprised not to see webs between the stubby fingers. Hermione's hands were shaking with shock. She fumbled in a pile of documents balanced on the chair beside her, finally withdrawing a sheaf of parchment with Mrs Cattermole's name on it.**

"**That's – that's pretty, Dolores," she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Umbridge's blouse.**

"**What?" snapped Umbridge, glancing down. "Oh yes – an old family heirloom," she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. "The 'S' stands for Selwyn … I am related to the Selwyns …**

"I don't think she is." Kingsley snorted.

"And while that locket is old, it was never a Selwyn artefact." Harry laughed, "that was Eleanor Slytherin's locket."

"Aunt Eleanor." The Bloody Baron whispered, speaking for the first time in a while, after floating out of the way, listening to the story. "She was a sweet woman, and Uncle Salazar absolutely adored her. He was heartbroken when she died."

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?" Snape queried.

"Santos insulted her so much that she threw herself off the tallest tower." The Baron replied, "he hated the fact that she was a poor Muggle-born girl who milked cows seven days a week, every week, just to earn enough money to buy herself one meal a day. She couldn't even afford proper clothing, or anything even vaguely resembling a proper bed, the only money she had was what she managed to earn from milking cows."

"Merlin." Sprout whispered, "that poor girl. I can't even imagine living in that kind of poverty."

"Unfortunately, it was pretty common in those days." The Baron sighed quietly, drifting slightly closer to the middle table, where a lot of the people who had been commenting, sat.

**Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related … **

"If she is pureblood, then that might be true." Charlus grimaced, "a lot of the pureblood families are inter-related. The Potters haven't been immune to that, despite occasionally marrying half-bloods, Muggle-borns and those who aren't British."

"Indeed, in fact, I once looked at our family to try and determine how closely you and I were related, Charlus." Abraxas grinned.

"How closely?" Charlus asked.

"You're my twenty-seventh cousin once removed." Abraxas smirked.

"That's a little further than I expected." Charlus commented, "I knew that Antonia Potter had married your great-great-great-grandfather, but I had thought that she was my great-great-great-great-grandfather's sister, not his twenty-second cousin. I did not realise that she came from the first David's line, rather than the main line, but, of course, that line had always been a bit weird, keeping themselves to themselves, so I'm not really surprised that I didn't know they were still around."

**A pity," she continued in a louder voice, flicking through Mrs Cattermole's questionnaire, "that the same cannot be said for you. 'Parents professions: greengrocers'."**

"The fact that they are greengrocers does not mean that they aren't magical." Lily said.

"Why not?" Vaisey, one of the Slytherin chasers, and Death Eater sympathiser, sneered.

"Sometimes, magical people leave the magical world, and take up jobs in the Muggle world." Orion growled, "they do it to get away from pureblood bigots like Umbridge."

"We're perfect examples of that." Abraxas added, "do remember that I chose to leave the magical world and become a primary school English teacher."

"The rest of us went to Paraguay, and we spent our time studying the plants and creatures there." Cygnus shrugged, "there are some rather fascinating creatures out there."

"Interesting." Tracy muttered, shooting silencing charms at all the Slytherins that she knew were either planning to join Voldemort, or who supported pureblood supremacy without wanting to become Death Eaters.

**Yaxley laughed jeeringly. Below, the fluffy silver cat patrolled up and down, and the Dementors stood waiting in the corners.**

**It was Umbridge's lie that brought the blood surging into Harry's brain and obliterated his sense of caution;**

"Yeah, when Harry loses his temper, he completely loses the plot." Hermione giggled.

"No he doesn't." Bill corrected, "he hasn't gone completely bonkers while we've been reading, and he has got angry a couple of times."

"That wasn't me angry." Harry snorted, "that was me mildly irritated. You really don't want to see me angry."

"That sounds scary." Hannah whispered.

**that the locket she had taken as a bribe from a petty criminal was being used to bolster her own pure-blood credentials. He raised his wand, not even troubling to keep it concealed beneath the Invisibility Cloak, and said, "_Stupefy!_"**

"Good." Lily and Dorea growled.

"But it would have been nice if you'd used something a little more severe than just a stunning charm." Dorea continued.

"I would have liked to, but we couldn't risk it." Harry grumbled, "we did not want to leave too many clues to our incursion."

"What a pity." Remus said snidely, "I would have loved to hear about toad-woman dying in a most unpleasant manner."

"What's got your hackles up so high?" James asked incredulously.

"That … _thing_ … is the reason I can't get a proper job." Remus replied, barely controlling the wolf inside him, "that _thing_ wrote several laws restricting the rights of people like me. Most of the Werewolves that joined Voldemort, joined because of _it_, and _it_'s laws."

**There was a flash of red light; Umbridge crumpled and her forehead hit the edge of the balustrade: Mrs Cattermole's papers slid off her lap onto the floor and, down below, the prowling silver cat vanished.**

"Not good." Lisa whispered, "Mrs Cattermole isn't protected from the Dementors any more."

**Ice-cold air hit them like an oncoming wind: Yaxley, confused, looked around for the source of the trouble and saw Harry's disembodied hand and wand pointing at him. He tried to draw his own wand, but too late.**

"**_Stupefy!_"**

**Yaxley slid to the ground to lie curled on the floor.**

"Yesssssss." Lily hissed in satisfaction.

"Take that you bastard." Remus grinned gleefully.

"**Harry!"**

"**Hermione, if you think I was going to sit here and let her pretend –"**

"**Harry, Mrs Cattermole!"**

"Quickly, conjure a Patronus." Hannah implored, completely forgetting that she was talking to a book.

**Harry whirled around, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak; down below, the Dementors had moved out of their corners; they were gliding toward the woman chained to the chair: Whether because the Patronus had vanished or because they sensed that their masters were no longer in control, they seemed to have abandoned restraint. Mrs Cattermole let out a terrible scream of fear as a slimy, scabbed hand grasped her chin and forced her face back.**

"Don't let them take her soul." Susan cried, terrified that a woman who wasn't even in any danger, was going to get her soul sucked out.

"**_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_"**

**The silver stag soared from the tip of Harry's wand and leaped toward the dementors, which fell back and melted into the dark shadows again. The stag's light, more powerful and more warming than the cat's protection, filled the whole dungeon as it cantered around the room.**

"Unbelievable." Charlus whispered, "you really can conjure a fully corporeal Patronus at the age of seventeen."

"Don't forget solid." Caruso sniggered.

"I'm actually jealous." Charlus said, "I couldn't produce a corporeal Patronus until I was thirty, and I still can't produce a solid one."

"You don't look any older than thirty sir." Dean yelled out.

"Well, thank you." Charlus smiled, "indeed, when Harry brought us back from the past, I was actually sixty, and was somehow de-aged, however, I am not complaining."

"How is that possible?" Pomfrey asked, wistfully wondering whether she would be able to get the senior Potter male into the hospital wing so she could give him a check-up.

"Nanites." Lucius snorted, "the replicas we used to replace them, injected them with several thousand nanites, which repaired every cell in their bodies. It is actually a good thing that they did that. He was three days away from kidney failure, apparently. Now he isn't."

"Oh dear." Pomfrey murmured.

"**Get the Horcrux," Harry told Hermione.**

**He ran back down the steps, stuffing the Invisibility Cloak into his back, and approached Mrs Cattermole.**

"**You?" she whispered, gazing into his face. "But – but Reg said you were the one who submitted my name for questioning!"**

"Oh that's just going to confuse the poor woman." Narcissa whispered softly.

"**Did I?" muttered Harry, tugging at the chains binding her arms, "Well, I've had a change of heart. _Diffindo!_" Nothing happened. **

"**Hermione, how do I get rid of these chains?"**

"**Wait, I'm trying something up here –"**

"**Hermione, we're surrounded by Dementors!"**

"It's not like I could have forgotten." Hermione huffed.

"**I know that, Harry, but if she wakes up and the locket's gone – I need to duplicate it … _Geminio!_ There … that should fool her …"**

"Of course it would." Percy nodded, "she's not exactly the most observant person around."

"She's not a person." Remus snorted bitterly, "she's a thing."

**Hermione came running downstairs.**

"**Let's see … _Relashio!_"**

**The chains clinked and withdrew into the arms of the chair. Mrs Cattermole looked just as frightened as ever before.**

"**I don't understand," she whispered.**

"You don't have to understand dearie, just let them help." Lily said, talking to the book as if it were Mary Cattermole, instead of just an inanimate collection of pages bound together and covered with colourful paper.

"**You're going to leave here with us," said Harry, pulling her to her feet. "Go home, grab your children and get out, get out of the country if you've got to. Disguise yourselves and run. You've seen how it is, you won't get anything like a fair hearing here."**

"Unfortunately." Cygnus sighed, "I don't like it, but with bigots like Umbitch and Voldemort in charge, no Muggle-born would ever get a fair hearing."

"**Harry," said Hermione, "how are we going to get out of here with all those Dementors outside the door?"**

"**Patronuses," said Harry, pointing his wand at his own: the stag slowed and walked, still gleaming brightly, toward the door. "As many as we can muster; do yours, Hermione."**

"**_Expec – Expecto patronum_," said Hermione. Nothing happened.**

"**It's the only spell she ever has trouble with," Harry told a completely bemused Mrs Cattermole. **

"Of course she's bemused." Susan giggled, now that she knew that they would be getting out. "You look like Runcorn and Mafalda Hopkirk, but you're not using their names."

"**Bit unfortunate, really … Come on Hermione …"**

"Honestly Harry." Seamus grinned, "you're in the middle of a life and death situation, and you're acting so casual."

"Could you seem any more relaxed?" Neville laughed, slightly awed at his friend's attitude.

"I don't know." Harry snorted.

"In relaxed conditions, he could be so relaxed that he's fast asleep." Hermione giggled.

"Do you remember that day when we were taking a break from monitoring the satellite network, and he nearly oozed out of his seat onto the floor?" Ron sniggered.

"He was completely boneless." Lucius smirked.

"You were too." Draco chuckled.

"I'm not all that surprised about that though." Hermione pointed out, "Harry had just finished giving him a massage."

"He has magical hands." Lucius agreed, going slightly pink at the accidental double entendre.

"Too much information." Draco yelped, "I do not want to know about what you two get up to behind closed doors."

"Pardon?" Narcissa asked incredulously.

"Harry and I are bonded." Lucius replied quietly.

"Congratulations." Narcissa cooed, happy that Lucius had finally found his soul-mate, after years of searching.

"**_Expecto patronum!_"**

**A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione's wand and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag.**

"Well done." James grinned, happy that his son's friend, and soon, he hoped, a friend of his too, could help his son survive and fight.

"**C'mon," said Harry, and he led Hermione and Mrs Cattermole to the door. **

**When the Patronuses glided out of the dungeon there were cries of shock from the people waiting outside. Harry looked around; the Dementors were falling back on both sides of them, melding into the darkness, scattering before the silver creatures.**

"**It's been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families," Harry told the waiting Muggle-born, who were dazzled by the light of the Patronuses and still cowering slightly. "Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That's the – er – new official position. Now, if you'll just follow the Patronuses, you'll be able to leave the Atrium."**

"Good thinking." Scrimgeour said, slightly unhappy about the Ministry being broken into, but not as upset as he would have been had it not been taken over by Voldemort. "That way they'll think you were there just to help the Muggle-borns, and create a bit of havoc, so they won't look too hard at what happened."

**They managed to get up the stone stops without being intercepted, but as they approached the lifts Harry started to have misgivings. If they emerged into the Atrium with a silver stag, and otter soaring alongside it, and twenty or so people, half of them accused Muggle-borns, he could not help feeling that they would attract unwanted attention. He had just reached this unwelcome conclusion when the lift clanged to a halt in front of them.**

"**Reg!" screamed Mrs Cattermole, and she threw herself into Ron's arms. **

"Oh dear." Daphne grimaced, "Ron has no idea how to deal with crying women. Angry women, he can cope with, but crying women, he'd run screaming for the hills."

"He grew up with five older brothers." Ginny pointed out, "and we all know that boys think that they're too macho to cry."

"Unless they've been kicked in the nuts." Pansy giggled, "like I accidentally did when we were learning basic hand-to-hand."

"Of course we'd cry." Ron snorted.

"Girls have no idea how painful it is to be kicked in that area." Seamus nodded.

"**Runcorn let me out, he attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, and he's told all of us to leave the country. I think we'd better do it, Reg, I really do, let's hurry home and fetch the children and – why are you so wet?"**

"**Water," muttered Ron, disengaging himself. "Harry, they know there are intruders inside the Ministry, something about a hole in Umbridge's office door. I reckon we've got five minutes if that –"**

"I told you it was a bad idea to take the eye." Moody growled, "but I'm grateful you did." His last sentence was only audible to those sitting next to him, he'd muttered so quietly.

**Hermione's Patronus vanished with a _pop_ as she turned a horror struck face to Harry.**

"**Harry, if we're trapped here –!"**

"**We won't be if we move fast," said Harry. He addressed the silent group behind them, who were all gawping at him.**

"They probably don't understand what's going on." Parvati giggled.

"Well of course not, they're watching someone who looks like Runcorn talking to Mafalda Hopkirk, and she's calling him Harry." Padma snorted.

"**Who's got wands?"**

**About half of them raised their hands.**

"**Okay, all of you who haven't got wands need to attach yourself to somebody who has. We'll need to be fast before they stop us. Come on."**

**They managed to cram themselves into two lifts. Harry's Patronus stood sentinel before the golden grilles as they shut and the lifts began to rise.**

"**Level eight," said the witch's cool voice, "Atrium."**

"Come on." Susan whispered, "Harry's luck work."

**Harry knew at once that they were in trouble. The Atrium was full of people moving from fireplace to fireplace, sealing them off.**

"**Harry!" squeaked Hermione. "What are we going to –?"**

"**STOP!" Harry thundered, and the powerful voice of Runcorn echoed through the Atrium: the wizards sealing the fireplaces froze. **

"It's a good thing you were impersonating him." Kingsley said, "he really does have a powerful voice, and unfortunately commands quite a bit of respect, so that'll work in your favour."

"**Follow me," he whispered to the group of terrified Muggle-borns, who moved forward in a huddle, shepherded by Ron and Hermione.**

"**What's up, Albert?" said the same balding wizard who had followed Harry out of the fireplace earlier. He looked nervous.**

"**This lot need to leave before you seal the exits," said Harry with all the authority he could muster.**

**The group of wizards in front of him looked at one another.**

"**We've been told to seal all exits and not let anyone –"**

"**_Are you contradicting me?_" Harry blustered. "Would you like me to have your family tree examined, like I had Dirk Cresswell's?"**

"It's a good thing you told him that, Arthur." Remus said, "I can only imagine what could have happened if you hadn't had that confrontation earlier."

"I know." Mr Weasley whispered with wide eyes, "I'm just glad I could help in some small way."

"I still wish I hadn't had to issue that threat though." Harry grimaced, "it may have worked, but it let a very taste in my mouth."

"I bet it would." Lily nodded.

"**Sorry!" gasped the balding wizard, backing away. "I didn't mean nothing, Albert, but I thought … I thought they were in for questioning and …"**

"**Their blood is pure," said Harry, and his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. "Purer than many of yours, I dare-say. Off you go," he boomed to the Muggle-borns, who scurried forward into the fireplaces and began to vanish in pairs.**

"I hope they did take your advice and left the country." Angelina said.

"They did." Hermione nodded, "after the all-clear at the end of the war, we went to the Ministries of every single country in the world, making sure they knew to give press releases saying that Britain was once again safe for Muggle-borns. A lot of the people we rescued, found us and thanked us for what we did."

**The Ministry wizards hung back, some looking confused, others scared and fearful. Then –**

"**Mary!"**

**Mrs Cattermole looked over her shoulder. The real Reg Cattermole, no longer vomiting but pale and wan, had just come running out of a lift.**

"Did he have to recover from the puking pastille just then?" Bill asked exasperatedly.

"It should have lasted longer." George muttered, "unless he somehow found out that it was one of ours and took the antidote."

"I'll look at the recipe again, to see if I can work out how long it would last without the antidote." Fred said, "if only we had a Potions Master working with us, so all our potion-based pranks could be perfected properly."

"Hint hint." George grinned at Snape, who withheld a groan at the thought of how much more sophisticated and subtle the Weasley pranks could become.

"**R – Reg?"**

**She looked from her husband to Ron, who swore loudly.**

**The balding wizard gaped, his head turning ludicrously from one Reg Cattermole to the other.**

"Oh no, he's figuring it out." Hannah whispered.

"**Hey – what's going on? What is this?"**

"**Seal the exit! SEAL IT!"**

**Yaxley had burst out of another lift and was running toward the group beside the fireplaces, into which all of the Muggle-borns but Mrs Cattermole had now vanished. As the balding wizard lifted his wand, Harry raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending him flying through the air.**

"Well, that's one way to shut him up." Remus sniggered.

"**He's been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!" Harry shouted.**

"I would have thought that Runcorn, in that situation, would use the M word." Cygnus grimaced.

"Yeah, he'd call them Mudbloods, because that's all they are." Graham Montague sneered, glaring at the Blacks and Malfoys, because he was eager to join the Death Eaters and felt that they had betrayed his Lord. He may not like the fact that the Dark Lord was only a half-blood, but the fact that the Dark Lord's mother was a descendant of Slytherin, was enough for many to ignore the disgrace of his Muggle blood. Even the fact that the Slytherin house ghost had said that Salazar wasn't a pureblood bigot, or even a pureblood, didn't matter to those who wanted to purify the wizarding world.

"Never use that word in my presence." Snape snarled angrily, "you are supposed to be noble Slytherins, with ambition and cunning, but all I've seen over the years is back-stabbing, prejudice and infantile behaviour."

"Indeed." The Baron agreed, "it was better before Tom Riddle arrived. Before him, there was no real rivalry between any of the houses, and it was pretty common to see Gryffindors and Slytherins getting along as well as Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Before Riddle arrived, the only rivalry between any of the houses was friendly competition on the Quidditch pitch. Nothing else, and I am sure that Uncle Salazar would be ashamed of what his house has become."

Montague sneered once more, just waiting for the day he could take the Mark and show these Blood Traitors just how powerful a pureblood wizard with no Muggle blood anywhere in his ancestry was.

**The balding wizard's colleagues set up an uproar, under cover of which Ron grabbed Mrs Cattermole, pulled her into the still-open fireplace, and disappeared. Confused, Yaxley looked from Harry to the punched wizard, while the real Reg Cattermole screamed, "My wife! Who was that with my wife? What's going on?"**

**Harry saw Yaxley's head turn, saw an inkling of truth dawn on that brutish face.**

"Well, he is part troll." Regulus shrugged, "the Yaxleys did like to experiment a few generations back, but I'm not sure how much they actually benefited from having children with trolls."

"Yeah, I didn't want to know that." Charlie choked, going slightly green. Narcissa withheld a smile as she gently rubbed the back of her red-headed boyfriend's hand to try and provide some comfort.

"**Come on!" Harry shouted at Hermione; he seized her hand and they jumped into the fireplace together as Yaxley's curse sailed over Harry's head. They spun for a few seconds before shooting up out of a toilet into a cubicle. Harry flung open the door: Ron was standing there beside the sinks, still wrestling with Mrs Cattermole.**

"**Reg, I don't understand –"**

"**Let go, I'm not your husband, you've got to go home!"**

**There was a noise in the cubicle behind them; Harry looked around; Yaxley had just appeared.**

"**LET'S GO!" Harry yelled. He seized Hermione by the hand and Ron by the arm and turned on the spot.**

"You three seem to be breaking most of the recognised laws of magic." Albus commented, "Side-along Apparating two people is supposed to be impossible."

"Just like head-butting a Killing curse and surviving." Harry grinned.

"And being able to conjure a corporeal and solid Patronus at the age of thirteen." Hermione giggled.

**Darkness engulfed them, along with the sensation of compressing hands, but something was wrong … Hermione's hand seemed to be sliding out of his grip …**

**He wondered whether he was going to suffocate; he could not breathe or see and the only solid things in the world were Ron's arm and Hermione's fingers, which were slowly slipping away….**

**And then he saw the door to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, with its serpent door knocker, but before he could draw breath, there was a scream and a flash of purple light: Hermione's hand was suddenly vice-like upon his and everything went dark again.**

"What happened?" Lily asked nervously.

"That was the end of the chapter, so if you want to find out, someone has to volunteer to read the next one." Harry said.

"I'll read." Remus smiled, "I want to find out what happened next."

"Can we eat first?" Seamus asked, grinning sheepishly when everyone burst out laughing as his stomach rumbled loudly, easing some of the tension in the hall.

"That might be a good idea." Albus nodded, "it is lunch-time."


	18. Chapter 18

**Break**

Sighing in slight disappointment, the students and guests agreed to the break. They wanted to continue reading, but realised that they needed a break to digest what had already been revealed, and to refuel, before beginning the next part of the story, so they all grabbed what they wanted from the platters of food that had been sent up from the kitchens and began to eat.

"Harry, you keep mentioning the fact that you and your friends have been given extra training, but you haven't mentioned what you've been learning." Charlus said, "I was just wondering, what have the teachers been training you in?"

"All sorts of things." Harry grinned, "in first year they were teaching the basics of hand-to-hand combat, as well as making sure we kept fit."

"Yeah, we were all taken to the hospital wing so Pomfrey could give us all physicals before that started, telling us what our fitness levels were at the beginning of the training, and making sure that the training could be tailored properly." Hermione nodded, "that was not pleasant."

"Ya think?" Draco snorted, "we had to strip down to our underwear, and apart from being super-embarrassing, it was not exactly warm."

"Well anyway, she scanned us all, and apart from the fact that Harry and I hadn't been given any inoculations against wizarding diseases, and the fact that Harry was the smallest of all of us, though even then he was hung like a Hippogriff, we were all pretty healthy." Hermione continued, smirking as Harry glared, "once our training, especially the fitness training, began, we were given a load of potions that would help us recover from all the exercise we were doing, and we had to take them with every meal."

"I would have thought that Petunia and Vernon's lack of care would have done some damage, no offence Harry." Lily said.

"There was a bit, but not as much as we would have expected." Snape sighed, "I think Harry's magic helped him stave off most of the problems that are associated with neglect. I saw the results of Poppy's scans too, which is how I knew what potions to brew, and apart from a couple of broken bones that hadn't healed properly, and slight anaemia, as well as his short stature, there were no other obvious or severe side-effects. I did brew a couple of potions to counter-act the anaemia and to repair his bones, as well as a potion to boost his ability to absorb nutrients, but other than that, the potions to aid recovery were all I was required to brew."

"That's a relief." James whispered, "so what else were you taught?"

"We were taught more advanced things than the rest of the students, as well as a few obscure things, like Occlumency and Legilimency." Draco added, "by the end of our first year, we were about half-way through third year on most of our subjects, except History and Divination, which we couldn't really learn."

"We had given all six, time-turners, allowing them to attend their regular lessons, and then repeat the day, training." Snape put in, "the three teachers, myself, Minerva and Filius, also used time-turners when necessary, and made sure that we used rooms that weren't usually accessed, so no one saw our time-turned doubles."

"We were also advised to make sure no one knew that we were getting extra training, so had to pretend to be average first years in every lesson." Daphne grimaced, "that was not fun."

"No, it got a bit boring, pretending to flub up every so often." Draco agreed, "but we all knew it was important for everyone to think that we were nothing special, so they would underestimate us."

"So you were basically learning more of the things you would have learned in school, as well as a few extra things." Dorea nodded.

"Yes, we didn't want to be overloaded, so we felt that that was plenty to start with." Harry replied, "we didn't actually do much over the summers, not really being able to meet up, but we were able to read ahead in all our books, and were given a project to think about and plan."

"We were told to come up with a method of communication that didn't rely on either the Floo Network or owl post." Draco grinned, "in fact, we actually came up with two, enchanted parchment that one of us could write on and the rest would then receive the message, and small communicators vaguely resembling Muggle radios."

"They did remarkably well, though the actual enchanting had to be done by us." Snape smiled warmly, beginning to get over his dislike of Harry's father, "we knew that even the most conscientious children with the most disciplined minds could not hope to be able to work enchantments as delicate as the ones that were needed."

"Interesting." James grinned, ignoring the fact that he was talking civilly with his former school rival, "when did you teach them how to become Animagi?"

"That was during their third year." Snape replied, "they were old enough and had learned enough of their other subjects for us to believe that they were ready to begin. It only took them about six months to complete the transformation, and we discovered that every witch and wizard has up to four animagus forms, each representing one small aspect of their personality. We also found out that Harry is what is known as a True Shape-Shifter, which is similar to a Metamorphmagus and an Animagus all rolled into one. True Shape-Shifters can turn into pretty much anything, whether it be a person, an animal or an inanimate object, with no limits as far as we know."

"Impressive." Lily whispered.

"So why didn't Harry, Hermione and Ron use their animal forms the night Pettigrew escaped?" Remus wondered.

"We thought about it, but we didn't want to reveal anything to the little Shol'va." Hermione grimaced.

"Besides, when I said that it only took them six months to complete the transformation, that was only for the first form they started working on." Snape said, "and I cannot imagine a barnacle goose being particularly useful, or an Orang-utan."

"Oh dear." James muttered, trying not to grin.

"I'd like to know, why did Harry chose a venomous snake like that Black Mamba when he slithered out of my arms?" Lily asked.

"It's one of my favourites." Harry smirked.

"And you couldn't have chosen something less venomous, like, oh I don't know, a Burmese python?" James whined, just as the great hall doors opened to let in two new people.

"Tough." Harry snorted, glancing at the newcomers curiously, at first wondering who they were, but after recognising them, he wondered why they were there.

"Can we help you?" Albus asked, his hand twitching towards his wand.

"It's more a question of how we can help you." The female said, pushing her wavy blonde hair out of her purple eyes.

"Not it's not." The male snorted, turning towards his companion with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know why you came Dee, I only came to give Uncle Harry the results of the live-fire test."

"I'm going to give these wonderful people a taste of Pegasus." The woman, now identified as Dee, grinned.

"Please, introduce yourselves." Minerva sniffed, "we would like to know who you are."

"All right Mum." The male smirked, "my name is Caratacus, but call me Rus, or Rusty, I'm not fussed."

Snape's eyebrows shot up and he swivelled to face Caratacus in shock. He wanted to study the man he now knew was his son, and wondered if he would get a chance to meet his daughter too.

"You're not fussed about what people call you?" Dee asked, "really? Even when Camilla calls you her hunny-bun?"

"She's my wife, she's allowed to call me whatever-the-hell she likes." Rus snorted, "however, I would prefer that you and my parents didn't call me hunny-bun."

"Enough." Albus said quietly, "I'm pretty sure we don't have time to listen to your flirting."

"Flirting?" Dee squealed, "he's married, to one of my cousins."

"And she's married too." Rus grinned, "to one of Aunt Story's kids."

"Anyway." Minerva said sternly, "we really don't have time to listen to you discuss your private lives."

"Right." Dee nodded, "my name, if you really want to know, is Andromeda Chloe Malfoy, but for Merlin's sake, like Auntie Andromeda and cousin Nym, don't call me anything other than Dee."

"Yeah, her twin brother knows just how much she hates her name." Rus grinned, "and just how good she is at the Bat-bogey hex."

"I'm not the only one" Dee giggled, "remember who taught me how to cast it."

"Yes I know who taught you the Bat-bogey." Rus nodded grimly, "your half-sister, with a bit of help from your mother. I do feel very sorry for your poor father, though I feel even more sorry for Lucky Lucy, who had to endure your mother's outbursts and baby-voice when he became a spook in the cult of unfortunate fashions and no hygiene."

"You really do have a strange way with words." Dee muttered, "I think you've spent far too much time with Uncle Draco. Let's just get on with what we need to do."

"Brilliant plan." Rus said, reaching into his back pocket and grabbing the several items that he had stored there. "Right, Uncle Harry, I have here, technical specifications for the upgraded drones, the upgraded drone platforms, the new beam weapons we created by mixing Asgard, Goa'uld and Wraith tech, and a few other bits and pieces as well as the results of the live-fire test of the upgraded drones. I also have the plans for the upgrade to the Valkyrie and it's sister-ships, the plans for the enlarged Hedwig station, and the plans for the proposed enlargement of the Vespasian."

"Rus, we don't need to make either Hedwig station or the Vespasian any bigger." Harry snorted, piling up the ten transparent crystals Rus had handed him, "they're big enough already."

"They can never be too big." Rus yelled dramatically.

"The main problem is power requirements." Lucius pointed out, "the Vespasian already needs ten ZPMs, and Hedwig station uses eight. That's more than any of the other ships use. Besides, the Vespasian is only supposed to be a mobile command post, capable of landing on a planet if necessary, it's not supposed to be the size of a planet."

"Cat said that too." Rus grumbled, "she always spoils my fun."

"Your sister is a sensible woman." Orion smirked, "she hasn't got her head in the clouds, despite the fact that she wants to reactivate the Destiny project."

"Please explain what you are talking about." Charlie whined, "what are Hedwig station and this Destiny thing?"

"Right." Harry grinned, "Hedwig station is the Inter-galactic trade outpost, where the Alteran Empire conducts trade with all of our allies, in both the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies, as well as those who live the galaxy the Asgard lived. We placed it in the inter-galactic void, halfway between the two main galaxies, so people could get to it without too much difficulty, and so that it was in neutral territory."

"As for the Destiny project." Lucius continued, "that was something our ancestors started, not long after they arrived in this galaxy. They had found a pattern to the background cosmic radiation which permeated the universe. They could tell that it wasn't natural, they thought it might be a message of some sort, but they only had fragments, so they sent out a series of automated ships to explore the rest of the universe, constructing Stargates and seeding each new galaxy with them, with the Destiny following on behind. The Destiny was originally going to have a crew, but for some reason, they gave up on the idea, and left the Destiny without a crew, for millions of years. A few months before we started planning this mission, Rus' sister Cat, along with a few of her friends, discovered the current location of the Destiny, and were thinking about going there and repairing it, before continuing it's mission."

"Ah, that really is interesting." Albus nodded.

"Yeah, Cat and her best friend Vic were rather excited when they found out where it was." Hermione giggled, "I don't think I've ever seen Cat bounce around as much as she did when the wormhole engaged once the Destiny's gate was dialled."

"Oh I don't know, she was pretty excited when Samson proposed." Lucius said, "and the sound she emitted when she found out she was pregnant for the first time, can only be described as a squeal."

"Yeah, my sister has always been slightly peculiar, but then again, she'd have to be, to marry the son of a Weasley twin and a Quidditch player." Rus snorted, "anyway, whether you use the upgrade and enlargement plans or not, doesn't matter to us, you've got them so you can do whatever you want with them. Now I'll let Dee do whatever she was planning to do."

"Thanks so much." Dee replied sarcastically, tossing her head back in the hope that her hair would behave and stay out of her eyes, "anyway, in our time, Dad told me that you wouldn't have easy access yet, to any of the foods that are prevalent in the Pegasus galaxy, so Mum, after she stopped crying about people being deprived of their 'Athosian sewage coffee', her words not mine, and I collaborated to provide you with some. I have presented the house-elves with four dozen crates of fresh tava beans, as well as a selection of recipes for things that can be made with them, as well as four dozen crates of condensed Athosian coffee, for those who want it. All that you need to add is water, and I hope that the amount I brought is enough."

"It should be." Rus sniggered, "those crates do contain about two hundred and fifty kilogrammes each, so I would hope that there was enough."

"Is that it?" Eileen asked with a giggle, "no cracking nanite shells over peoples' heads and showing off horrible-looking liquid Naquadah and constructor bots?"

"Nope." Dee grinned.

"Is that what DC did when she came?" Rus snorted, "I did tell Rax that he should have double-checked that he'd put those things in the Jumper when he loaded it, but noooo, he said he'd put them in. Of course, he is as blond as his Papa, and a bit forgetful."

"You know, I think I should be offended by that insult to my hair colour." Dee commented, "but I cannot deny that Rax is not good at remembering things."

"He'd forget his own head if he didn't have Al there to remind him that it's attached to his shoulders." Rus snarked.

"By the way, I've sat here for the last half hour, listening to you two talk, and I still cannot work out why you both so familiar." Narcissa said, interrupting what sounded like it would be an interesting conversation, "I would like to know, who are your parents?"

"Ah." Rus cringed, "I did wonder when someone would ask that. Anyway, nobody have a heart attack, please. My parents are Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape."

"She's so lucky." Lavender sighed wistfully in the silence that ensued, "I'm so jealous."

"Keep your brain on a leash Lav." Fay giggled, "it's running away again."

"Oh shut up." Lavender retorted, "I can't help the fact that I think he should just strip and stand around, letting the entire female population drool on him."

"Er … you do know that's my Dad you're talking about?" Rus asked nervously, "I don't want to know what my Dad looks like naked, and even if I did, all I'd have to do is look in a bloody mirror."

"Careful Rus, she might turn her creepy attention on you." Dee snorted.

"I think that is enough talk about that, don't you?" Dorea asked.

"Yeah." Rus nodded, "I'd rather not think about my Dad naked any more."

"And you somehow took us completely off topic." Dee grinned, "that's a nice talent."

"Well, I didn't intend to wander off topic." Rus snorted, "every time it happens it takes half-an-hour to get back on topic."

"If you would shut that big gob of yours and let me put an end to the misery of these fine folks, then it wouldn't take half-an-hour." Dee grinned.

"Zipped." Rus nodded, adding in a strange little mime to go with the word.

"Strange man." Dee mumbled, edging away, ever so slightly, "anyway, to answer Aunt Cissy's question, my parents are Bellatrix Black and Tiberius Malfoy."

"So Bella escaped." Narcissa whispered, hope lacing her tone.

"Yes." Dee nodded, "Uncle Harry freed her, then Dad was invited to give her counselling, having trained as a psychologist."

"He was also a licensed dog breeder." Rus mumbled, "I don't know how that relates to solving peoples' mental problems."

"Ooh, what kind of dogs does he own?" Susan asked eagerly, "our next-door neighbour breeds sheepdogs."

"He started with bulldogs, then moved on to German shepherds and spaniels, for the Muggle security services." Dee replied, "most of the puppies he raises go on to be working sniffer dogs, sniffing out bombs, drugs, and any other illicit substances. They are trained to help fight crime."

"Would something like a sniffer-dog be useful for Aurors?" Kingsley wondered.

"Possibly." Dee nodded, "you'd have to ask Dad, he'd know. Anyway, we ought to let you carry on. You've got plenty more chapters of your book to read, and we have plenty more satellites to launch."

"Good luck." Harry grinned, "I hope you don't have too many problems around P3W-451."

"We shouldn't do." Rus said, "one of the modifications that we made to the Valkyrie before bringing it through the rift, was the installation of an anti-grav field, which should protect the ship from the hole."

"We were also planning on having a look at the planet to see whether we could do anything for the people who lived there, unless whatever killed them has already happened." Dee added.

"That's a good idea." Lucius nodded, "they shouldn't have to suffer, not if we can help it."

"We'll report back once the network is up and running." Rus grinned, saluting Harry and Lucius before they beamed out, the same way as Dorea Christine had the previous day.

"Well, that was interesting, let's get back to the book." James said loudly, wanting to find out just how his son had won the war with Voldemort.

"Indeed." Albus agreed, "I presume we are all ready?"

"I am." Remus grinned, holding the book open at the beginning of the next chapter.

"Very well." Albus nodded, glancing around the hall, "I suggest you begin."

"Righty-ho." Remus said.


	19. Chapter 19

**The Thief**

"**The Thief**," Remus read.

**Harry opened his eyes and was dazzled by gold and green; he had no idea what had happened, he only knew that he was lying on what seemed to be leaves and twigs. Struggling to draw breath into lungs that felt flattened, he blinked and realized that the gaudy glare was sunlight streaming through a canopy of leaves far above him. Then an object twitched close to his face. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, ready to face some small, fierce creature, but saw that the object was Ron's foot.**

"My foot is a creature?" Ron asked with a grin.

"Well, yes." Harry snorted, "your feet are huge."

"There are people with bigger feet." Ron sniggered.

"Not many." Daphne giggled.

**Looking around, Harry saw that they and Hermione were lying on a forest floor, apparently alone.**

"Well that's good." Lily whispered, "you don't have any extra guests to worry about."

**Harry's first thought was of the Forbidden Forest, and for a moment, even though he knew how foolish and dangerous it would be for them to appear in the grounds of Hogwarts,**

"It's impossible to Apparate on Hogwarts grounds." Minerva sighed, "no matter how much I wish you had come here."

"It is impossible for those who aren't Heir to one of the Founders." Albus clarified, "however, I am unsure as to the limits of what an Heir to one of the Founders can do. Maybe they can Apparate on Hogwarts grounds. I just don't know."

**his heart leapt at the thought of sneaking through the trees to Hagrid's hut. However, in the few moments it took for Ron to give a low groan and Harry to start crawling toward him, he realized that this was not the Forbidden Forest: the trees looked younger, they were more widely spaced, the ground clearer.**

"Where did you end up?" Charlus asked.

"The book may well mention it." Harry smiled, "if not, then I will tell you at the end of the chapter."

**He met Hermione, also on her hands and knees, at Ron's head. The moment his eyes fell upon Ron, all other concerns fled Harry's mind, for blood drenched the whole of Ron's left side and his face stood out, greyish-white, against the leaf-strewn earth. **

"Oh no." Mrs Weasley whimpered, horrified.

"You were all right, weren't you?" Mr Weasley asked, not wanting to hear about another of his sons gaining permanent physical scars from the war.

"Yes." Ron nodded, "Hermione healed me."

**The Polyjuice Potion was wearing off now: Ron was halfway between Cattermole and himself in appearance, his hair turning redder and redder as his face drained of the little colour it had left.**

"**What's happened to him?"**

"**Splinched," said Hermione, her fingers already busy at Ron's sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest.**

"That shouldn't be too difficult to heal." Lily said, "there are no body parts missing."

**Harry watched, horrified, as she tore open Ron's shirt. He had always thought of Splinching as something comical, but this … his insides crawled unpleasantly as Hermione laid bare Ron's upper arm, where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife.**

"Oh that's disgusting." Eleanor retched, looking very green and unwell. Pomfrey quickly rushed over and gave the poor girl a stomach-calming potion after vanishing what Eleanor had thrown up.

"**Harry, quickly, in my bag, there's a small bottle labelled _Essence of Dittany _–"**

"**Bag – right –"**

**Harry sped to the place where Hermione had landed, seized the tiny beaded bag, and thrust his hand inside it. At once, object after object began presenting itself to his touch: He felt the leather spines of books, woolly sleeves of jumpers, heels of shoes –**

"Use a summoning charm." Susan said, "you'll find it easily that way, without having to tip the bag upside down and pour everything out."

"**_Quickly!_"**

**He grabbed his wand from the ground and pointed it into the depths of the magical bag.**

"**_Accio dittany!_"**

"Oh thank Merlin." Pomfrey murmured, glad that Harry had realised that time shouldn't be wasted in that instance.

**A small brown bottle zoomed out of the bag; he caught it and hastened back to Hermione and Ron, whose eyes were now half-closed, strips of white eyeball all that were visible between his lids.**

"**He's fainted," said Hermione, who was also rather pale; she no longer looked like Mafalda, though her hair was still grey in places. "Unstopper it for me, Harry, my hands are shaking."**

**Harry wrenched the stopper off the little bottle, Hermione took it and poured three drops of the potion onto the bleeding wound. Greenish smoke billowed upward and when it had cleared, Harry saw that the bleeding had stopped. The wound now looked several days old; new skin stretched over what had just been open flesh.**

"At least he'll be all right once he's had a chance to rest." Pomfrey said.

"**Wow," said Harry.**

"**It's all I feel safe doing," said Hermione shakily. "There are spells that would put him completely right, but I daren't try in case I do them wrong and cause more damage … He's lost so much blood already …"**

"**How did he get hurt? I mean," Harry shook his head, trying to clear it, to make sense of whatever had just taken place, "why are we here? I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place?"**

**Hermione took a deep breath. She looked close to tears.**

"**Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to go back there."**

"Yaxley." James growled.

"**What d'you –?"**

"**As we Disapparated, Yaxley caught hold of me and I couldn't get rid of him, he was too strong, and he was still holding on when we arrived at Grimmauld Place, and then – well, I think he must have seen the door, and thought we were stopping there, so he slackened his grip and I managed to shake him off and I brought us here instead!"**

"It's good thing that you shook him off." Lily whispered, "I dread to think what could have happened if he managed to follow you again."

"**But then, where's he? Hang on … you don't mean he's at Grimmauld Place? He can't get in there?"**

**Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she nodded.**

"**Harry, I think he can. I – I forced him to let go with a Revulsion Jinx, but I'd already taken him inside the Fidelius Charm's protection. Since Dumbledore died, we're Secret-Keepers, so I've given him the secret, haven't I?"**

"Hermione, don't feel guilty about something that wasn't within your control." Dorea said gently, "while it would be nice if he hadn't been taken to Grimmauld Place, it wasn't your fault that he grabbed onto you, so don't blame yourself."

**There was no pretending; Harry was sure she was right. It was a serious blow. If Yaxley could now get inside the house, there was no way that they could return. Even now, he could be bringing other Death Eaters in there by Apparition. Gloomy and oppressive though the house was, it had been their one safe refuge; even, now that Kreacher was so much happier and friendlier, a kind of home. With a twinge of regret that had nothing to do with food, Harry imagined the house-elf busying himself over the steak-and-kidney pie that Harry, Ron, and Hermione would never eat.**

"Was Kreacher all right?" Regulus asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "I ordered him to come back here in the event that Death Eaters stormed the house and we weren't there. I told him it was for his own safety, even though he wasn't keen on leaving the house empty for the Death Eaters to wander around without anyone to try and stop them."

"That's good." Regulus sighed.

"**Harry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"**

"**Don't be stupid, it wasn't your fault! If anything, it was mine …"**

**Harry put his hand in his pocket and drew out Mad-Eye's eye. Hermione recoiled, looking horrified.**

"Yeah, I can imagine that that was unpleasant." Ginny growled, "seeing something that belonged to someone we like, and then finding out that it had been used by someone we hate."

"**Umbridge had stuck it to her office door, to spy on people. I couldn't leave it there … but that's how they knew there were intruders."**

**Before Hermione could answer, Ron groaned and opened his eyes. He was still grey and his face glistened with sweat.**

"**How d'you feel?" Hermione whispered.**

"**Lousy," croaked Ron, wincing as he felt his injured arm. "Where are we?"**

"**In the woods where they held the Quidditch World Cup," said Hermione. **

"So they actually held the World Cup in Britain." James grinned, happy that his son had escaped danger, and they could focus on something a little less life-threatening.

"Yeah, but England, Scotland and Wales all crashed out." Oliver grimaced, "Ireland were the only team from the British Isles that actually got through to the final."

"They won too, even though Krum got the Snitch for Bulgaria." Harry added.

"Yeah, but Krum was the only really really good player on the Bulgarian team." Oliver snorted, "the Irish Chasers owned the Quaffle, and the Bulgarian Keeper couldn't do anything."

"I wonder what would have happened if Lynch hadn't fallen for that Wronski Krum pulled." Angelina muttered.

"I think, even if he hadn't fallen for it, he would have struggled to beat Krum to the Snitch." Oliver grimaced, "I don't actually know anything about Seeking, but since Lynch crashed again when Krum got the Snitch, I think he would have struggled."

"That's enough Quidditch talk." Narcissa said sternly, "I may like the sport, but I do not want to listen to an hour-long discussion about a match that occurred two years ago. Continue reading Remus."

"**I wanted somewhere enclosed, undercover, and this was –"**

"– **the first place you thought of," Harry finished for her, glancing around at the apparently deserted glade. He could not help remembering what had happened the last time they had Apparated to the first place Hermione had thought of – how Death Eaters had found them within minutes. Had it been Legilimency? Did Voldemort or his henchmen know, even now, where Hermione had taken them?**

"They would be there already if they did know." Caruso said, "you're safe, however, I don't know what caused them to find you, so I would advise caution and putting wards up around anywhere you stay."

"**D'you reckon we should move on?" Ron asked Harry, and Harry could tell by the look on Ron's face that he was thinking the same.**

"Not a good idea." Pomfrey said, "that would not be good for the healing process. Ronald needs rest, and not to be disturbed while his arm heals."

"The problem is, that anyone who is ill or injured needs their friends around to take their mind off their suffering." Harry said, "I know I definitely would have preferred having my friends around after the bloody fool Lockhart removed the bones from my arm."

"Oh." Pomfrey mumbled, resolving to think about that and see if there was anything she could, or should, do.

"**I dunno."**

**Ron still looked pale and clammy. He had made no attempt to sit up and it looked as though he was too weak to do so. The prospect of moving him was daunting.**

"**Let's stay here for now," Harry said.**

**Looking relieved, Hermione sprang to her feet.**

"**Where are you going?" asked Ron.**

"**If we're staying, we should put some protective enchantments around the place," she replied, and raising her wand, she began to walk in a wide circle around Harry and Ron, murmuring incantations as she went.**

"How on earth did you find those?" Eileen asked, "any books that give instructions for how to cast protective enchantments on an area are stored in the Restricted Section, and I'm pretty certain that I would never allow a student in there without a permission slip."

"I bought some, and read a few of the books in the library at Grimmauld Place." Hermione replied.

"Well that would explain it." Eileen nodded.

**Harry saw little disturbances in the surrounding air: It was as if Hermione had cast a heat haze upon their clearing.**

"**_Salvio Hexia_ … _Protego Totalum_ … _Repello Muggletum_ … _Muffliato_ … You could get out the tent, Harry …"**

"**Tent?"**

"**In the bag!"**

"**In the … of course," said Harry.**

**He did not bother to grope inside it this time, but used another Summoning Charm. **

"A rather useful spell." Ginny giggled, "especially when going up against a nesting Horntail."

"I don't think I want to know." Lily said faintly.

"I'm not surprised." Narcissa nodded, "I was there, and I wasn't particularly keen on the idea of watching teenagers going up against dragons, but Harry was, exceptional. He flew circles around his dragon, and was the quickest of the four to complete the task."

"What was the task?" James wondered.

"To collect a fake egg that had been placed in the nest with the real ones." Charlie replied, "that's why they wanted nesting mothers. It was the first task of the Triwizard Tournament."

"Merlin." Lily whimpered.

"I hope none of the contestants was injured too badly." Charlus said.

"Not during that task." Sprout whispered, "the only injuries they got from the dragons were a few burns and a couple of scratches. It was the third task that the worst happened."

"Indeed." Minerva nodded sadly, "Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion had been put under the Imperius by the Death Eater who was impersonating Alastor, and he used the cruciatus on Fleur Delacour, who had been chosen as the champion for Beauxbatons, before being stunned when he did the same to poor Cedric Diggory, the official Hogwarts champion."

"That poor boy." Dorea said softly.

"Indeed." Albus sighed, "Cedric Diggory was a brilliant example of what a Hufflepuff should be. He was hard-working and loyal to his friends. He was willing to help anyone who asked for it, and it is such a shame that his life was cut short by Voldemort."

The students toasted the young Hufflepuff, while those who had been friends with him remembered the fun times they had enjoyed. Cho burst into tears once more at the reminder of the selflessness Harry had told her her boyfriend had exhibited when they were in the maze and argued over who should take the cup.

"Let's carry on reading, and maybe Cedric's sacrifice will not be in vain." Orion suggested.

**The tent emerged in a lumpy mass of canvas, ropes, and poles. Harry recognized it, partly because of the smell of cats, as the same tent in which they had slept on the night of the Quidditch World Cup.**

"Oh that's unpleasant." Bill grimaced, "that was a horrible smell."

"**I thought this belonged to that bloke Perkins at the Ministry?" he asked, starting to disentangle the tent pegs.**

"**Apparently he didn't want it back, his lumbago's so bad," said Hermione, now performing complicated figure-of-eight movements with her wand. "so Ron's dad said I could borrow it. _Erecto_!" she added, pointing her wand at the misshapen canvas, which in one fluid motion rose into the air and settled, fully constructed, onto the ground before Harry, out of whose startled hands a tent peg soared, to land with a final thud at the end of a guy rope.**

"Of course I was startled, I didn't realise that there was a spell to put up a tent." Harry sniggered.

"It is just another example of the laziness of the wizarding world." Lily snorted.

"Yeah, there have been many times when I've wondered just _why_ people bothered to create some of the spells we've been learning." Harry nodded, "I've always thought that just because something _can_ be done, doesn't mean it _should_."

"**_Cave Inimicum_," Hermione finished with a skyward flourish. "That's as much as I can do. At the very least, we should know they're coming; I can't guarantee it will keep out Vol –"**

"**Don't say the name!" Ron cut across her, his voice harsh.**

"It's just a name." Albus said, "he can't hear you when you say it, and as we keep mentioning, fear of a name, increases fear of the thing itself."

"Ron had a very good reason to tell us not to say the name." Harry grimaced, "it will be mentioned later on in the book."

**Harry and Hermione looked at each other.**

"**I'm sorry," Ron said, moaning a little as he raised himself to look at them, "but it feels like a – a jinx or something. Can't we call him You-Know-Who – please?"**

"**Dumbledore said fear of a name –" began Harry.**

"**In case you hadn't noticed, mate, calling You-Know-Who by his name didn't do Dumbledore much good in the end," Ron snapped back. "Just – just show You-Know-Who some respect, will you?"**

"Voldemort does not deserve respect." Harry growled.

"**_Respect?_" Harry repeated, but Hermione shot him a warning look; apparently he was not to argue with Ron while the latter was in such a weakened condition.**

"Yeah, and I wasn't allowed to go looking for an argument to make me feel better." Ron grumbled.

**Harry and Hermione half carried, half dragged Ron through the entrance of the tent. The interior was exactly as Harry remembered it; a small flat, complete with bathroom and tiny kitchen.**

"Merlin, I did not realise that wizarding tents were so different to Muggle ones." Mark whistled.

"Indeed they are." Lucius smiled, "the more expensive ones are even more different. They can appear, on the inside, to be more like mansions."

"Wow." All the Muggle-borns who either hadn't been to the Quidditch World Cup, or who were in first and second years, said, because none of them had been inside a wizarding tent before.

**He shoved aside an old armchair and lowered Ron carefully onto the lower berth of a bunk bed. Even this very short journey had turned Ron whiter still, and once they had settled him on the mattress he closed his eyes again and did not speak for a while.**

"**I'll make some tea," said Hermione breathlessly, pulling kettle and mugs from the depths of her bag and heading toward the kitchen.**

**Harry found the hot drink as welcome as the firewhisky had been on the night that Mad-Eye had died; it seemed to burn away a little of the fear fluttering in his chest. After a minute or two, Ron broke the silence.**

"**What d'you reckon happened to the Cattermoles?"**

"If they heeded your warning, they'll have escaped." Mr Weasley said, "Reg Cattermole may not be the sharpest quill around, but he does know when to cut his losses and run."

"**With any luck, they'll have got away," said Hermione, clutching her hot mug for comfort. "As long as Mr Cattermole had his wits about him, he'll have transported Mrs Cattermole by Side-Along-Apparition and they'll be fleeing the country right now with their children. That's what Harry told her to do."**

"I'm sure Mary would have told Reg to leave, and if she was as scared as she seemed, then I'm sure he would have agreed with her." Percy nodded.

"**Blimey, I hope they escaped," said Ron,**

"Did they escape?" Minerva asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "every single one of the Muggle-borns that we rescued got out of the country."

"Good." Pansy said, "Britain wouldn't be safe for them."

**leaning back on his pillows. The tea seemed to be doing him good; a little of his colour had returned.**

"That's a relief." Mrs Weasley whispered, forcibly holding herself back from smothering Ron after the way Dorea and Lily had spoken about their views of what mothers should and shouldn't do.

"**I didn't get the feeling Reg Cattermole was all that quick-witted, though, the way everyone was talking to me when I was him. God, I hope they made it … if they both end up in Azkaban because of us …"**

**Harry looked over at Hermione and the question he had been about to ask – about whether Mrs Cattermole's lack of a wand would prevent her Apparating alongside her husband –**

"It wouldn't." Sinistra said, speaking for the first time in a while, "Muggles can be taken by Side-Along-Apparition, so a witch without her wand shouldn't be any different."

**died in his throat. Hermione was watching Ron fret over the fate of the Cattermoles, and there was such tenderness in her expression that Harry felt almost as if he had surprised her in the act of kissing him.**

"Urgh." Hermione and Ron chorused. "S/He's like a sister/brother."

"I bet you wish you'd realised that during the Battle of Hogwarts." Harry sniggered.

"We wouldn't have felt quite so awkward if we had." Hermione giggled.

"**So, have you got it?" Harry asked her, partly to remind her that he was there.**

"**Got – got what?" she said with a little start.**

"**What did we just go through all that for? The locket! Where's the locket?"**

"**_You got it?_" shouted Ron, raising himself a little higher on his pillows. "No one tells me anything! Blimey, you could have mentioned it!"**

"When could we have mentioned it?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow, "we were running for our lives and trying to not let you bleed to death."

"**Well, we were running for our lives from the Death Eaters, weren't we?" said Hermione. "Here."**

**And she pulled the locket out of the pocket of her robes and handed it to Ron.**

**It was as large as a chicken's egg. An ornate letter 'S', inlaid with many small green stones, glinted dully in the diffused light shining through the tent's canvas roof.**

"Well, I can't see many people wearing something like that." James grimaced.

"It was hand-made as a testament to how much Uncle Salazar loved his wife." The Baron sighed, "I don't know whether he intended it to be worn every day, but he did think she would want to wear it for special occasions. However, I do agree, it is not exactly the nicest-looking piece of jewellery, but it was the height of fashion at the time."

"**There isn't any chance someone's destroyed it since Kreacher had it?" asked Ron hopefully. "I mean, are we sure it's still a Horcrux?"**

"**I think so," said Hermione, taking it back from him and looking at it closely. "There'd be some sign of damage if it had been magically destroyed."**

"Most definitely." Charlus nodded, "as far as I know, there are only two sure ways to destroy a Horcrux, and both would leave some kind of trace."

"There is a spell, or ritual, that can cleanse an object, which I have already used on two of Voldemort's Horcruxes." Harry said, "both of them were left pristine, as if they had only just been made all those years ago."

"Where did you find that spell?" Dorea asked.

"Estonia." Harry grinned, "I don't know why the Estonians created a spell for that purpose when no other country had, but I'm not complaining."

"Do you mean that you can destroy the piece of soul in Aunt Eleanor's locket without destroying the locket?" The Baron asked hopefully.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "and when I get the chance, I will grab the locket and cleanse it."

"Thank you." The Baron whispered.

**She passed it to Harry, who turned it over in his fingers. The thing looked perfect, pristine. He remembered the mangled remains of the diary, and how the stone in the Horcrux ring had been cracked open when Dumbledore destroyed it.**

"**I reckon Kreacher's right," said Harry. "We're going to have to work out how to open this thing before we can destroy it."**

"I think you're going to have to use Parseltongue." Susan said, "I'm not sure, but I would think that Voldemort would want to protect his soul pieces with Parseltongue."

"He did." Harry nodded.

"And Harry is the only one of you who can speak Parseltongue." Hannah gasped.

"_Not quite_." Hermione hissed.

"Bloody hell." Ginny yelled, "how the hell did you do that?"

"I do have a snake as one of my animagus forms." Hermione giggled.

"Which basically means I'm the only one who can't speak Parseltongue, really." Ron added, "though having heard Harry speak it a few times, I have been able to imitate him once or twice."

"So what did Hermione say?" Susan asked curiously, now seeing Parseltongue as a neutral ability and not putting a label on it.

"She said not quite." Harry grinned.

**Sudden awareness of what he was holding, of what lived behind the little golden doors, hit Harry as he spoke. Even after all their efforts to find it, he felt a violent urge to fling the locket from him. **

"I'm not surprised." Regulus grimaced, "that locket would have cost me my life if I hadn't been replaced."

"Yeah, and I don't think anyone would want to have a piece of that bastard's soul near them either." Fred added, not noticing the way Albus and those who had had their souls sent back winced, all of them knowing that Harry had had one inside him since the night his parents died. None of them were looking forward to when that was revealed, nor were they really eager to find out how everyone was going to react to the revelation that the only thing that would destroy said piece of Voldemort's soul was the Killing Curse.

**Mastering himself again, he tried to prise the locket apart with his fingers, then attempted the charm Hermione had used to open Regulus's bedroom door. Neither worked. He handed the locket back to Ron and Hermione, each of whom did their best, but were no more successful at opening it than he had been.**

"**Can you feel it, though?" Ron asked in a hushed voice, as he held it tight in his clenched fist.**

"**What d'you mean?" Ron passed the Horcrux to Harry. After a moment or two, Harry thought he knew what Ron meant. Was it his own blood pulsing through his veins that he could feel, or was it something beating inside the locket, like a tiny metal heart?**

"That's a horrible thought." Hannah whispered.

"Unfortunately, it is a reasonable one." Albus sighed, "Horcruxes, being part of someone's soul, are alive in a way."

"Yeah, and the way the ink squirted out of the diary after I stabbed it, was very like the way blood squirts out of a severed artery, or at least, that's what I thought. Of course, I only had Muggle films to compare it to, and I've no idea how accurate they were." Harry nodded.

"Interesting." Albus muttered.

"**What are we going to do with it?" Hermione asked.**

"**Keep it safe till we work out how to destroy it." Harry replied, and, little though he wanted to, he hung the chain around his own neck, dropping the locket out of sight beneath his robes, where it rested against his chest beside the pouch Hagrid had given him.**

"That's not the best idea." Snape winced, "you should put it in that pouch, to at least mitigate whatever effect the locket will have on you."

"**I think we should take it in turns to keep watch outside the tent," he added to Hermione, standing up and stretching. "And we'll need to think about some food as well. You stay there," he added sharply, as Ron attempted to sit up and turned a nasty shade of green.**

"Stubbornness seems to be one trait all three of you have." Theo commented.

"That can be a good thing at times." Blaise pointed out, "that way they won't give up. I'm sure they all know how important this mission is, and anyone who is less stubborn would probably crack under that kind of pressure."

**With the Sneakoscope Hermione had given Harry for his birthday set carefully upon the table in the tent, Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day sharing the role of lookout. However, the Sneakoscope remained silent and still upon its point all day,**

"If that is a decent quality one, then that is good." Moody growled, "but you should always practise CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"And it was so nice and peaceful when he wasn't bellowing." Slughorn sighed, sharing a miserable look with Kingsley, both wishing that they weren't sitting on either side of the scarred Auror.

**and whether because of the protective enchantments and Muggle-repelling charms Hermione had spread around them, or because people rarely ventured this way, their patch of wood remained deserted, apart from occasional birds and squirrels. Evening brought no change; Harry lit his wand as he swapped places with Hermione at ten o'clock, and looked out upon a deserted scene, noting the bats fluttering high above him across the single patch of starry sky visible from their protected clearing.**

"That does sound like a nice place to visit." Lily said softly.

"Even more so without the Dark Mark hanging overhead in all its sickly neon green glory." Ron added.

"Urgh, I really don't want to know." Lily groaned.

**He felt hungry now, and a little light-headed. Hermione had not packed any food in her magical bag, as she had assumed that they would be returning to Grimmauld Place that night, so they had had nothing to eat except some wild mushrooms that Hermione had collected from amongst the nearest trees and stewed in a Billycan.**

"I hope they weren't poisonous." Pomfrey whispered.

"No, I was taught how to tell the difference." Hermione smiled, "before I started Hogwarts I was a member of a group known as Brownies. They're part of a movement that was started by a man named Lord Baden-Powell in nineteen-oh-seven, which is known in the Muggle world as the the Scout Movement. When it started, it taught young boys how to be productive members of society, and eventually girls were allowed to take part too."

"Impressive." Sprout commented, "it really is amazing what we can learn about Muggles, especially if we try and think about them like we would anyone from a foreign country, and not like animals."

**After a couple of mouthfuls Ron had pushed his portion away, looking queasy; Harry had only persevered so as to not hurt Hermione's feelings.**

"Urgh." Lily grimaced, while Narcissa wrinkled her nose, reminding Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys of the day they first met her.

**The surrounding silence was broken by odd rustlings and what sounded like crackings of twigs: Harry thought that they were caused by animals rather than people, yet he kept his wand held tight at the ready.**

"Good good." Moody nodded approvingly.

**His insides, already uncomfortable due to their inadequate helping of rubbery mushrooms, tingled with unease.**

**He had though that he would feel elated if they managed to steal back the Horcrux, but somehow he did not; all he felt as he sat looking out at the darkness, of which his wand lit only a tiny part, was worry about what would happen next. It was as though he had been hurtling toward this point for weeks, months, maybe even years, but now he had come to an abrupt halt, run out of road.**

"Oh dear." Susan muttered sadly.

"The next few chapters are either going to be very loud, or depressing." Ginny groaned.

"I don't understand." Narcissa frowned in confusion, which was something she wasn't particularly keen on.

"All three of them, Harry especially, have fearsome tempers." Ginny sighed, "it takes a lot to set them off, but when they get going, I can't see anyone being able to stop them. I also know that both Harry and Ron have a habit of brooding, which seems to depress everyone around them, so poor Hermione is either going to be stuck in the middle of several arguments, or she's going to have to try and keep them from brooding."

"I don't think I would enjoy either scenario." Ernie muttered.

**There were other Horcruxes out there somewhere, but he did not have the faintest idea where they could be. He did not even know what all of them were. Meanwhile he was at a loss to know how to destroy the only one that they had found, the Horcrux that currently lay against the bare flesh of his chest. Curiously, it had not taken heat from his body, but lay so cold against his skin it might just have emerged from icy water. From time to time Harry thought, or perhaps imagined, that he could feel the tiny heartbeat ticking irregularly alongside his own.**

"I cannot help but feel that that is not a good thing." Mr Weasley whispered.

**Nameless forebodings crept upon him as he sat there in the dark. He tried to resist them, push them away, yet they came at him relentlessly. _Neither can live while the other survives_. Ron and Hermione, now talking softly behind him in the tent, could walk away if they wanted to: he could not.**

"I couldn't walk away either." Hermione said softly, "being a Muggle-born, I'm a target, whether we were together or not."

"And I'm a Weasley." Ron shrugged.

"And we are known as one of the biggest Blood Traitor families out there." Bill grimaced.

"I'm sure that now we've revealed our true allegiances, Voldemort's forces will come after us too." Abraxas said, "after all, we are now considered traitors, and not just because we don't agree with the eradication of non-purebloods."

"I'm sure he'll be gunning for me, now that I've revealed that I'm not one of his most faithful lackeys." Lucius snorted.

**And it seemed to Harry as he sat there trying to master his own fear and exhaustion, that the Horcrux against his chest was ticking away the time he had left … _Stupid idea_, he told himself, _don't think that_ … **

"Oh no, that sounds like the locket is affecting you." Bill whispered.

"Though it is a little hard to tell, since he's so pessimistic already." George sniggered.

"I prefer to call it realism." Harry grinned.

**His scar was starting to prickle again. He was afraid that he was making it happen by having these thoughts, and tried to direct them into another channel. He thought of poor Kreacher, who had expected them home and had received Yaxley instead. Would the elf keep silent or would he tell the Death Eater everything he knew? **

"Since he actually liked you after you gave him the fake locket, I'm sure he would have kept quiet." Regulus said, shaking his head, "I don't think he'd want to disappoint someone he liked, and he certainly wouldn't disobey a direct order from a master he respected."

**Harry wanted to believe that Kreacher had changed towards him in the past month, that he would be loyal now, but who knew what would happen? What if the Death Eaters tortured the elf? Sick images swarmed into Harry's head and he tried to push these away too, for there was nothing he could do for Kreacher: he and Hermione had already decided against trying to summon him; what if someone from the Ministry came too? They could not count on elfish Apparition being free from the same flaw that had taken Yaxley to Grimmauld Place on the hem of Hermione's sleeve.**

"Unfortunately true." Mrs Weasley fussed.

**Harry's scar was burning now. He thought that there was so much they did not know: Lupin had been right about magic they had never encountered or imagined. Why hadn't Dumbledore explained more? Had he thought that there would be time;**

"I explained everything I knew." Albus murmured, "I never discovered much, and most of the answers I got, just gave me more questions, leaving me to guess."

**that he would live for years, for centuries perhaps, like his friend Nicolas Flamel?**

"No, I know that my time is coming, and despite the fact that I would prefer to pass in my sleep, I know that that is not to be." Albus said, "I have accepted that I am dying, and will continue to fight until I can no longer raise a wand."

**If so, he had been wrong … Snape had seen to that … Snape, the sleeping snake, who had struck at the top of the tower …**

Snape suppressed a flinch at that, wishing, not for the first time, that he hadn't agreed to the unbreakable vow before the beginning of the year. He knew it was a bit unfair to ask a sixteen-year-old boy to murder someone, but he really didn't want to be the one to do it. He just hoped that with the book being read, he would be able to get out of it, and Albus would survive the war.

**And Dumbledore had fallen … fallen …**

"**_Give it to me, Gregorovitch_."**

"Welcome to Voldemort's head once again." Harry said sarcastically.

**Harry's voice was high, clear, and cold, his wand held in front of him by a long-fingered white hand. The man at whom he was pointing was suspended upside down in mid-air, though there were no ropes holding him; he swung there, invisibly and eerily bound, his limbs wrapped about him, his terrified face, on a level with Harry's ruddy due to the blood that had rushed to his head. He had pure-white hair and a thick, bushy beard: a trussed-up Father Christmas.**

"Interesting description." Albus smiled, trying to find lightness in a situation that wasn't very light at all.

"**I have it not, I have it no more! It was, many years ago, stolen from me!"**

"So Voldemort really is looking for the so-called Wand of Destiny." Flitwick whispered, "but if it was stolen from Gregorovitch, who was the last person known to have it, then I doubt it will be easy for him to find."

"Is there a way of finding out what happened to it after it was stolen?" Justin wondered.

"I don't think so." Flitwick sighed, "we would need to find out who stole it, then speak to them to see what they did with it, but there is the possibility that whoever stole the wand is dead, so that would be a dead end."

"You'll have to wait and see." Harry grinned, "you'll be surprised at who has it now."

"**Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Gregorovitch. He knows … he always knows."**

**The hanging man's pupils were wide, dilated with fear, and they seemed to swell, bigger and bigger until their blackness swallowed Harry whole –**

"I did not know you could piggyback along one of Voldemort's Legilimency probes." Albus whispered in shock.

"That is odd." Snape nodded, trying to figure it out.

**And how Harry was hurrying along a dark corridor in stout little Gregorovitch's wake as he held a lantern aloft: Gregorovitch burst into the room at the end of the passage and his lantern illuminated what looked like a workshop; wood shavings and gold gleamed in the swinging pool of light, and there on the window ledge sat perched, like a giant bird, a young man with golden hair. In the split second that the lantern's light illuminated him, Harry saw the delight upon his handsome face, then the intruder shot a Stunning Spell from his wand and jumped neatly backward out of the window with a crow of laughter.**

"Merlin, I think that thief was the man in the picture with Albus in Skeeter's book." Dorea said.

"He's also one of the more famous wizards of the last century." Hermione sighed, "but let's wait until the book mentions him, so we do not cause the headmaster too much heartache."

**And Harry was hurtling back out of those wide, tunnel-like pupils and Gregorovitch's face was stricken with terror.**

"**_Who was the thief, Gregorovitch?_" said the high cold voice.**

"**_I do not know, I never knew, a young man – no – please – PLEASE!_"**

**A scream that went on and on and then a burst of green light –**

"Poor Gregorovitch." Sally-Anne Perks whispered.

"The thief is in danger now." James sighed, "especially if he's still got the wand."

"Unless he's already dead." Regulus pointed out, "Harry did say that we would be surprised when we were finally told who has the wand. Maybe it's someone we know."

"Gregorovitch was a wandmaker, so isn't it likely that the thief stole a different wand?" Tonks asked.

"But what wand would anyone want to steal if not the Wand of Destiny?" Charlie wondered.

"A legend." Luna said, "a fairytale, a relic of the past, a gift of Death."

"What's that loony bird on about now?" Smith asked, sneering at the little blonde girl.

"You'll see." Luna crooned softly.

"Mr Smith, do not call anyone loony, unless you want to spend some time in detention." Sprout snapped, "I am getting rather tired of your attitude young man, and if you don't change it soon, there will be consequences."

"**_Harry!_"**

**He opened his eyes, panting, his forehead throbbing. He had passed out against the side of the tent, had slid sideways down the canvas, and was sprawled on the ground. He looked up at Hermione, whose bushy hair obscured the tiny patch of sky visible through the dark branches high above them.**

"**Dream," he said, sitting up quickly and attempting to meet Hermione's glower with a look of innocence. "Must've dozed off, sorry."**

"I can't believe you're going to try and lie to her." Ginny giggled, "she'll see through that in an instant."

"Yes, well, I didn't want her to tell me off for something I couldn't control." Harry grumbled, "she wasn't the one who got sucked into someone else's mind all the time."

"**I know it was your scar! I can tell by the look on your face! You were looking into Vol –"**

"**Don't say his name!" came Ron's angry voice from the depths of the tent.**

"Merlin, how many times did Ron save our lives by being a coward?" Hermione wondered.

"It must have been dozens of times." Harry snorted, "but at least we found out why it wasn't such a good idea."

"Yeah, I can't imagine what would have happened had we not known." Hermione sighed.

"We'd probably been captured a lot sooner than we were." Harry said, "we might not have been able to dispose of the locket when we did."

"**Fine," retorted Hermione, "You-Know-Who's mind, then!"**

"**I didn't mean it to happen!" Harry said. "It was a dream! Can you control what you dream about, Hermione?"**

"**If you just learned to apply Occlumency –"**

"And here I go, telling him to do something that wouldn't work anyway." Hermione grimaced.

"You don't know that it wouldn't work, but given what we've already read, I don't think it would." Snape said, "it might help, but the link is so unique as to not be something that can be studied, not without a hell of a lot of danger."

**But Harry was not interested in being told off; he wanted to discuss what he had just seen.**

"**He's found Gregorovitch, Hermione, and I think he's killed him, but before he killed him he read Gregorovitch's mind and I saw –"**

"**I think I'd better take over the watch if you're so tired you're falling sleep," said Hermione coldly.**

"What he saw might have been important." Susan said, "you should have let him talk, let him explain, not just cut him off without listening."

"You could also have been a bit more polite." Hannah added looking at Hermione with disappointment.

"I don't understand why Hermione's taking it so badly, doesn't she remember how pale you both looked after your weekly mental duels?" Pansy asked.

"I remembered, but I'd never seen what Harry looked like after a Voldemort-vision, and it scared the hell out of me." Hermione whispered.

"What did you mean by mental duels?" James enquired.

"Exactly what she said." Harry grinned.

"Indeed." Snape nodded, "last year, I was testing the mental shields Harry had built, just to make sure they really would stand up to the full force of a Master Legilimens. I'd already taught him how to create a mind-scape, and needed to test how well he could defend it. It was hard work, and fairly draining, for both of us, but it was a good way to make sure his mind was as well protected as I could possibly help him make it."

"That makes sense." Lily muttered.

"I have to say, I don't think I've ever consumed as much chocolate as I did after those sessions." Snape murmured.

"**I can finish the watch!"**

"**No, you're obviously exhausted. Go and lie down."**

**She dropped down in the mouth of the tent, looking stubborn. Angry, but wishing to avoid a row, Harry ducked back inside.**

"At least you know that it isn't a good idea to argue with a woman." Narcissa smirked.

**Ron's still-pale face was poking out from the lower bunk; Harry climbed into the one above him, lay down, and looked up at the dark canvas ceiling. After several moments, Ron spoke in a voice so low that it would not carry to Hermione, huddle in the entrance.**

"**What's You-Know-Who doing?"**

**Harry screwed up his eyes in the effort to remember every detail, then whispered into the darkness.**

"**He found Gregorovitch. He had him tied up, he was torturing him."**

"**How's Gregorovitch supposed to make him a new wand if he's tied up?"**

"He's not." Luna whispered ominously, "Tommy doesn't want a new wand, he wants an old wand. He wants a wand made by Death, but he fears Death, so doesn't want to be Master of Death."

"He can't be the Master of Death Luna." Harry grinned, "he may be a descendant of the middle brother, but the children of the youngest are still around, and they have always been in possession of the youngest brother's gift."

"You know the tale." Luna smiled dreamily, "you believe in the tale. Oh that is so wonderful."

"If you two aren't going to explain just what you are talking about, let me read so that we can find out for ourselves." Remus said, getting mildly irritated by the increasingly cryptic conversation.

"**I dunno … it's weird, isn't it?"**

**Harry closed his eyes, thinking of all that he had seen and heard. The more he recalled, the less sense it made …**

"Some things aren't supposed to make sense until the time is right." Luna crooned softly.

**Voldemort had said nothing about Harry's wand, nothing about the twin cores, nothing about Gregorovitch making a new and more powerful wand to beat Harry's …**

"A wand is only as powerful as the wizard who wields it." Narcissa said, "that's what Ollivander said when I bought my wand."

"How on earth do you remember that?" Montague asked, sneering at the woman who was once considered a paragon of pureblood values, but now seemed to be consorting with Mudbloods and Blood Traitors.

"Ollivander was a little too weird to forget." Narcissa replied, turning her own sneer on the wannabe Death Eater. Those who had seen both admitted, if only to themselves, that Narcissa was better at sneering than Montague.

"**He wanted something from Gregorovitch," Harry said, eyes still closed tight. "He asked him to hand it over, but Gregorovitch said it had been stolen from him … and then … then …"**

**He remembered how he, as Voldemort, had seemed to hurtle through Gregorovitch's eyes, into his memories …**

"Which is still really weird to think about." James shivered.

"**He read Gregorovitch's mind, and I saw this young bloke perched on a windowsill, and he fired a curse at Gregorovitch and jumped out of sight. He stole it, he stole whatever You-Know-Who's after. And I … I think I've seen him somewhere …"**

"Yeah, it might be good if you could remember where though." Justin sniggered.

"I know." Harry sighed, "but the sad fact about only having a semi-photographic memory rather than a fully photographic one, is that sometimes important things are forgotten, while irritating and useless bits of trivia are remembered."

**Harry wished he could have another glimpse of the laughing boy's face. The theft had happened many years ago, according to Gregorovitch. Why did the young thief look familiar?**

**The noises of the surrounding woods were muffled inside the tent; all Harry could hear was Ron's breathing. After a while, Ron whispered, "Couldn't you see what the thief was holding?"**

"**No … it must've been something small."**

"It was a wand." Luna murmured dreamily, knowing she was irritating everyone by not telling them what wand she was talking about.

"**Harry?"**

**The wooden slats of Ron's bunk creaked as he repositioned himself in bed.**

"**Harry, you don't reckon You-Know-Who's after something else to turn into a Horcrux?"**

"No." Albus said, "he's stretched his soul to the limit. It would be far too dangerous for him to make another."

"Would he even be able to?" Bill wondered, "I'd always thought that he would have split his soul in half every time, which would mean that each progressive one would contain less of his soul than the first. So his first would have half of his soul, then the next would have a quarter, then the next would have an eighth, and so on."

"I think that is how he did it, which would make it even more dangerous to make another one." Albus nodded.

"Especially since he's only got about one sixty-fourth of his soul left by now." Lily said, "at least, if his soul was divided in two each time, and half of what he had was hidden away, that's the fraction I assume would be left. I have no idea whether my maths is correct, not without writing it all out, so don't take my word for it. And there is the possibility that Voldemort didn't divide his in two each time anyway."

"It does sound like a reasonable figure." Bill nodded, summoning a sheet of parchment from the pile that he had only just noticed was sitting on the staff table, in front of the Aurors. He wanted to see if he could come to the same conclusion as Lily, but wasn't quite as sure of his own mathematical abilities, so felt the need to write it all out.

"**I don't know," said Harry slowly. "Maybe. But wouldn't it be dangerous for him to make another one? Didn't Hermione say he had pushed his soul to the limit already?"**

"**Yeah, but maybe he doesn't know that."**

"There is no way Voldemort wouldn't know what the limits of splitting his soul are." Cygnus grimaced, "it would be nice if he did, and managed to completely annihilate himself by making a mistake, but I'm almost positive that he would have done a hell of a lot of research before creating his first Horcrux."

"**Yeah … maybe," said Harry.**

**He had been sure that Voldemort had been looking for a way around the problem of the twin cores, sure that Voldemort sought a solution from the old wandmaker … and yet he had killed him, apparently without asking him a single question about wandlore.**

**What was Voldemort trying to find? Why, with the Ministry of Magic and the Wizarding world at his feet, was he far away, intent on the pursuit of an object that Gregorovitch had once owned, and which had been stolen by the unknown thief?**

"If it isn't something that he would want to turn into another Horcrux, then I doubt knowing what it is would really help in your mission to destroy them." Regulus pointed out, "I doubt that it would help to know even if it was a wand he was after."

Everything that had been read was making both James and Charlus frown, as if they were remembering something from when they were much younger, but neither said anything about what they were thinking, so no one knew that they had begun to wonder whether the Wand of Destiny really was the wand Voldemort was looking for, or whether he was trying to find another legendary wand instead.

**Harry could still see the blond-haired youth's face; it was merry, wild; there was a Fred and George-ish air of triumphant trickery about him. **

"He was a lot more dangerous than them." Hermione sighed.

"Yeah, I can't imagine them convincing a down-on-his luck Muggle to start a campaign of hatred against a small and fairly rich minority, which would lead to one of the worst periods of warfare in the twentieth century." Harry agreed.

"What are you talking about?" Fred and George asked in unison.

"The one who stole from Gregorovitch, was the one to convince Hitler that the Jews were the ones to blame for Germany losing the first world war." Harry replied, "he was the one to start Hitler on his rise to power, which lead to the Second World War."

"Merlin." Charlie whispered, "you're not talking about who I think you're talking about."

"Depends on who you think we're talking about." Hermione said, "but, don't mention who you think it is, because if your assumption is correct, you are going to cause professor Dumbledore a lot of heartache."

"I understand." Charlie nodded.

**He had soared from the windowsill like a bird, and Harry had seen him before, but he could not think where …**

**With Gregorovitch dead, it was the merry-faced thief who was in danger now, and it was on him that Harry's thoughts dwelled, as Ron's snores began to rumble from the lower bunk and as he himself drifted slowly into sleep once more.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Remus said, breathing a small sigh of relief. He knew it wasn't full of danger or adventure, or even a terribly long chapter, but it was nevertheless, quite a difficult one, emotionally.

"I'll go next." James shrugged, "get it over with."

Remus grinned, and levitated the book towards his friend, enjoying the fact that both James and Lily were back, and that they were going to stay, hopefully for a long time to come.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Goblin's Revenge**

"**The Goblin's Revenge**," James read, then muttered, "well that sounds bloody painful."

"I wonder who the goblins are getting revenge on." Snape grimaced, just as the great hall doors opened once more.

"Sorry we're late, we were a bit busy." The new arrivals said.

"Mum, Dad, what are you doing here?" Tonks asked.

"Professor Dumbledore invited us, but we were unable to get away until today." Andromeda replied.

"His letter didn't say much about what we were invited to do, just that there was a book that was going to be read." Ted added.

"It's just irritating that I was given a big case to work on not long ago, and while I am glad that we were invited, I would really like to be able to get on with my job." Andromeda sighed.

"What case?" Narcissa asked quietly, not really wanting to draw too much attention to herself, but still wanting to know what her sister was doing.

"I was asked to do a scan on the aunt of one of Valerian Silvanus' clients, to aid the case against the woman's husband." Andromeda replied sadly, upset at the level of abuse the poor woman had suffered, but happy that her baby sister was willing to talk to her. "Lord Silvanus contacted me on Sunday, needing my help to gather evidence, and I still haven't finished. I cannot believe anyone would be as brutal as Vernon Dursley seems to have been."

"That sounds awful." Narcissa whispered.

"It truly is." Andromeda nodded, taking a seat opposite her sister and discovering that she was now sitting right next to Lucius. She took a good look around the hall, and found her little cousin Regulus sitting next to his father, with her father sitting next to them, as well as Lucius' father and someone who looked remarkably like her older sister's father-in-law. She could have sworn that all five of them were dead, but they looked perfectly alive and comfortable sitting down, and none of them even commented on her husband's heritage. Andromeda was even more shocked when she saw Harry Potter sitting on the other side of Lucius, the pair of them holding hands, while Harry's parents were sitting next to their son, with Charlus and Dorea smiling at her from the other side of them. "What on earth has happened in the last two days?"

"A lot." Lucius dead-panned, giving a quick explanation of the most pertinent points they had discovered over the last two days of reading.

"Right." Ted blinked, "well, I suppose we ought to get on with it."

"OK." James nodded, re-reading the chapter title for the benefit of Ted and Andromeda.

**Early next morning, before the other two were awake, Harry left the tent to search the woods around them for the oldest, most gnarled, and resilient-looking tree he could find. **

Moody, who thought he could guess what Harry was going to do, pretended to not be touched by the fact that despite his grumpy and fierce exterior, someone could care for him so much. He refused to cry, but he couldn't help the fact that he was thankful for what Harry was doing.

**There in its shadows he buried Mad-Eye Moody's eye and marked the spot by gouging a small cross in the bark with his wand. It was not much, but Harry felt that Mad-Eye would have much preferred this to being stuck on Dolores Umbridge's door. **

"It's just an eye." Moody growled, refusing to let the care in that gesture shred his control, "get over it."

**Then he returned to the tent to wait for the others to wake, and discuss what they were going to do next.**

**Harry and Hermione felt that it was best not to stay anywhere too long, and Ron agreed, with the sole proviso that their next move took them within reach of a bacon sandwich. **

"That's going to become a recurring theme isn't it?" Susan asked with a slight giggle.

"Yes." Hermione nodded, "you know what Ron can be like around food."

"Of course I do." Susan snorted, "I don't think there is anyone in this hall who hasn't seen Ron inhaling his food."

"I haven't." Andromeda said, "but I do know what Sirius was like as a teenager, so I don't have to imagine too much."

**Hermione therefore removed the enchantments she had placed around the clearing, while Harry and Ron obliterated all the marks and impressions on the ground that might show they had camped there. Then they Disapparated to the outskirts of a small market town.**

**Once they had pitched the tent in the shelter of a small copse of trees and surrounded it with freshly cast defensive enchantments. Harry ventured out under the Invisibility Cloak to find sustenance. This, however, did not go as planned. He had barely entered the town when an unnatural chill, a descending mist and a sudden darkening of the skies made him freeze where he stood.**

"Dementors." Lucius murmured, shivering again at the mention of those soul-sucking creatures.

"**But you can make a brilliant Patronus!" protested Ron, when Harry arrived back at the tent empty handed, out of breath, and mouthing the single word, 'Dementors'.**

"**I couldn't … make one." he panted, clutching the stitch in his side. "Wouldn't … come."**

"That doesn't sound good." Ginny said.

"Were you still wearing the locket?" Terry asked.

"Yes." Harry sighed.

"Well, that's the problem." Terry grimaced, "I bet the locket is affecting your ability to think of a happy memory strong enough for you to conjure a Patronus."

"I had hoped that that would not be the case, but it does sound like a reasonable explanation." Albus winced, "which means you can't wear the locket for long periods of time, if at all. I don't think it should be worn, you should keep it safe, either in your mokeskin pouch, or in Miss Granger's beaded bag."

"We didn't think of that." Hermione grimaced, "we wanted to be able to see that it was safe, to have physical proof that we had it, and if it was hidden, we would have been worried, and repeatedly opened whatever it was hidden in, just to check that it was there."

"Well, I don't know what to suggest, but wearing it is a very bad idea." Andromeda said.

**Their expressions of consternation and disappointment made Harry feel ashamed. It had been a nightmarish experience, seeing the Dementors gliding out of the must in the distance and realizing, as the paralysing cold choked his lungs and a distant screaming filled his ears,**

"Distant screaming?" Charlus asked worriedly.

"One of my worst memories." Harry sighed, "Halloween eighty-one."

"Oh." Lily whispered, trying not to fall apart again. She had hoped that she would be strong enough to listen to everything the book and her son said, without bursting into tears at inconvenient moments, but evidently, that was not going to happen.

**that he was not going to be able to protect himself. It had taken all Harry's willpower to uproot himself from the spot and run, leaving the eyeless Dementors to glide amongst the Muggles who might not be able to see them, but would assuredly feel the despair they cast wherever they went.**

"**So we still haven't got any food."**

"Shut up, Ron, now is not the time." Bill said.

"**Shut up, Ron," snapped Hermione. "Harry, what happened? Why do you think you couldn't make your Patronus? You managed perfectly yesterday!"**

"**I don't know."**

**He sat low in one of Perkins's old armchairs, feeling more humiliated by the moment. He was afraid that something had gone wrong inside him. Yesterday seemed a long time ago: Today he might have been thirteen years old again, the only one who collapsed on the Hogwarts Express.**

"You wouldn't have been the only one to collapse, if I hadn't been curled up in the corner, as far away from the door as I could get." Ginny mumbled.

"What did the Dementor force you to remember?" Andromeda asked gently, not really knowing if she actually wanted to know.

"The Chamber." Ginny replied, "the day I was taken into it, and nearly had my life-force drained by the diary."

"Poor you." Narcissa whispered, horror-struck that an eleven-year-old had to experience something like that.

**Ron kicked a chair leg.**

"**What?" he snarled at Hermione. "I'm starving! All I've had since I bled half to death is a couple of toadstools!"**

"Ron's not used to not having three big meals a day." Percy murmured, "he won't be able to control his temper."

"Merlin, this is a disaster waiting to happen." Charlie breathed.

"**You go and fight your way through the Dementors, then," said Harry, stung.**

"**I would, but my arm's in a sling, in case you hadn't noticed!"**

"**That's convenient."**

"**And what's that supposed to –?"**

"What on earth has got into the pair of you?" Dean wondered, "the only time I've seen either of you act like that was in fourth year, after Harry's name came out of the Goblet."

"It's the Horcrux." Minerva whispered, "it seems to be amplifying negative thoughts, making everything that is slightly problematic, feel that much worse."

"**Of course!" cried Hermione, clapping a hand to her forehead and startling both of them into silence. "Harry, give me the locket! Come on," she said impatiently, clicking her fingers at him when he did not react, **

"Hermione, clicking at boys is not going to hurry them up, no matter what you want them to do." Narcissa said gently, "it won't even work on fully-grown adults."

"Besides, I'm not even sure how quickly someone can react, but I can say, with a large amount of certainty, that it takes longer than one second to complete an action like removing a locket from one's person." Lily grinned.

"True." Narcissa nodded.

Andromeda was shocked at the way her sister was acting around those who were firmly against Voldemort, because she had been absolutely certain that Narcissa hated anyone who did not believe in pureblood supremacy, and now the woman seemed to be genuinely friendly with them. This was something Andromeda was going to have to think about when she had a chance, because she did not want to alienate her little sister now that they were getting closer again.

"**the Horcrux, Harry, you're still wearing it!"**

**She held out her hands, and Harry lifted the golden chain over his head. The moment it parted contact with Harry's skin he felt free and oddly light. He had not even realized that he was clammy or that there was a heavy weight pressing on his stomach until both sensations lifted.**

"That's going to make for a depressing few chapters." Regulus said, "the locket will affect you all, and if you don't want to lose it, which I will admit, is a valid concern, you're going to want to have someone wearing it."

"Yeah, that's going to be difficult." Caruso grimaced.

"**Better?" asked Hermione.**

"**Yeah, loads better!"**

"**Harry," she said, crouching down in front of him and using the kind of voice he associated with visiting the very sick, "you don't think you've been possessed, do you?"**

"**What? No!" he said defensively, "I remember everything we've done while I've been wearing it. I wouldn't know what I'd done if I'd been possessed, would I?**

"Definitely not if it was Voldemort doing the possessing." Ginny said.

"You make it sound like people would remember if they were possessed by someone who wasn't Voldemort." Narcissa commented.

"When people are possessed by the Goa'uld, they remember everything." Cygnus grimaced, "they are like spectators in their own bodies, watching everything that the Goa'uld are forcing their bodies to do, without having any control at all."

"Who are the Goa'uld?" Andromeda asked.

"A parasitic race of aliens." Lucius replied, "I'll explain in more depth during the next break, but not right now, I don't think we want to bore any of the people who have already heard the explanation."

"I understand." Andromeda nodded.

**Ginny told me there were times when she couldn't remember anything."**

"**Hmm," said Hermione, looking down at the heavy locket. "Well, maybe we ought not to wear it. We can just keep it in the tent."**

"**We are not leaving that Horcrux lying around," Harry stated firmly. "If we lose it, if it gets stolen –"**

"That would be very very bad." Blaise muttered.

"Did you have to state the blindingly obvious." Millicent snorted.

"Yes, it can be quite fun at times." Blaise smirked.

"**Oh, all right, all right," said Hermione, and she placed it around her own neck and tucked it out of sight down the front of her shirt. "But we'll take turns wearing it, so nobody keeps it on too long."**

"**Great," said Ron irritably, "and now we've sorted that out, can we please get some food?"**

"I don't like the fact that Ron's complaining so much." Percy muttered to Bill.

"I know." Bill sighed, "I just hope that he doesn't end up doing what I think he might do."

"What's that?" Percy asked.

"Leave them." Bill replied, "we've seen how much stronger they are as a trio, if he does leave, they'll fall apart."

"**Fine, but we'll go somewhere else to find it," said Hermione with half a glance at Harry. "There's no point staying where we know Dementors are swooping around."**

**In the end they settled down for the night in a far flung field belonging to a lonely farm, from which they had managed to obtain eggs and bread.**

"**It's not stealing, is it?" asked Hermione in a troubled voice, as they devoured scrambled eggs on toast. "Not if I left some money under the chicken coop?"**

"You worry a bit too much." Charlus said gently, "I doubt the farmer would even notice that a few eggs and a loaf of bread had gone missing."

**Ron rolled his eyes and said, with his cheeks bulging, "Er-my-nee, 'oo worry 'oo much. 'Elax!"**

"Erm … was that supposed to be English?" Kingsley asked with a confused frown, not having experienced a meal with Ron, despite being a member of the Order.

"That's boy-with-food-in-his-mouth language." Hermione giggled.

**And, indeed, it was much easier to relax when they were comfortably well fed: the argument about the Dementors was forgotten in laughter that night, and Harry felt cheerful, even hopeful, as he took the first of the three night watches.**

**This was their first encounter with the fact that a full stomach meant good spirits, an empty one, bickering and gloom. Harry was least surprised by this, because be had suffered periods of near starvation at the Dursleys'. **

The anger was clear in the eyes of anyone Harry looked at, even those who supported the pureblood supremacy ideals, but no one said anything, having already suspected that Petunia and Vernon had withheld food from their nephew. The only ones who hadn't known about Harry's treatment at the hands of the Dursleys were Andromeda and Ted, because they hadn't known that Vernon Dursley's wife Petunia, whom Andromeda was trying to help, was related to Harry.

James and Lily were furious, but after what Snape had said during the lunch break, they realised that while Harry had obviously been mistreated, he hadn't suffered too much, and had been able to get enough food to be reasonably healthy.

"Please continue, James." Dorea whispered, clearly angry, "Harry has already said that Vernon will be charged, so we must deal with this later, like the rational adults we are supposed to be."

**Hermione bore up reasonably well on those nights when they managed to scavenge nothing but berries or stale biscuits, her temper perhaps a little shorter than usual and her silences dour. Ron, however, had always been used to three delicious meals a day, courtesy of his mother or of the Hogwarts house-elves, and hunger made him both unreasonable and irascible. Whenever lack of food coincided with Ron's turn to wear the Horcrux, he became downright unpleasant.**

"**So where next?" was his constant refrain. He did not seem to have any ideas himself, but expected Harry and Hermione to come up with plans while he sat and brooded over the low food supplies.**

"That's not good." Fred said, "I know that not having enough food is unpleasant, but sometimes there are more important things to be concerned about."

**Accordingly Harry and Hermione spent fruitless hours trying to decide where they might find the other Horcruxes, and how to destroy the one they already got, their conversations becoming increasingly repetitive as they got no new information.**

"That's really not good." George murmured, "I foresee an explosion of temper from all three of them."

**As Dumbledore had told Harry that be believed Voldemort had hidden the Horcruxes in places important to him, they kept reciting, in a sort of dreary litany, those locations they knew that Voldemort had lived or visited. The orphanage where he had been born and raised: Hogwarts, where he had been educated; Borgin and Burkes, where he had worked after completing school; then Albania, where he had spent his years of exile: these formed the basis of their speculations.**

"I can already tell you that he wouldn't hide one in Borgin and Burkes, or in Albania." Regulus sighed, "they would probably have recognised what it was if he had hidden one at the shop, and I wouldn't have thought he would be willing to hide one outside the country."

"He wouldn't even hide one at the orphanage." Caruso added, "that was the one place he wanted to get away from, and wouldn't want to have anything to do with it once he was old enough to leave."

"So the only possibility would be Hogwarts." Orion grimaced, "though I would have expected the headmaster to have found it."

"He would have mentioned it to Harry in their lessons if he had." Cygnus pointed out, "so either he can't get to where Voldemort hid the Horcrux, or he hasn't found the location."

"It is a fairly large place." Orion nodded, "oh well, let's allow our young cousin to read, and maybe we'll find out."

"**Yeah, let's go to Albania. Shouldn't take more than an afternoon to search an entire country," said Ron sarcastically.**

"Ron, you are seriously beginning to get annoying." Ginny growled, "if you are going to shoot down their ideas, come up with some of your own."

"**There can't be anything there. He'd already made five of his Horcruxes before he went into exile, and Dumbledore was certain the snake is the sixth," said Hermione. "We know the snake's not in Albania, it's usually with Vol–"**

"**_Didn't I ask you to stop saying that?_"**

"**Fine! The snake is usually with You-Know-Who – happy?"**

"I don't know whether I should be happy that you saved our lives, or annoyed because you were acting like a git, Ron." Harry said dryly.

"I don't know either." Ron groaned, "all I know is that I really wish we could skip the later half of this chapter."

"Unfortunately, it wouldn't help, I think there will be about three chapters that wouldn't make much sense if we did skip." Hermione sighed.

"True." Ron grimaced, bracing himself for the fury he knew would erupt at his departure.

"**Not particularly."**

"**I can't see him hiding anything at Borgin and Burkes." said Harry, who had made this point many times before, but said it again simply to break the nasty silence. "Borgin and Burke were experts at Dark objects, they would've recognized a Horcrux straight away."**

"Indeed." Abraxas nodded, "I know that my great-great-grandfather had several Dark objects that I wanted to get rid of when he finally died. I didn't know what they were, nor did I really want to know, but Borgin and Burke were rather excited when they saw those objects."

"They may recognise Dark objects, but given that Horcruxes are the vilest of the vile, and extremely obscure, not many would recognise one." Albus pointed out.

"That is a good point." Abraxas said, "though I still doubt that Voldemort would hide one of his Horcruxes there, even if there was no chance of it being recognised."

"He wouldn't want to risk it being sold." Cygnus murmured.

**Ron yawned pointedly. Repressing a strong urge to throw something at him, Harry ploughed on, **

"Don't repress it." Ginny growled, "just throw something at him."

"**I still reckon he might have hidden something at Hogwarts."**

**Hermione sighed.**

"**But Dumbledore would have found it, Harry!"**

"Not necessarily." Albus said, "not even I know all the secrets of Hogwarts."

"No, but you were pretty close to finding the one he had hidden here." Harry grinned, "you mentioned the room at the Yule Ball."

"You mean that room I found full of chamber pots at four o'clock in the morning?" Albus asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "that's known as the Room of Requirement, and only appears when the user has need of it. What better place to keep something hidden than in a room that's hidden?"

"I presume that you've already dealt with the one he hid here?" Scrimgeour queried.

"Yes." Hermione said, "Harry did that before we started reading. We won't mention what it is, because we don't want to give too much away, but I can say that it is very old."

"I've already told a few people what it was, and shown them." Harry grinned, "I gave it to professor Flitwick yesterday, and he's either put it in his office, or somewhere else for safe-keeping. I do suggest that until it's revealed in the book, it be kept hidden, so the story isn't ruined too much."

**Harry repeated the argument he kept bringing out in favour of this theory.**

"**Dumbledore said in front of me that he never assumed he knew all of Hogwart's secrets. I'm telling you, if there was one place Vol–"**

"**Oi!"**

"**YOU-KNOW-WHO, then!" Harry shouted, goaded past endurance. "If there was one place that was really important to You-Know-Who, it was Hogwarts!"**

"Indeed." Caruso nodded.

"**Oh, come on," scoffed Ron. "His _school_?"**

"Ron, you wouldn't understand." Regulus said, "for anyone who doesn't have the best home-life, Hogwarts feels like home. It's where they feel safe, away from whatever troubles they have outside these walls."

"Sirius thought of Hogwarts as his home, especially after Walburga's reaction to him being Sorted into Gryffindor." Orion added.

"You know what my father was like." Snape shrugged, "I thought of Hogwarts as home because I was away from him, and from what I've heard about the orphanage Tom Riddle grew up in, he would have thought of it as home too."

"He did." Abraxas grimaced, "at the beginning of every year, when we were back in our dormitory, he would whisper to himself, 'home at last'. He didn't know I'd overheard, but that always made me wonder how bad the orphanage really was."

"**Yeah, his school! It was his first real home, the place that meant he was special: it meant everything to him, and even after he left –"**

"**This is You-Know-Who we're talking about, right? Not you?" inquired Ron. **

"You are an idiot." Ginny groaned, "Ron, you really do need to think before you speak."

**He was tugging at the chain of the Horcrux around his neck; Harry was visited by a desire to seize it and throttle him.**

"You have a hell of a lot more self-control than I would have in that situation." Ginny said, trying not to snarl at Harry, knowing that it wasn't his fault Ron was being such an arse.

"**You told us that You-Know-Who asked Dumbledore to give him a job after he left," said Hermione.**

"**That's right," said Harry.**

"**And Dumbledore thought he only wanted to come back to try and find something, probably another founder's object, to make into another Horcrux?"**

"But that doesn't mean he didn't hide one he'd already made." Susan said, "and as you've already mentioned, he did hide one here, so he either hid it before he met with the headmaster, or afterwards. I'm sure the Room of Requirement is not too far out of his way so he could have taken a detour."

"We still don't know whether he hid the Horcrux on his way to the headmaster's office, or on his way back, but that isn't exactly important, because we know where he hid it." Hermione pointed out.

"**Yeah," said Harry.**

"**But he didn't get the job, did he?" said Hermione. "So he never got the chance to find a founder's object there and hide it in the school!"**

"**Okay, then," said Harry, defeated. "Forget Hogwarts."**

"I really wish we had listened to you." Hermione sighed, "we should have known that your instincts wouldn't lead us wrong."

**Without any other leads, they travelled into London and, hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, searched for the orphanage in which Voldemort had been raised. Hermione stole into a library and discovered from their records that the place had been demolished many years before. They visited its site and found a tower block of offices.**

"**We could try digging in to foundations?" Hermione suggested half-heartedly.**

"Logical, but at that point, a bit daft." Daphne giggled.

"**He wouldn't have hidden a Horcrux here," Harry said. He had known it all along. The orphanage had been the place Voldemort had been determined to escape; he would never have hidden a part of his soul there. Dumbledore had shown Harry that Voldemort sought grandeur or mystique in his hiding places; **

"He could have chosen places that had some kind of meaning to him." Kingsley said, "unless he trusted his Death Eaters enough to give one of them a Horcrux or two."

"He did trust two of his followers, but only gave them one each." Harry sighed, "one of them was a bit of a twit, just handing the Horcrux to someone we know, basically giving us the chance to destroy it."

"Well that was a stupid move." Lily giggled, "and I bet Tommy wasn't exactly pleased about that."

"No, he wasn't." Harry snorted as he gently interlaced the fingers of his left hand with those of Lucius' right, "he threw a temper tantrum when he found out."

"And I bet he threw Crucios around like confetti as well." James groaned.

"He did." Harry nodded.

**this dismal grey corner of London was as far removed as you could imagine from Hogwarts of the Ministry or a building like Gringotts, the Wizarding banks, with its gilded doors and marble floors.**

"I think he might have had one of his Death Eaters hide one in Gringotts." Hannah said, "the bank is well-known to be one of the safest places in Britain, so there might be one there."

"The goblins cannot stand anyone cheating death by creating Horcruxes, they would not allow one to be stored in a vault." Bill snorted, "and if they did find one in one of the vaults, they would be furious."

"Furious doesn't even begin to describe Ragnok's reaction when I told him that there was a Horcrux in one of the vaults." Harry laughed humourlessly, "he nearly trashed his own office, and after he found out that I knew how to destroy it, he practically ordered me to get it out of the bank as fast as possible."

"That sounds like a typical goblin reaction." Bill nodded, "and I'm sure he would levy a huge fine against the person who owned the vault."

"I think he did." Harry grinned, "I do know that after the war was over in the original time-line, I told the goblins why I did something that will be mentioned in a later chapter, and despite the fact that they did want some compensation, it was less than they would have wanted if I hadn't told them."

"That does sound like the goblin way." Bill said, "but, I think we ought to carry on reading, and when we get to that point, we'll discuss it a bit more."

**Even without any new idea, they continued to move through the countryside, pitching the tent in a different place each night for security. Every morning they made sure that they had removed all clues to their presence, then set off to find another lonely and secluded spot, travelling by Apparition to more woods, to the shadowy crevices of cliffs, to purple moors, gorse-covered mountainsides, and once a sheltered and pebbly cove. **

"The places you camped do sound nice." Padma said, "I just wish you were able to enjoy them a bit more."

**Every twelve hours or so they passed the Horcrux between them as though they were playing some perverse, slow-motion game of pass-the-parcel, where they dreaded the music stopping because the reward was twelve hours of increased fear and anxiety.**

"I definitely wouldn't want to play if that was the prize." Seamus mumbled.

**Harry's scar kept prickling. It happened most often, he noticed, when he was wearing the Horcrux. Sometimes he could not stop himself reacting to the pain.**

"**What? What did you see?" demanded Ron, whenever he noticed Harry wince.**

"**A face," muttered Harry, every time. "The same face. The thief who stole from Gregorovitch."**

"Voldemort really is obsessed with him." George whistled.

"He doesn't know who the thief is." Fred grinned, "that's why he's so obsessed."

**And Ron would turn away, making no effort to hide his disappointment. Harry knew that Ron was hoping to bear news of his family or the rest of the Order of the Phoenix,**

"You wouldn't want Harry to see anything to do with your family, Ron." Remus grimaced, "it would mean that they were in his presence, so you should be grateful that they're not. After all, no news is good news."

**but after all, he, Harry, was not a television aerial; he could only see what Voldemort was thinking at the time, not tune in to whatever took his fancy. Apparently Voldemort was dwelling endlessly on the unknown youth with the gleeful face, whose name and whereabouts, Harry felt sure, Voldemort knew no better than he did. **

"_And Gellert should be grateful that Voldemort doesn't know who he is_." Harry whispered in Parseltongue.

"You can't be serious." Lily gasped in realisation, "that's who the thief is?"

"Oh this is beginning to get annoying." Susan snorted, "Harry mutters something in Parseltongue and his mother understands him, so she yelps, and no one can figure out what she knows that we don't."

"If she didn't understand Parseltongue, then it wouldn't be annoying." Harry laughed, "but with Voldemort as her father, and Morfin Gaunt as her grandfather, I don't think it would be possible for her not to."

**As Harry's scar continued to burn and the merry, blond-haired boy swam tantalizingly in his memory, he learned to suppress any sign of pain or discomfort, for the other two showed nothing but impatience at the mention of the thief. He could not entirely blame them, when they were so desperate for a lead on the Horcruxes.**

**As the days stretched into weeks, Harry began to suspect that Ron and Hermione were having conversations without, and about, him. **

"Oh that's not good." Remus groaned, "just what they need, two Alpha's squabbling."

"What?" Tonks asked.

Remus didn't realise that he had spoken out loud, but hearing Tonks ask him what he was talking about, he knew he would have to explain, "the wolf in me sees Harry as the Alpha, the leader, and because Ron also seems to be an Alpha, things are going to escalate. Neither one will back down, it's just not what an Alpha does, which means that they will blow and something is going to happen."

"Oh." Tonks nodded, "that makes sense."

**Several times they stopped talking abruptly when Harry entered the tent, and twice he came accidentally upon them, huddled a little distance away, heads together and talking fast; both times they fell silent when they realized he was approaching them and hastened to appear busy collecting wood or water.**

"And not only is that a sign that Hermione's beginning to agree with Ron's complaints, but it will irritate Harry." Cho grimaced.

"Well it is rude to talk about someone behind their back, and then pretend to be perfectly friendly to their face." Luna said, not accusing anyone, but her meaning was clear. She knew that the Ravenclaws in her year liked to talk about her behind her back, and then act nicely to her face, so she wanted to remind them that Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent, and their behaviour showed that they didn't seem to know even the most basic forms of politeness.

**Harry could not help wondering whether they had only agreed to come on what now felt like a pointless and rambling journey because they thought he had some secret plan that they would learn in due course. Ron was making no effort to hide his bad mood, **

"I didn't think he ever did hide his bad mood." Ginny growled.

**and Harry was starting to fear that Hermione too was disappointed by his poor leadership. In desperation he tried to think of further Horcrux locations, but the only one that continued to occur to him was Hogwarts, and as neither of the others thought this at all likely, he stopped suggesting it.**

"I really do wish we had listened to Harry." Ron said, refusing to look up from his intense study of the table in front of him, so he didn't have to face the accusing stares he just knew were coming his way.

**Autumn rolled over the countryside as they moved through it. They were now pitching the tent on mulches of fallen leaves. Natural mists joined those cast by the Dementors; wind and rain added to their troubles. The fact that Hermione was getting better at identifying edible fungi could not altogether compensate for their continuing isolation, the lack of other people's company, or their total ignorance of what was going on in the war against Voldemort.**

"That's not good." Neville winced, "three people who hate being kept in the dark not knowing what's going on. It's going to be unpleasant when things do come to a head."

"**My mother," said Ron on night, as they sat in the tent on a riverbank in Wales, "can make good food appear out of thin air."**

"No I can't." Mrs Weasley said, "food cannot be conjured."

"Indeed, that is one of the fundamental laws of Transfiguration, and I doubt even Harry, who seems to have an innate talent at breaking fundamental laws, could break that one." Minerva nodded.

**He prodded moodily at the lumps of charred grey fish on his plate.**

"At least it's fish." Remus said, "that's got to be better than mushrooms."

"It does depend entirely on what type of fish that was caught." Dorea pointed out, "I would not want to eat shark, though since Harry has already mentioned that cured shark is a delicacy in Iceland, I now know that people do eat it."

"What river were you camped next to?" Andromeda wondered.

"The Teifi." Hermione replied, "it's one of the rivers that flows into the Irish sea, just below the town of Cardigan."

"Interesting." Andromeda muttered, "I don't know that area, so I couldn't begin to guess just what kind fish would be found in the rivers there."

"I'm sure there would be at least some salmon." Ted said, "I know that salmon make their way upriver to spawn, but I'm not sure what time of year is the best for salmon-fishing."

"You know nothing about fishing, or so you keep saying." Andromeda snorted, "we would need someone who either works in the fishing industry, or who lives in that area, to tell us."

**Harry glanced automatically at Ron's neck and saw, as he has expected, the golden chain of the Horcrux glinting there. He managed to fight down the impulse to swear at Ron, whose attitude would, he knew, improve slightly when the time came to take off the locket.**

"Why does the locket affect Ron so much more than Harry and Hermione?" Remus asked nervously.

"I don't know." Ron sighed, "I wish I knew, and could try and find some way of erasing whatever it was the locket took advantage of."

"**Your mother can't produce food out of thin air," said Hermione. "no one can. Food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfigura–"**

"**Oh, speak English, can't you?" Ron said, prising a fish-bone out from between his teeth.**

"**It's impossible to make good food out of nothing! You can Summon it if you know where it is, you can transform it, you can increase the quantity if you've already got some –"**

"**Well, don't bother increasing this, it's disgusting," said Ron.**

"Oh that's it." Ginny finally exploded, whipping out her wand and hexing Ron until he was purple and blue with neon green eyebrows, orange eyes and no hair. She finished it off with an over-powered Bat-bogey hex. "I feel better now."

Everyone around her shifted slightly, not particularly wanting to sit too close to her if she got angry again, and not one of them went to Ron's aid, knowing that he deserved it. Harry even summoned Colin's camera and took a few pictures of Ginny's handy-work, before ending the camera back and letting James read on without undoing the hexes.

"**Harry caught the fish and I did my best with it! I notice I'm always the one who ends up sorting out the food, because I'm a girl, I suppose!"**

"**No, it's because you're supposed to be the best at magic!" shot back Ron.**

"Now that's just ridiculous." Charlus snorted, "just because someone is good at magic, does not mean that they are good at cooking."

"Even with magic." Mrs Weasley nodded glaring at her youngest son.

**Hermione jumped up and bits of roast pike slid off her tin plate onto the floor.**

"**You can do the cooking tomorrow, Ron, you can find the ingredients and try and charm them into something worth eating, and I'll sit here and pull faces and moan and you can see you –"**

"**Shut up!" said Harry, leaping to his feet and holding up both hands. "Shut up _now_!"**

"You're siding with the idiot?" Ginny asked incredulously, "there's a time for standing by your best friend, and I have to say, that is not it."

"I know that, and I wasn't siding with him." Harry grinned, "you'll see what I was doing."

**Hermione looked outraged.**

"**How can you side with him, he hardly ever does the cook–"**

"**Hermione, be quiet, I can hear someone!"**

"That's a very good reason to tell them to shut up." Ted nodded, "even though I doubt anyone could hear you with the protection charms you put up."

**He was listening hard, his hands still raised, warning them not to talk. Then, over the rush and gush of the dark river beside them, he heard voices again. He looked around at the Sneakoscope. It was not moving.**

"I hope it's not Death Eaters." Andromeda whispered.

"You'll see." Hermione grinned, glancing periodically at Ted.

"If it's not Death Eaters, and the Sneakoscope isn't moving, that means that whoever it is, might be friendly." Angelina said, "they could be refugees."

"**You cast the _Muffliato_ charm over us, right?" he whispered to Hermione.**

"**I did everything," she whispered back, "_Muffliato_, Muggle-Repelling and Disillusionment Charms, all of it. They shouldn't be able to hear or see us, whoever they are."**

"Even if they are just refugees, you still don't really want them to know you're there." Kingsley sighed.

"But if you manage to overhear their conversation, they might talk about the war effort, you'll get a bit of news." Scrimgeour pointed out.

**Heavy scuffing and scraping noises, plus the sound of dislodged stones and twigs, told them that several people were clambering down the steep, wooded slope that descended to the narrow bank where they had pitched the tent. They drew their wands, waiting. The enchantments they had cast around themselves ought to be sufficient, in the near total darkness, to shield them from the notice of Muggles and normal witches and wizards. If these were Death Eaters, then perhaps their defences were about to be tested by Dark Magic for the first time.**

"I hope not." Lily whispered, slightly panicky.

**The voices became louder but no more intelligible as the group of men reached the bank. Harry estimated that their owners were fewer than twenty feet away, but the cascading river made it impossible to tell for sure. Hermione snatched up the beaded bag and started to rummage; after a moment she drew out three Extendable Ears and threw one each to Harry and Ron, who hastily inserted the ends of the flesh-coloured strings into their ears and fed the other ends out of the tent entrance.**

**Within seconds Harry heard a weary male voice.**

"**There ought to be a few salmon in here, or d'you reckon it's too early in the season? _Accio Salmon_!"**

"Why didn't you think of that?" Remus asked, "that does seem like the most sensible thing to have done."

"We didn't think of it." Hermione mumbled sheepishly.

**There were several distinct splashes and then the slapping sounds of fish against flesh. Somebody grunted appreciatively. Harry pressed the Extendable ear deeper into his own: over the murmur of the river he could make out more voices, but they were not speaking English or any human language he had ever heard. It was a rough and unmelodious tongue, a string of rattling, guttural noises, and there seemed to be two speakers, one with a slightly lower, slower voice than the other.**

"That's Gobbledegook." Bill said, "I don't know why a pair of goblins would be on the run, though. They refuse to have anything to do with the war."

"That may be, but what's the betting that because the Ministry fell, Gringotts was taken too?" Flitwick sighed.

"I doubt the goblins would allow that." Bill grimaced, "but maybe they didn't have a choice."

"I did find out that Voldemort warned the goblins that if they tried to start a war, he would slaughter every single one." Harry said, "maybe that got their attention."

**A fire danced into life on the other side of the canvas, large shadows passed between tent and flames. The delicious smell of baking salmon wafted tantalizingly in their direction. Then came the clinking of cutlery on plates, and the first man spoke again.**

"**Here, Griphook, Gornuk."**

"I recognise those names." Ron muttered.

"So do I." Harry nodded, "Griphook was the one to take me to my vault the first time, and Gornuk, he was the goblin that was found dead, alongside two of the other refugees in that group. It was announced on that pirate radio station you told us about."

"Now I remember." Hermione gasped, looking at Harry sadly, "he's going to read about how he dies."

"But he won't die this time." Lucius said gently, "we will make sure he lives to see his grandchildren."

"Who?" Andromeda asked.

"You'll see." Hermione sighed.

**_Goblins_! Hermione mouthed at Harry, who nodded.**

"**Thank you," said the goblins together in English.**

"**So, you three have been on the run how long?" asked a new, mellow, and pleasant voice; it was vaguely familiar to Harry, who pictured a round-bellied, cheerful-faced man.**

"Lovely description." Ted snorted.

"I wonder if we know who this person is." Andromeda said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Ted shrugged.

"**Six weeks … seven … I forget," said the tired man. "Met up with Griphook in the first couple of days and joined forces with Gornuk not long after. Nice to have a but of company." There was a pause, while knives scraped plates and tin mugs were picked up and replaced on the ground. "What made you leave, Ted?" continued the man.**

"That could be you." Andromeda whispered softly, grabbing her husbands hand in her own.

"Andy, there are plenty of Teds in the world." Ted said gently, "it might not be me."

"**Knew they were coming for me," replied mellow-voiced Ted, and Harry suddenly knew who he was: Tonks's father.**

"I hope you're all right." Andromeda murmured, "I don't know what I'd do if you died."

"You'll be all right." Ted whispered, trying to comfort his wife, "you'll still have Dora, and remember, this book was sent back to make sure things were changed, so even if the me in the book died, I won't."

"You're right, I guess I'm worrying over nothing." Andromeda sighed.

"I don't think you can call it nothing." Narcissa said gently, "it is a valid fear, and if I was in your position, I would be terrified too."

"Thanks Cissy." Andromeda said, giving her baby sister a wobbly smile.

"**Heard Death Eaters were in the area last week and decided I'd better run for it. Refused to register as a Muggle-born on principle, see, so I knew it was a matter of time, knew I'd have to leave in the end. My wife should be okay, she's pure-blood. **

"But I am considered a Blood Traitor." Andromeda grimaced, "and after I was disowned, I haven't got the protection of being a Black any more."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Cygnus grinned, "I never completed the paperwork, so you weren't completely disowned."

"Merlin." Andromeda muttered, "I thought you agreed with Mother."

"I never did." Cygnus snorted, "she just never allowed me to do or say what I wanted to."

"If he had completed the paperwork, I would have given him a bollocking." Dorea smirked, "like I did with Druella."

"Yes, and I definitely wanted to avoid that scenario." Cygnus said.

**And then I net Dean here, what, a few days ago, son?"**

"Me?" Dean asked nervously.

"Merlin." Seamus murmured, "the world really had gone to Hell in a hand-basket."

"**Yeah," said another voice, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at each other, silent but besides themselves with excitement, sure they recognized the voice of Dean Thomas, their fellow Gryffindor.**

"**Muggle-born, eh?" asked the first man.**

"**Not sure," said Dean. "My dad left my mum when I was a kid. I've got no proof he was a wizard, though."**

"He was." Hermione grimaced, "he refused the join the Death Eaters, and was killed. Apparently he was one of Evan Rosier's last victims."

"How did you find out?" Dean asked, eager to know more about his father.

"The future version of you told us." Harry replied, "you spent time researching both sides of your family, finding out a lot of interesting things, like the fact that your father's ancestors, on his father's side, had been slaves on sugar plantations in Jamaica."

"What about my grandmother?" Dean wondered.

"You couldn't find any records of her at all." Harry said, "there was apparently evidence that there had been records, but they were destroyed, presumably because whoever destroyed them didn't want anyone to know what they said."

"Oh." Dean sighed, "that's disappointing."

**There was silence for a while, except for the sounds of munching; then Ted spoke again.**

"**I've got to say, Dirk, I'm surprised to run into you. Pleased, but surprised. Word was that you'd been caught."**

"**I was," said Dirk. "I was halfway to Azkaban when I made a break for it. Stunned Dawlish, and nicked his broom. It was easier than you'd think; I don't reckon he's quite right at the moment. Might be Confunded. If so, I'd like to shake the hand of the witch or wizard who did it, probably saved my life."**

"So Dirk Creswell was all right." Mr Weasley breathed, "that's good to know."

**There was another pause in which the fire crackled and the river rushed on. The Ted said, "And where do you two fit in? I, er, had the impression the goblins were for You-Know-Who, on the whole."**

"**You had a false impression," said the higher-voiced of the goblins. "We take no sides. This is a wizards' war."**

"It may be a wizards' war, but the outcome will affect all races." Remus said, "it's stupid to think that if Voldemort won, he wouldn't exterminate the goblins, centaurs, house-elves and all other races, in order to try and keep the world 'pure'."

"He would have had a hard time exterminating the Muggles." Hermione snorted, "they outnumber us, by a lot. There are over six billion Muggles on earth, and that number is growing every day. There will be seven billion in less than twenty years."

"Merlin, that's a lot." Theo muttered.

"**How come you're in hiding, then?"**

"**I deemed in prudent," said the deeper-voiced goblin. "Having refused what I considered an impertinent request, I could see that my personal safety was in jeopardy."**

"**What did they ask you to do?" asked Ted.**

"**Duties ill-befitting the dignity of my race," replied the goblin, his voice rougher and less human as he said it. "I am not a house-elf."**

"**What about you, Griphook?"**

"**Similar reasons," said the higher voiced goblin. "Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my race.**

"That will definitely make the goblins want to fight against Voldemort." Lily grinned, "they hate having wizards in control of the bank."

**I recognize no Wizarding master."**

**He added something under his breath in Gobbledegook, and Gornuk laughed.**

"**What's the joke?" asked Dean.**

"**He said," replied Dirk, "that there are things wizards don't recognize, either."**

**There was a short pause.**

"**I don't get it," said Dean.**

"**I had my small revenge before I left," said Griphook in English.**

"Did he lock Rabastan in one of the vaults?" Caruso asked, with less concern that Andromeda would have expected to hear, in his voice.

"**Good man–goblin, I should say," amended Ted hastily. "Didn't manage to lock a Death Eater up in one of the old high-security vaults, I suppose?"**

"**If I had, the sword would not have helped him break out," replied Griphook. Gornuk laughed again and even Dirk gave a dry chuckle.**

"Sword, what sword?" Flitwick asked, "it isn't the Sword of Gryffindor is it?"

"That has been hidden for centuries." Andromeda pointed out, "it will only appear to those who need it, and are descended from Gryffindor himself. I doubt that they're talking about that particular sword, but there are other goblin-forged swords around, I'm sure."

"**Dean and I are still missing something here," said Ted.**

"**So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it," said Griphook, **

"What has that bloody goblin stolen from me?" Snape asked irritably.

"Nothing." Harry grinned.

"But?" Snape spluttered.

"Wait and see." Draco smirked.

**and the two goblins roared with malicious laughter.**

**Inside the tent Harry's breathing was shallow with excitement: he and Hermione stared at each other, listening as hard as they could.**

"**Didn't you hear about that, Ted?" asked Dirk. "About the kids who tried to steal Gryffindor's sword out of Snape's office at Hogwarts?"**

"Evidently I was wrong, and it was that particular sword." Andromeda muttered.

"I'd like to know how it was found." Ted said, not having been told that part of the story when he and Andromeda arrived, "and by whom."

"I pulled it out of the Sorting hat in second year." Harry smiled.

"What were you doing to need it?" Andromeda asked incredulously.

"Trying not to get killed by an eighty-foot long, highly venomous snake." Harry replied dryly, "I was in the Chamber of Secrets, attempting to kill a basilisk."

"Holy Merlin." Ted whimpered.

"Yeah, it was pretty scary, but I succeeded, and the one-thousand-year-old old basilisk was put out of her misery." Harry said.

**An electric current seemed to course through Harry, jangling his every nerve as he stood rooted to the spot.**

"**Never heard a word," said Ted, "Not in the Prophet, was it?"**

"**Hardly," chortled Dirk. "Griphook here told me, he heard about it from Bill Weasley who works for the bank. One of the kids who tried to take the sword was Bill's younger sister."**

"Well done Ginny." Fred grinned.

"Thanks." Ginny shrugged, glad to know that she was trying to help destabilise Voldemort's regime, even if her contribution was only small.

"That's not necessarily a good thing." Snape grimaced, "even if I wasn't having to play the part of loyal minion, I wouldn't be terribly happy about people sneaking into my office to steal something."

**Harry glanced toward Hermione and Ron, both of whom were clutching the Extendable Ears as tightly as lifelines.**

"**She and a couple of friends got into Snape's office and smashed open the glass case where he was apparently keeping the sword. Snape caught them as they were trying to smuggle it down the staircase."**

"And I would probably be furious." Snape sighed, "plus having to protect the students, as well as toady to the Dark Lord, would undoubtedly be very stressful."

"**Ah, God bless 'em," said Ted. "What did they think, that they'd be able to use the sword on You-Know-Who? Or on Snape himself?"**

"Why has no one thought of sticking a sword in Voldemort?" George wondered.

"It wouldn't work." Regulus snorted, "he wouldn't stand still for long enough, and he wouldn't be able to die because of his Horcruxes. I think that if people did think of it, they probably discarded the idea."

**Well, whatever they thought they were going to do with it, Snape decided the sword wasn't safe where it was," said Dirk. "Couple of days later, once he'd got the say-so from You-Know-Who, I imagine, he sent it down to London to be kept in Gringotts instead."**

**The goblins started to laugh again.**

"I don't get it." Ted frowned.

"**I'm still not seeing the joke," said Ted.**

"Weird." Tonks muttered.

"**It's a fake," rasped Griphook.**

"**The sword of Gryffindor!"**

"**Oh yes. It is a copy – an excellent copy, it is true – but it was Wizard-made.**

"I wonder who took the time to create a fake." Minerva said.

"You'll see." Hermione giggled.

**The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armour possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts bank."**

"It was still at Hogwarts, hidden in a cubby hole behind one of the portraits in the headmaster's office." Ron sniggered, "right under everyone's nose."

"**I see," said Ted. "And I take it you didn't bother telling the Death Eaters this."**

"**I saw no reason to trouble them with the information," said Griphook smugly, and now Ted and Dean joined in Gornuk and Dirk's laughter.**

**Inside the tent, Harry closed his eyes, willing someone to ask the question he needed answered, and after a minute that seemed ten, Dean obliged; he was (Harry remembered with a jolt) an ex-boyfriend of Ginny's too.**

"When did we break up and why?" Ginny wondered.

"Apparently you were arguing too much to be able to make your relationship work." Hermione shrugged, "you told me that you spent more time arguing than talking. That made you realise that you just weren't meant to be."

"So how the hell did Colin and I get together?" Ginny asked.

"We don't know." Harry grinned, "we never figured that out, but we could tell that you two just fit, so we didn't try and work out how."

"**What happened to Ginny and all the others? The ones who tried to steal it?"**

"**Oh, they were punished, and cruelly," said Griphook indifferently.**

"**They're okay, though?" asked Ted quickly, "I mean, the Weasleys don't need any more of their kids injured, do they?"**

"What does that mean?" Mrs Weasley asked, beginning to panic again.

"I think he was talking about Bill's scars from Greyback, George's missing ear, and Ron's supposed illness." Hermione said, "there were no injuries, as far as we know."

"**They suffered no serious injury, as far as I am aware," said Griphook.**

"**Lucky for them," said Ted. "With Snape's track record I suppose we should just be glad they're still alive."**

"**You believe that story, then, do you, Ted?" asked Dirk. "You believe Snape killed Dumbledore?"**

"**Course I do," said Ted. "You're not going to sit there and tell me you think Potter had anything to do with it?"**

"**Hard to know what to believe these days," muttered Dirk.**

"Oh Dirk, you idiot." Mr Weasley mumbled.

"**I know Harry Potter," said Dean. "And I reckon he's the real thing – the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it."**

"That's the Gryffindor way." Minerva said, smiling at her lions, before turning a smug look upon the Death Eater wannabes.

"**Yeah, there's a lot would like to believe he's that, son," said Dirk, "me included. But where is he? Run for it, by the looks of things. You'd think if he knew anything we don't, or had anything special going for him, he'd be out there now fighting, rallying resistance, instead of hiding. And you know, the _Prophet_ made a pretty good case against him –"**

"Honestly, he's being an idiot if he believes that pile of dragon-shit." Remus snorted.

"**The _Prophet_?" scoffed Ted. "You deserve to be lied to if you're still reading that much, Dirk. You want the facts, try _The Quibbler_."**

"But I thought _The Quibbler_ was full of stuff about non-existent creatures, not news about real life." Ernie said.

"Maybe Daddy decided to stop printing those stories while the war was going on." Luna shrugged.

"He did." Harry nodded with a slight smile.

**There was a sudden explosion of choking and retching, plus a good deal of thumping, by the sound of it. Dirk had swallowed a fish bone. At last he sputtered, "_The Quibbler_? That lunatic rag of Xeno Lovegood's?"**

"It wasn't mad, not that year." Hermione said, "it held the unvarnished truth, without sugar-coating everything."

"**It's not so lunatic these days," said Ted. "You want to give it a look, Xeno is printing all the stuff the _Prophet_'s ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they'll let him get away with it, mind, I don't know. But Xeno says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number-one priority."**

"**Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth," said Dirk.**

"**Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet's one hell of an achievement," said Ted. "I'd take tips from him gladly; it's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?"**

"Yes, and Harry was damn good at that." Lucius laughed, "I think there were only one or two sightings of him that year."

"**Yeah, well, you've got a point there," said Dirk heavily. "With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him, I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already caught and killed him without publicizing it?"**

"Yeah, like that would happen." Neville snorted.

"I cannot imagine Voldemort not publicising it if he had captured and killed Harry." Albus said, "he would want to crush any spirit of resistance that was left after the Ministry fell by publicly displaying Harry's body."

"He wouldn't realise that if he did that, he would be creating a martyr, and a lot of people would rally together and fight even harder." Ginny pointed out, "I don't think Voldemort understands the kind of loyalty Harry inspires, just by being himself."

"Indeed he doesn't." Albus nodded, "love is something Voldemort has never truly understood, and that will be his downfall."

"**Ah, don't say that, Dirk," murmured Ted.**

**There was a long pause filled with more clattering of knives and forks. When they spoke again it was to discuss whether they ought to sleep on the back or retreat back up the wooded slope. Deciding the trees would give better cover, they extinguished their fire, then clambered back up the incline, their voices fading away.**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione reeled in the Extendable Ears. Harry, who had found the need to remain silent increasingly difficult the longer they eavesdropped, now found himself unable to say more then, "Ginny – the sword –"**

"**I know!" said Hermione.**

**She lunged for the tiny beaded bag, this time sinking her arm in it right up to the armpit.**

"What the hell?" Lily asked, with a confused expression on her face.

"I have no idea." Ted muttered with wide eyes.

"**Here … we … are …" she said between gritted teeth, and she pulled at something that was evidently in the depths of the bag. Slowly the edge of an ornate picture frame came into sight.**

"Phineas Nigellus." Dorea whispered, "I understand now."

"Understand what?" Ted asked confusedly.

"Phineas Nigellus has another portrait in the headmaster's office, so they're going to talk to him, and ask him about the sword." Dorea replied, "it's brilliant."

**Harry hurried to help her. As they lifted the empty portrait of Phineas Nigellus free of Hermione's bag, she kept her wand pointing at it, ready to cast a spell at any moment.**

"Oh and that's even better." Orion smirked, "he won't like being hexed, but it will mean that he can't tell anyone where you are, or even who you are."

"**If somebody swapped the real sword for the fake while it was in Dumbledore's office," she panted, as they propped the painting against the side of the tent, "Phineas Nigellus would have seen it happen, he hangs right beside the case!"**

"**Unless he was asleep," said Harry, but he still held his breath as Hermione knelt down in front of the empty canvas, her wand directed at its centre, cleared her throat, then said:**

"**Er – Phineas? Phineas Nigellus?"**

**Nothing happened.**

"**Phineas Nigellus?" said Hermione again. "Professor Black? Please could we talk to you? Please?"**

"There's no need to be polite to a rude bugger like him." Regulus grumbled.

"'**Please' always helps," said a cold, snide voice, and Phineas Nigellus slid into his portrait. **

"He slides everywhere." Cygnus laughed.

**At once, Hermione cried: "_Obscuro_!"**

**A black blindfold appeared over Phineas Nigellus's clever, dark eyes, causing him to bump into the frame and shriek with pain.**

"**What – how dare – what are you –?"**

"**I'm very sorry, Professor Black," said Hermione, "but it's a necessary precaution!"**

"**Remove this foul addition at once! Remove it, I say! You are ruining a great work of art! **

"He really is full of himself." Lily snorted.

"You may not have noticed, but our ancestors always have been." Orion said, "they're all extremely proud of themselves, and the fact that they were all purebloods."

**Where am I? What is going on?"**

"**Never mind where we are," said Harry, and Phineas Nigellus froze, abandoning his attempts to peel off the painted blindfold.**

"**Can that possible be the voice of the elusive Mr Potter?"**

"That's got to get him interested." Narcissa said, "he does seem to like mysteries."

"**Maybe," said Harry, knowing that this would keep Phineas Nigellus's interest. **

"**We've got a couple of questions to ask you—about the sword of Gryffindor."**

"**Ah," said Phineas Nigellus, now turning his head this way and that in an effort to catch sight of Harry, "yes. That silly girl acted most unwisely there –"**

"She's not a silly girl." Fred growled.

"No, but Phineas Nigellus hates teenagers." Dorea pointed out, "which is partly why he was Hogwarts' least popular headmaster."

"**Shut up about my sister," said Ron roughly, Phineas Nigellus raised supercilious eyebrows.**

"**Who else is here?" he asked, turning his head from side to side. "Your tone displeases me! The girl and her friends were foolhardily in the extreme. Thieving from the headmaster."**

"**They weren't thieving," said Harry. "That sword isn't Snape's."**

"**It belongs to Professor Snape's school," said Phineas Nigellus. **

"No it doesn't." Charlus snorted, "it belongs to the Heir of Gryffindor."

"**Exactly what claim did the Weasley girl have upon it? She deserved her punishment, as did the idiot Longbottom and the Lovegood oddity!"**

"Neville is not an idiot." Ginny exploded, "and Luna is not an oddity. Stupid portrait."

"**Neville is not an idiot and Luna is not an oddity!" said Hermione.**

"OK, that was a bit creepy." Hermione and Ginny muttered, looking at each other in shock.

"**Where am I?" repeated Phineas Nigellus, starting to wrestle with the blindfold again. "Where have you brought me? Why have you removed me from the house of my forebears?"**

"**Never mind that! How did Snape punish Ginny, Neville, and Luna?" asked Harry urgently.**

"I hope you didn't do anything too harsh." Mrs Weasley said sternly, staring fiercely at Snape, who shrank down into his seat, not wanting to face the wrath of the red-head. He was a little surprised that he could face Voldemort, lying to the half-snake's face, but he couldn't face a woman like Mrs Weasley.

"**_Professor_ Snape sent them into the Forbidden Forest, to do some work for the oaf, Hagrid."**

"**Hagrid's not an oaf!" said Hermione shrilly.**

"Hermione, maybe it would be a good idea to lower the pitch." Remus said gently, "any more shrill, and I doubt the boys would be able to hear you. Only bats and dogs can hear things at high pitch."

"**And Snape might've though that was a punishment," said Harry, "but Ginny, Neville, and Luna probably had a good laugh with Hagrid. The Forbidden Forest … they've faced plenty worse than the Forbidden Forest, big deal!"**

**He felt relieved; he had been imagining horrors, the Cruciatus Curse at the very least.**

"Merlin, I wish you'd told me then." Ron whimpered, "I probably would have understood."

"Maybe, but I doubt it." Hermione sighed, "that locket was screwing with us all, you just got the worst of it, and you were beyond reason. I don't think knowing what Harry was thinking about would have helped."

"**What we really wanted to know, Professor Black, is whether anyone else has, um, taken out the sword at all? Maybe it's been taken away for cleaning – or something!"**

"But goblin-made weapons don't need cleaning." Bill said.

"Yes, but maybe Phineas Nigellus wasn't told that it was going to be copied, and that was the excuse used, when the wizard who copied it, did so." Hermione pointed out, "we didn't know who had copied it, not then, and we knew that they didn't want anyone to realise that it had been, so we thought they might have used cleaning it as an excuse to take the sword out of its case."

"Good point." Bill sighed.

**Phineas Nigellus paused again in his struggles to free his eyes and sniggered.**

"**_Muggle-borns_," he said, "Goblin-made armour does not require cleaning, simple girl. **

"Hermione isn't simple." Neville said forcefully.

**Goblins' silver repels mundane dirt, imbibing only that which strengthens it."**

"Such as basilisk venom?" Susan suggested with a grin.

"Precisely." Albus nodded.

"**Don't call Hermione simple," said Harry.**

"**I grow weary of contradiction," said Phineas Nigellus. "perhaps it is time for me to return to the headmaster's office?"**

"Maybe it is you bloody ridiculous portrait." Regulus mumbled.

"He really is a pompous arse." Tonks agreed.

**Still blindfolded, he began groping the side of his frame, trying to feel his way out of his picture and back into the one at Hogwarts. Harry had a sudden inspiration.**

"**Dumbledore! Can't you bring us Dumbledore?"**

"**I beg your pardon?" asked Phineas Nigellus.**

"**Professor Dumbledore's portrait – couldn't you bring him along, here, into yours?"**

"Unfortunately, headmasters cannot enter portraits outside the castle, that aren't their own." Albus sighed, "it would be wonderful if it was possible, but sadly, it is not."

**Phineas Nigellus turned his face in the direction of Harry's voice.**

"**Evidently it is not only Muggle-borns who are ignorant, Potter. The portraits of Hogwarts may commune with each other, but they cannot travel outside of the castle except to visit a painting of themselves elsewhere. Dumbledore cannot come here with me, and after the treatment I have received at your hands, I can assure you that I will not be making a return visit!"**

"Yes he will." Dorea snorted, "he may have died when I was nearly five, but I still know my grandfather, and there is no way he could resist returning."

**Slightly crestfallen, Harry watched Phineas redouble his attempts to leave his frame.**

"**Professor Black," said Hermione, "couldn't you just tell us, _please_, when was the last time the sword was taken out of its case? Before Ginny took it out, I mean?"**

**Phineas snorted impatiently.**

"**I believe that the last time I saw the sword of Gryffindor leave its case was when Professor Dumbledore used it to break open a ring."**

"The ring Horcrux, that was destroyed before the beginning of this year." Charlie said, "so that might mean that whoever copied the sword, did it after the attempted theft."

**Hermione whipped around to look at Harry. Neither of them dared say more in front of Phineas Nigellus, who had at least managed to locate the exit.**

"**Well, good night to you," he said a little waspishly, and he began to move out of sight again. Only the edge of his hat brim remained in view when Harry gave a sudden shout.**

"**Wait! Have you told Snape you saw this?"**

**Phineas Nigellus stuck his blindfolded head back into the picture.**

"**Professor Snape has more important things on his mind that the many eccentricities of Albus Dumbledore. _Goodbye_, Potter!"**

"That may well be true, but I'm sure that if Voldemort knew about the sword having basilisk venom on it, then he would want to know." Snape said, forcing himself to use the Dark Lord's name, and feeling more able to do so now that he didn't have his Dark Mark any more.

**And with that, he vanished completely, leaving behind him nothing but his murky backdrop.**

"**Harry!" Hermione cried.**

"**I know!" Harry shouted. Unable to contain himself, he punched the air; it was more than he had dared to hope for. He strode up and down the tent, feeling that he could have run a mile; he did not even feel hungry any more. Hermione was squashing Phineas Nigellus's back into the beaded bag; when she had fastened the clasp she threw the bag aside and raised a shining face to Harry.**

"I can imagine how much happier you are now that you have the possibility of destroying the locket." Charlus said.

"Yeah, so happy that Hermione and I ended up doing the twin thing." Harry sniggered.

"**The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made blades imbibe only that which strengthens them – Harry, that sword's impregnated with basilisk venom!"**

"**And Dumbledore didn't give it to me because he still needed it, he wanted to use it on the locket –"**

"– **and he must have realized they wouldn't let you have it if he put it in his will –"**

"– **so he made a copy –"**

"– **and put a fake in the glass case –"**

"– **and he left the real one … where?"**

"Have you two turned into Fred and George without us noticing." Charlie asked with a grin, not realising that his brothers were getting a bit nervous about Ron's lack of input into the conversation.

**They gazed at east other Harry felt that the answer was dangling invisibly in the air above them, tantalizingly close. Why hadn't Dumbledore told him? Or had he, in fact, told Harry, but Harry had not realized it at the time?**

"**Think!" whispered Hermione. "Think! Where would he have left it?"**

"**Not at Hogwarts," said Harry, resuming his pacing.**

"**Somewhere in Hogsmeade?" suggested Hermione.**

"**The Shrieking Shack?" said Harry. "Nobody ever goes in there."**

"Too risky." Snape said, "unfortunately, it's too close to Hogsmeade, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Death Eaters had set up a ward to alert them if someone Apparated in, just in case it was you."

"**But Snape knows how to get in, wouldn't that be a bit risky?"**

"**Dumbledore trusted Snape," Harry reminded her.**

"**Not enough to tell him that he had swapped the swords," said Hermione.**

"If I knew that the Ministry would not allow the sword to be passed on, then I probably suggested that he create a fake, and find some way of getting the original to you, without anyone being too suspicious." Albus smiled. Harry grinned back, not saying whether Albus' assumption was correct or not, which irritated everyone who noticed.

"**Yeah, you're right!" said Harry, and he felt even more cheered at the thought that Dumbledore had had some reservations, however faint, about Snape's trustworthiness.**

"No I didn't." Harry snorted, "this is one of the parts the author got wrong."

"Yep, we definitely weren't happy when we thought the swap was kept hidden from Professor Snape." Hermione agreed, "we were actually a bit disappointed instead."

"**So, would he have hidden the sword well away from Hogsmeade, then? What d'you reckon, Ron? Ron?"**

**Harry looked around. For one bewildered moment he thought that Ron had left the tent, then realized that Ron was lying in the shadow of a bunk, looking stony.**

"Crap." Bill grimaced, "I thought this would happen."

"But we had hoped it wouldn't." Percy sighed, "he's wearing the locket, he hasn't had much to eat, and it's all just been building up, since they left Grimmauld Place."

"**Oh, remembered me, have you?" he said.**

"**What?"**

**Ron snorted as he stared up at the underside of the upper bunk.**

"**You two carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun."**

"You are a prat, Ron." Ginny grumbled, glaring at the red-head, who wasn't looking at anything. He'd just closed his eyes and hunched in on himself, trying to make himself as small a target as possible.

**Perplexed, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she shook her head, apparently as nonplussed as he was.**

"**What's the problem?" asked Harry.**

"**Problem? There's no problem," said Ron, still refusing to look at Harry. "Not according to you, anyway."**

**There were several _plunks_ on the canvas over their heads. It had started to rain.**

"**Well, you've obviously got a problem," said Harry. "Spit it out, will you?"**

**Ron swung his long legs off the bed and sat up. He looked mean, unlike himself.**

"Merlin, that locket really is affecting him." Lily whispered.

"**All right, I'll spit it out. Don't expect me to skip up and down the tent because there's some other damn thing we've got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don't know."**

"That was a low blow." Dean said.

"**I don't know?" repeated Harry. "_I_ don't know?"**

**_Plunk, plunk, plunk_: the rain was falling harder and heavier; it pattered on the leaf-strewn bank all around them and into the river chattering through the dark. Dread doused Harry's jubilation: Ron was saying exactly what he had suspected and feared him to be thinking.**

"**It's not like I'm not having the time of my life here," said Ron, "you know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every night.**

"Ron, you idiot." Charlie groaned, "you're saying everything you shouldn't say, not at a moment like that."

**I just hoped, you know, after we'd been running round a few weeks, we'd have achieved something."**

"How can you say that?" Bill asked, "the fact that you haven't been caught and have the locket, means that you have achieved something."

"Far more than I did." Albus agreed, "and it took you less than two months to get hold of the locket once you'd realised where it was. It took me three years to find and destroy the ring. Don't sell yourselves short."

"**Ron," Hermione said, but in such a quiet voice that Ron could pretend not to have heard it over the loud tattoo the rain was beating on the tent.**

"**I thought you knew what you'd signed up for," said Harry.**

"**Yeah, I thought I did too."**

"**So what part of it isn't living up to your expectations?" asked Harry. Anger was coming to his defence now.**

"Oh Merlin." Bill grimaced, "this is going from bad to worse. Ron's temper is already erupting, but having Harry erupt too. That's not good."

"**Did you think we'd be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you'd be back to Mummy by Christmas?"**

"That was a very low blow." Andromeda commented.

"The thing is, those two know each other so well that they know what buttons to push to rile each other up, and they are pushing every single one of those buttons." Remus grimaced, "this is not over yet, it will only get worse."

"**We thought you knew what you were doing!" shouted Ron, standing up, and his words Harry like scalding knives. "We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!"**

"If he had had a plan, he would have told you." Lily snarled, furious with Ron for seemingly trying to throw his friendship with Harry away.

"**Ron!" said Hermione, this time clearly audible over the rain thundering on the tent roof, but again, he ignored her.**

"**Well, sorry to let you down," said Harry, his voice quite calm even though he felt hollow, inadequate. "I've been straight with you from the start. I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in the case you haven't noticed, we've found one Horcrux –"**

"**Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them – nowhere effing near in other words."**

"You were actually closer to getting rid of them than you would have been if you hadn't known about the sword." Remus said, breathing deeply to try and control his own temper.

"**Take off the locket, Ron," Hermione said, her voice unusually high. "Please take it off. You wouldn't be talking like this if you hadn't been wearing it all day."**

"Yes he would." Ginny growled, "Hermione, don't make excuses. Ron has an inferiority complex the size of Great bloody Britain."

"**Yeah, he would," said Harry, who did not want excuses made for Ron. "D'you think I haven't noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D'you think I didn't guess you were thinking this stuff?"**

"**Harry, we weren't –"**

"Hermione, lying to Harry is a very stupid idea." Neville said gently, "he hates it when people lie to him."

"Plus he'd see through that lie in an instant." Seamus added, "which will irritate him even more."

"**Don't lie!" Ron hurled at her. "You said it too, you said you were disappointed, you said you'd thought he had a bit more to go on than –"**

"She wouldn't say it to his face, even if she was slightly disappointed about the lack of information available." Padma said, "I may not know the three of you well, but one thing I do know, is that Harry would have told you everything he knew about Voldemort's Horcrux-thingies, so there is no point in blaming him for not telling you more."

"**I didn't say it like that – Harry, I didn't!" she cried.**

**The rain was pounding the tent, tears were pouring down Hermione's face, and the excitement of a few minutes before had vanished as if it had never been, a short-lived firework that had flared and died, leaving everything dark, wet, and cold. The sword of Gryffindor was hidden they knew not where, and their were three teenagers in a tent whose only achievement was not, yet, to be dead.**

"That may be the only really obvious achievement, but you have got one Horcrux and you know how to destroy it." Ted pointed out, "true you may not have access to the sword, but at least you know that it will do the job when you find it."

"**So why are you still here?" Harry asked Ron.**

"**Search me," said Ron.**

"**Go home then," said Harry.**

"Oh that's bad." Remus grimaced, "this argument sounds worse than the one you and Sirius had after the Willow incident."

"I doubt it." James snorted bitterly, "during that argument, we were throwing hexes at each other, and got into a punch-up so bad we both spent time in the hospital wing."

"**Yeah, maybe I will!" shouted Ron, and he took several steps toward Harry, who did not back away. **

"I don't really know how bad your argument was, Mr Potter, but this, this sounds as though it's worse than the one Harry and Ron had in our fourth year." Neville said, "and they didn't speak to each other for nearly a month afterwards."

"It was only after the first task was over that Ron grew a pair and apologised." Hermione nodded, "which was the right thing to do. He was the one in the wrong, not Harry."

"Merlin." Lily whispered.

"Oh, and by the way, Neville, call me James, or if you don't feel comfortable with that, call me Prongs." James said, "not only are there three of us Mr Potters, but calling me Mr Potter makes me feel old. I'm only twenty-one."

"**Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? But you don't give a rat's fart, do you, it's only the Forbidden Forest, Harry I've-Faced-Worse Potter doesn't care what happened to her in there – well, I do, all right, giant spiders and mental stuff –"**

"How dare you?" Mrs Weasley hissed angrily, "how dare you even suggest that Harry doesn't care?"

"I dunno what I was thinking." Ron grimaced, letting his head fall to the table with a thump. "I know I was utterly terrified that I was going to lose my family, and the way Harry seemed so calm about it, I dunno. I guess it just got too much."

"Ron, you heard what the book said, Harry was scared for us too." Percy said, "but he was hiding it, trying to make sure that you stayed calm."

"**I was only saying – she was with the others, they were with Hagrid –"**

"**Yeah, I get it, you don't care! And what about the rest of my family, 'the Weasleys don't need another kid injured,' did you hear that?"**

"**Yeah, I –"**

"**Not bothered what it meant, though?"**

"Actually, he seemed bloody terrified." Seamus snorted humourlessly.

"**Ron!" said Hermione, forcing her way between them. "I don't think it means anything new has happened, anything we don't know about; think, Ron, Bill's already scarred, plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you're supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I'm sure that's all he meant –"**

"I'm sure that's all I meant too." Ted nodded.

"**Oh, you're sure, are you? Right then, well, I won't bother myself about them. It's all right for you, isn't it, with your parents safely out of the way –"**

"That was low, so low I don't think there is a blow lower than that." Narcissa said, "and I really think that was out of line."

"**My parents are _dead_!" Harry bellowed.**

"**And mine could be going the same way!" yelled Ron.**

"Oh bloody hell, Ron, don't you know anything about your own best friend?" Bill asked incredulously.

"You don't say something like that to a guy like him." Charlie said, "he's gonna beat himself up about anything bad that happens to us, and he'll probably end up being even more reckless than he seems to be."

"**Then GO!" roared Harry. "Go back to them, pretend you're got over your spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up and –"**

**Ron made a sudden movement: Harry reacted, but before either wand was clear of its owner's pocket, **

"I can't believe you pulled your wands on each other." Pansy gasped, "I don't think I've ever seen you two argue so badly."

"They haven't." Hermione said, "they shout at each other, and then don't talk for a bit, but they have never had an argument as bad as that one was."

"That really does sound horrible." Andromeda muttered.

**Hermione had raised her own.**

"I think she already had her wand out." Daphne said, "I would have, if it was me."

"Yeah." Hermione nodded, "I knew what would happen if they were allowed to start hexing each other."

"Harry would hex me into oblivion." Ron grimaced, "I would have deserved it if he had."

"Very true, both statements." Draco snorted, "Harry seems to be the best of us at duelling."

"He's a prodigy." Flitwick squeaked, "if he wishes it, I would be ecstatic to take him on as my apprentice."

"Impressive." Charlus said.

"**_Protego_!" she cried, and an invisible shield expanded between her and Harry on the one side and Ron on the other; all of them were forced backward a few steps by the strength of the spell, and Harry and Ron glared from either side of the transparent barrier as though they were seeing each other clearly for the first time. Harry felt a corrosive hatred toward Ron: something had broken between them.**

"Oh Merlin." Orion said, "this is bad."

"Ya think?" Abraxas snorted, "talk about stating the blindingly obvious."

"**Leave the Horcrux," Harry said.**

**Ron wrenched the chain from over his head and cast the locket into a nearby chair. He turned to Hermione.**

"**What are you doing?"**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**Are you staying, or what?"**

"I can't believe you're going to force her to chose between her friends." Lily gasped, "that's beyond the pale."

"**I …" She looked anguished. "Yes – yes, I'm staying. Ron, we said we'd go with Harry, we said we'd help –"**

"**I get it. You choose him."**

"She didn't choose him, she just chose to continue the mission." Justin said, "I think that might be more important than teenage melodrama."

"**Ron, no – please – come back, come back!"**

**She was impeded by her own Shield Charm; by the time she had removed it he had already stormed into the night. Harry stood quite still and silent, listening to her sobbing and calling Ron's name amongst the trees.**

**After a few minutes she returned, her sopping hair plastered to her face.**

"**He's g-g-gone! Disapparated!"**

"How on earth did you manage to stay friends after that?" Caruso asked.

"Ron got over a lot of his insecurities." Harry replied, "he had sense talked into him by the brother he looked up to the most."

"If that's me." Bill grinned, "I'm glad I could help him sort himself out."

**She threw herself into a chair, curled up, and started to cry.**

**Harry felt dazed. He stooped, picked up the Horcrux, and placed it around his own neck. He dragged blankets off Ron's bunk and threw them over Hermione. Then he climbed onto his own bed and stared up at the dark canvas roof, listening to the pounding of the rain.**

"That was the end of the chapter." James said.

"Let's take a break." Albus suggested, "I think we could all do with one after all that."

"A good idea." Andromeda said softly.


	21. Chapter 21

**Godric's Hollow**

After a thirty-minute break, during which a lot of the students left the hall to find somewhere that was more private to talk, and Lucius explained the Goa'uld physiology and beliefs, as well as the Asgard, to Narcissa, Andromeda and Ted, everyone was ready to begin the next chapter.

"Who would like to read?" Albus asked, smiling as Harry and Ron talked quietly while they returned to their seats.

"I will." The Baron said, in his slightly reedy, cracked voice.

"Very well." Albus nodded, quickly enchanting the book to float so the Baron could see the words, and adding a charm that would turn the pages when the Baron needed.

"**Godric's Hollow**," The Baron read.

"I thought Voldemort would have stationed Death Eaters there, just in case you went." Lily said, "so why would you go there?"

"He may have put Death Eaters there, but we needed to check the place out." Harry sighed, "there might have been information there, that we needed, so we couldn't ignore the place, just to stay out of danger."

**When Harry woke the following day, it was several seconds before he remembered what had happened. Then he hoped, childishly, that it had been a dream, that Ron was still there and had never left. Yet by turning his head on his pillow he could see Ron's deserted bunk. It was like a dead body in the way it seemed to draw his eyes. Harry jumped down from his own bed, keeping his eyes averted from Ron's. Hermione, who was already busy in the kitchen, did not wish Harry good morning, but turned her face away quickly as he went by.**

**_He's gone_, Harry told himself. _He's gone_. He had to keep thinking it as he washed and dressed as though repetition would dull the shock of it. _He's gone and he's not coming back_. **

"He has to, he just has to." Percy said.

"I still can't believe he left like that." Mrs Weasley whimpered.

**And that was the simple truth of it, Harry knew, because their protective enchantments meant that it would be impossible, once they vacated this spot, for Ron to find them again.**

**He and Hermione ate breakfast in silence. Hermione's eyes were puffy and red; she looked as if she had not slept.**

"That sounds a bit like Hermione." Daphne nodded, "she doesn't sleep when she's stressed or excited."

"Yep, and the rest of us have to put up with a crabby Hermione, when she's had no sleep." Harry grinned, "it's not fun trying to avoid getting in the way of her when she's like that."

**They packed up their things, Hermione dawdling. Harry knew why she wanted to spin out their time on the riverbank; several times he saw her look up eagerly, and he was sure she had deluded herself into thinking that she heard footsteps through the heavy rain, but no red-haired figure appeared between the trees. Every time Harry imitated her, looked around ( for he could not help hoping a little, himself) and saw nothing but rain-swept woods, another little parcel of fury exploded inside him. He could hear Ron saying, '_We thought you knew what you were doing!_', and he resumed packing with a hard knot in the pit of his stomach.**

"Damn, I'm sorry." Ron said.

"Don't worry about it." Harry smiled, "it was nearly forty-nine years ago, for us anyway, and you apologised then, so you don't need to now."

**The muddy river beside them was rising rapidly and would soon spill over onto their bank. They had lingered a good hour after they would usually have departed their camp-site. Finally having entirely repacked the beaded bag three times, Hermione seemed unable to find any more reasons to delay: she and Harry gasped hands and Disapparated, reappearing on a windswept heather-covered hillside.**

**The instant they arrived, Hermione dropped Harry's hand and walked away from him, finally sitting down on a large rock, her face on her knees, shaking with what he knew were sobs. He watched her, supposing that he ought to go and comfort her, but something kept him rooted to the spot. Everything inside him felt cold and tight: again he saw the contemptuous expression on Ron's face. Harry strode off through the heather, walking in a large circle with the distraught Hermione at its centre, casting the spell she usually performed to ensure their protection.**

"I'm glad you thought to put up your protections." Lily sniffled, "but it would have been nicer if Ron had been there too."

**They did not discuss Ron at all over the next few days. Harry was determined never to mention his name again**

Albus winced, knowing that the enchantments he had added to the Deluminator wouldn't work if Harry and Hermione didn't say Ron's name, but he didn't know what else he could have done to aid them from beyond the grave.

**and Hermione seemed to know that it was no use forcing the issue, although sometimes at night when she thought he was sleeping, he would hear her crying. Meanwhile Harry had started bringing out the Marauder's map and examining it by wand-light. He was waiting for the moment when Ron's labelled dot would reappear in the corridors of Hogwarts, proving that he had returned to the comfortable castle, protected by his status of pureblood. **

"He wouldn't have been able to return safely." Draco sighed, "Voldemort knew that Ron was your friend, and if he'd turned up, alone, then he would have been taken and interrogated, even though the Ministry, and therefore the Death Eaters, 'knew' that he was ill. Unfortunately, it would have been too good an opportunity to make an example of someone."

**However, Ron did not appear on the map and after a while Harry found himself taking it out simply to stare at Ginny's name in the girl's dormitory, wondering whether the intensity with which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that she would somehow know he was thinking about her, hoping that she was all right.**

"I bet I was glad to know that the only other person to know what it's like to face Tom, to be possessed by him, was looking out for me, even if he wasn't there to talk to." Ginny smiled sadly.

**By day, they devoted themselves to trying to determine the possible locations of Gryffindor's sword, but the more they talked about the places in which Dumbledore might have hidden it, the more desperate and far-fetched their speculation became. Cudgel his brains though he might, Harry could not remember Dumbledore ever mentioning a place in which he might hide something. There were moments when he did not know whether he was angrier with Ron or with Dumbledore. _We thought you knew what you were doing … we thought Dumbledore had told you what to do … we thought you had a real plan!_**

**He could not hide it from himself: Ron had been right. Dumbledore had left him with virtually nothing. **

Albus winced again, knowing that he really hadn't been able to give them much, and that what he had given them appeared worthless, but he couldn't say that he hadn't tried, that he hadn't told them everything he knew about what Voldemort had been like, because he had, he had told Harry that he was working practically blind, with no true and solid fact to base any of his speculations on. He just wished he had had more time to search, and less responsibilities to work around, but, apart from the previous year when he had lost all his positions, every time he thought about resigning from all bar the headmaster post, something would draw him back in, some mess would have to be sorted out, and he was the one everyone looked to to solve everything. In some ways, he was glad that he was dying, glad that he wouldn't have to watch the world he loved sink into darkness and despair, but he did regret the necessity of leaving Harry and his friends so much work, with so little to work with.

**They had discovered one Horcrux, but they had no means of destroying it: the others were as unattainable as they had ever been. Hopelessness threatened to engulf him. He was staggered now to think of his own presumption in accepting his friends' offers to accompany him on this meandering, pointless journey. He knew nothing, he had no ideas, and he was constantly, painfully on the alert for any indications that Hermione too was about to tell him that she had had enough. That she was leaving.**

"She wouldn't." Ginny said, "Hermione has stuck by you since Halloween in your first year, there's no way she would leave."

"Of course I wouldn't." Hermione snorted, "I know what it's like, not having friends around, and there's no way I would want either of us to experience that again."

"Didn't you have friends before coming to Hogwarts?" Lily asked, slightly shocked.

"No, I didn't." Hermione sighed, "all the kids at my school teased me and taunted me because I was so smart, they called me teacher's pet because the teachers were the only ones who looked out for me, and I ended up seeking refuge in books because they didn't tease me."

"Merlin." Lily whispered sadly.

**They were spending many evenings in near silence, and Hermione took to bringing out Phineas Nigellus's portrait and propping it up in a chair, as though he might fill part of the gaping hole left by Ron's departure. **

"I can't believe you were actually willing to talk to that arrogant tosser." Regulus snorted.

**Despite his previous assertion that he would never visit them again, Phineas Nigellus did not seem able to resist the chance to find out more about what Harry was up to and consented to reappear, blindfolded, every few days or so. **

"He's hooked." Orion sniggered, "you're a mystery to him, and he really wants to figure you out, so he'll keep returning."

"Poor you." Cygnus added with a chuckle.

**Harry was even glad to see him, because he was company, albeit of a snide and taunting kind. They relished any news about what was happening at Hogwarts, though Phineas Nigellus was not an ideal informer. He venerated Snape, the first Slytherin headmaster since he himself had controlled the school, and they had to be careful not to criticize or ask impertinent questions about Snape, or Phineas Nigellus would instantly leave his painting. However, he did let drop certain snippets. Snape seemed to be facing a constant, low level of mutiny from a hard core of students. **

"DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!" Neville, Ginny and Luna shouted, all three standing up with their arms raised and their hands in fists. They knew that they were the ones leading the resistance from within the school, and they wanted to show their support for Harry and the ageing headmaster.

**Ginny had been banned from going into Hogsmeade.**

"What on earth did I do to earn that?" Ginny asked eagerly, once she'd sat down again.

"Ripped down all the Undesirable Number One posters and replaced them with a cartoon showing Harry dancing on Voldemort's grave." Hermione giggled, "they had also been given the title, 'Voldie's Number One Arse Kicker'."

"Wicked." Ginny grinned, "but I can't draw. Were they stick figures?"

"Nope, you'd recruited someone from the DA to do the drawing." Hermione replied.

**Snape had reinstated Umbridge's old decree forbidding gatherings of three or more students or any unofficial student societies. From all of these things, Harry deduced that Ginny, and probably Neville and Luna along with her, had been doing their best to continue Dumbledore's Army. **

"Good." Luna said dreamily.

"Down with the Death Eaters." Neville agreed.

**This scant news made Harry want to see Ginny so badly it felt like a stomach-ache; but it also made him think of Ron again, and of Dumbledore, and of Hogwarts itself, which he missed nearly as much as his ex-girlfriend. **

**Indeed, as Phineas Niggellus talked about Snape's crackdown, Harry experienced a split second of madness when he imagined simply going back to school to join the destabilization of Snape's regime: Being fed and having a soft bed, and other people being in charge, seemed the most wonderful prospect in the world at this moment. But then he remembered that he was Undesirable Number One, that there was a ten-thousand Galleon price on his head, and that to walk into Hogwarts these days was just as dangerous as walking into the Ministry of Magic. **

"Foreshadowing." Ginny giggled.

"What?" Andromeda snorted.

"Well, Harry, Hermione and the idiot waltzed into the Ministry, and the book just said that going to Hogwarts would be just as dangerous, so at some point in this book, they're going to go to Hogwarts." Ginny shrugged.

"But it'll be crawling with Death Eaters." Andromeda said, incredulous.

"True, but they won't let that stop them." Ginny grinned.

**Indeed, Phineas Nigellus inadvertently emphasized this fact my slipping in leading questions about Harry and Hermione's whereabouts. Hermione shoved him back inside the beaded bag every time he did this, and Phineas Nigellus invariably refused to reappear for several days after these unceremonious good-byes.**

"You are good at pissing him off, but you can't dampen his interest." Regulus sniggered.

**The weather grew colder and colder. They did not dare remain in any area too long, so rather than staying in the south of England, where a hard ground frost was the worst of their worries, they continued to meander up and down the country, braving a mountainside, where sleet pounded the tent; a wide, flat marsh, where the tent was flooded with chill water; and a tiny island in the middle of a Scottish loch, where snow half buried the tent in the night. **

"That's not good." Mrs Weasley fretted, while Lily grabbed on to Harry again, praying that he was well wrapped up.

**They had already spotted Christmas Trees**

"Wow, you're been alone for four months without going mad." James whistled, "I don't think I could cope for that long without seeing some different faces, or hearing the latest news."

"I think we did go a little stir-crazy, but it wasn't too bad." Hermione sighed, "we did get to experience what life was like without all the trappings of the modern world, which was an interesting experience."

**twinkling from several sitting room windows before there came an evening when Harry resolved to suggest again, what seemed to him the only unexplored avenue left to them. They had just eaten an unusually good meal: Hermione had been to a supermarket under the Invisibility Cloak (scrupulously dropping the money into an open till as she left), and Harry thought that she might be more persuadable than usual on a stomach full of spaghetti Bolognese and tinned pears.**

"I'm not Ron." Hermione giggled, "I'm not a walking stomach."

"But you do have to admit, that you are far less argumentative and stressed when you've just eaten." Harry smirked.

**He had also had the foresight to suggest that they take a few hours' break from wearing the Horcrux, which was hanging over the end of the bunk beside him.**

"Why the hell couldn't you do that a lot earlier?" Hannah asked exasperatedly, making people look at her curiously, wondering why she was swearing so uncharacteristically.

"**Hermione?"**

"**Hm?" She was curled up in one of the sagging armchairs with _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. **

"It's going to take a lot more than just calling her name to attract her attention when she's reading a book." Ginny giggled.

"That sounds like my Lily-flower." James grinned, "and Moony."

"Don't call me flower." Lily said sternly, though she couldn't stop her lips twitching.

**He could not imagine how much more she could get out of the book, which was not, after all, very long, but evidently she was still deciphering something in it, because _Spellman's Syllabary_ lay open on the arm of the chair.**

**Harry cleared his throat. He felt exactly as he had done on the occasion, several years previously, when he had asked Professor McGonagall whether he could go into Hogsmeade, despite the fact that he had not persuaded the Dursleys to sign his permission slip. **

"I can't believe they wouldn't sign it." Lily growled.

"They had a good reason." Harry shrugged, "it was the day I inflated Marge."

"Oh." Lily sighed, "I'm still gonna give Petunia a piece of my mind."

"That's not a good idea, not just yet." Andromeda warned, "she has suffered nearly sixteen years of emotional abuse and beatings. It will take her time to recover, and I'm not sure how she'll react to seeing you alive and well after fifteen years of believing you were dead."

"I hope she'll be all right." Lily whispered.

"She will, eventually." Andromeda smiled, "she just needs time."

"**Hermione, I've been thinking, and –"**

"**Harry, could you help me with something?" Apparently she had not been listening to him. **

"I thought she wasn't." Ginny giggled.

**She leaned forward and held out _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_.**

"**Look at that symbol," she said, pointing to the top of a page. Above what Harry assumed was the title of the story (being unable to read runes, he could not be sure),**

"That's not necessarily true." Snape said, "it depends on what type of runes they are. We taught the six of them to read Futhark and Futorc, but not Anglo-Frisian."

"They were Anglo-Frisian, which is why I didn't find it easy to translate." Hermione sighed.

**there was a picture of what looked like a triangular eye, its pupil crossed with a vertical line.**

"That's the symbol Luna's father was wearing at the wedding." Susan said.

"It's also the symbol that lot are wearing on their robes." Hannah added, pointing at the sleeves of the robes the Alteran High Council members were wearing.

"**I never took Ancient Runes, Hermione."**

"Not true, I just wasn't as good at translating runes as Hermione." Harry snorted.

"None of us are." Daphne giggled, "Hermione's a bloody genius with runes."

"Besides, it isn't a rune." Luna said dreamily.

"**I know that; but it isn't a rune and it's not in the syllabary, either. All along I thought it was a picture of an eye, but I don't think it is! It's been inked in, look, somebody's drawn it there, it isn't really part of the book. Think, have you ever seen it before?"**

"**No … no, wait a moment." Harry looked closer. "Isn't it the same symbol Luna's dad was wearing round his neck?"**

"**Well, that's what I thought too!"**

"**Then it's Grindelwald's mark."**

"No it's not." Albus whispered, "he was just interested in what it meant."

**She stared at him, open-mouthed.**

"**_What_?"**

"**Krum told me …" He recounted the story that Viktor Krum had told him at the wedding. Hermione looked astonished.**

"**_Grindelwald_'s mark?"**

**She looked from Harry to the weird symbol and back again. "I've never heard that Grindelwald had a mark. There's no mention of it in anything I've ever read about him."**

"Obviously, he didn't have a mark if Hermione couldn't find anything mentioning one." Parvati snorted.

"**Well, like I say, Krum reckoned that symbol was carved on a wall at Durmstrang, and Grindelwald put it there." She fell back into the old armchair, frowning.**

"**That's very odd. If it's a symbol of Dark Magic, what's it doing in a book of children's stories?"**

"The Hallows have nothing to do with Dark Magic." Luna crooned.

"**Yeah, it is weird," said Harry. "And you'd think Scrimgeour would have recognized it. He was Minister, he ought to have been expert on Dark stuff."**

"I might have been able to recognise it if I knew what the Hallows are." Scrimgeour said, "but, despite being brought up with stories from that book, I never truly believed that there was anything real associated with any of those stories."

"**I know … perhaps he thought it was an eye, just like I did. All the other stories have little pictures over the titles." She did not speak, but continued to pore over the strange mark. Harry tried again.**

"**Hermione?"**

"**Hm?"**

"**I've been thinking. I – I want to go to Godric's Hollow."**

**She looked up at him, but her eyes were unfocused, and he was sure she was still thinking about the mysterious mark on the book.**

"**Yes," she said. "Yes, I've been wondering that too. I really think we'll have to."**

"Wow, I did not think she would agree so readily." Remus whistled.

"Neither did I." Harry grinned.

"**Did you hear me right?" he asked.**

"**Of course I did. You want to go to Godric's Hollow. I agree. I think we should. I mean, I can't think of anywhere else it could be either. It'll be dangerous, but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems it's there."**

"Is anyone else confused?" Justin asked,

"I think I might have an idea of what she's talking about, but I don't really know." Ernie frowned.

"**Er – _what_'s there?" asked Harry.**

**At that, she looked just as bewildered as he felt.**

"**Well, the sword, Harry! **

"I don't think I would have left the sword with anyone living there." Albus said, "the only person I know who lives there is Bathilda, and I don't think I would want to risk her safety by leaving such a sharp object with her, especially since she is going a bit senile."

**Dumbledore must have known you'd want to go back there, and I mean, Godric's Hollow is Godric Gryffindor's birthplace –"**

"**Really? Gryffindor came from Godric's Hollow?"**

"It should be obvious." Charlus said, "that's why the Potter family has a small cottage there, have had since the first Edward built it there."

"It wasn't all that obvious." Harry retorted, "just because Godric Gryffindor was the most famous person with that name, doesn't mean that there weren't others called Godric, and the place could have been named after one of them."

"I did not think of that." Charlus mumbled sheepishly.

"**Harry, did you ever even open _A History of Magic_?"**

"**Erm," he said, smiling for what felt like the first time in months: the muscles in his face felt oddly stiff. "I might've opened it, you know, when I bought it … just the once …"**

"**Well, as the village is named after him I'd have thought you might have made the connection," said Hermione. She sounded much more like her old self than she had done of late; Harry half expected her to announce that she was off to the library. **

"That sounds like a reasonable assumption." Lavender snorted, "she does rush off to the library about three times a day."

"**There's a bit about the village in _A History of Magic_, wait …"**

**She opened the beaded bag and rummaged for a while,**

"She doesn't need to go to the library." Ginny laughed, "the library came to her. Or rather, she's brought the library with her."

**finally extracting her copy of their old school textbook, _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot, which she thumbed through until finding the page she wanted.**

"'**_Upon the signature of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own small communities within a community. Many small villages and hamlets attracted several magical families, who banded together for mutual support and __protection. The villages of Tinworth in Cornwall, Upper Flagley in Yorkshire, and Ottery St. Catchpole on the south coast of England were notable homes to knots of wizarding families who lived alongside tolerant and sometimes Confunded Muggles. Most celebrated of these half-magical dwelling places is, perhaps, Godric's Hollow, the West Country village where the great wizard Godric Gryffindor was born, and where Bowman Wright, wizarding smith, forged the first Golden Snitch. The graveyard is full of the names of ancient magical families, and this accounts, no doubt, for the stories of hauntings that have dogged the little church beside it for many centuries_.'**

"That has got to be one of the most boring things I've ever heard." Smith sneered, yawning pointedly.

"Twenty points from Hufflepuff, Mr Smith." Sprout barked angrily, "and watch what you say, or there will be more deductions."

"**You and your parents aren't mentioned." Hermione said, closing the book, "because Professor Bagshot doesn't cover anything later than the end of the nineteenth century. But you see? Godric's Hollow, Godric Gryffindor, Gryffindor's sword; don't you think Dumbledore would have expected you to make the connection?"**

"Not necessarily." Minerva frowned, "he might have thought it too obvious, and, as he has already said, he wouldn't entrust something as valuable and dangerous as the sword, to the only person he knows who actually lives in Godric's Hollow, especially since he has mentioned that she isn't exactly all there any more."

"**Oh yeah …"**

**Harry did not want to admit that he had not been thinking about the sword at all when he suggested they go to Godric's Hollow. For him, the lure of the village lay in his parents' graves, the house where he had narrowly escaped death, and in the person of Bathilda Bagshot.**

"Well, she might have some insight that you hadn't thought of, but that relies on her not being completely senile, or dead." Cho said.

"**Remember what Muriel said?" he asked eventually.**

"**Who?"**

"**You know," he hesitated: he did not want to say Ron's name. "Ginny's great-aunt. At the wedding. The one who said you had skinny ankles."**

"That woman never has a nice thing to say." Mrs Weasley grimaced, "or at least, I've never heard her say anything nice, about anyone."

"**Oh," said Hermione. It was a sticky moment: Harry knew that she had sensed Ron's name in the offing. He rushed on: "She said Bathilda Bagshot still lived in Godric's Hollow."**

"**Bathilda Bagshot," murmured Hermione, running her index finger over Bathilda's embossed name on the front cover of _A History of Magic_. "Well, I suppose –"**

**She gasped so dramatically that Harry's insides turned over; he drew his wand, looking around at the entrance, half expecting to see a hand forcing its way through the entrance flap, but there was nothing there.**

"Oh Hermione, you're smart, so you should know not to gasp like that." Ginny sighed.

"**What?" he said, half angry, half relieved. "What did you do that for? I thought you'd seen a Death Eater unzipping the tent, at least –"**

"**Harry, _what if Bathilda's got the sword_? What if Dumbledore entrusted it to her?"**

"We keep saying that that is highly unlikely." James muttered, "she's a hundred and forty, so I don't think she's the best person to leave anything valuable with."

**Harry considered this possibility. Bathilda would be an extremely old woman by now, and according to Muriel, she was 'gaga'. Was it likely that Dumbledore would have hidden the sword of Gryffindor with her? If so, Harry felt that Dumbledore had left a great deal to chance: Dumbledore had never revealed that he had replaced the sword with a fake, nor had he so much as mentioned a friendship with Bathilda. Now, however, was not the moment to cast doubt on Hermione's theory, not when she was so surprisingly willing to fall in with Harry's dearest wish.**

"**Yeah, he might have done! So, are we going to go to Godric's Hollow?"**

"**Yes, but we'll have to think it through carefully, Harry." She was sitting up now, and Harry could tell that the prospect of having a plan again had lifted her mood as much as his. **

"Wow, I don't think I've ever met anyone who likes planning as much as you seem to, Hermione." James whistled, "not even Moony."

"**We'll need to practice Disapparating together under the Invisibility Cloak for a start, and perhaps Disillusionment Charms would be sensible too, unless you think we should go the whole hog and use Polyjuice Potion? In that case we'll need to collect hair from somebody. I actually think we'd better do that, Harry, the thicker our disguises the better …"**

**Harry let her talk, nodding and agreeing whenever there was a pause, but his mind had left the conversation. For the first time since he had discovered that the sword in Gringotts was a fake, he felt excited.**

"Well, you do have something to strive for now." Lisa said, "I've always found that if I don't know what I'm doing, I get irritable and don't want to do anything, but if I do have a clue, or a hint about something, then I get excited and inspired."

"I think a lot of people feel that way." Terry nodded.

**He was about to go home, about to return to the place where he had had a family. It was in Godric's Hollow that, but for Voldemort, he would have grown up and spent every school holiday. He could have invited friends to his house … he might even have had brothers and sisters … **

"I still wish you had been able to replace your younger self, without causing a paradox." Lily whispered.

"It wasn't just a paradox we needed to avoid." Harry sighed, "if we had replaced my younger self, both versions of me could have died, due to something known as entropic cascade failure."

"What the hell is that?" Charlus asked.

"It's a paradoxical effect of having two versions of the same person in the same reality." Harry replied, "we don't know how much of an effect it would have had with me being from a different time, but we didn't want to risk it, which is why we spent as little time as possible when we were replacing people."

"We only know about the existence of entropic cascade failure because a friend of ours had found a Quantum Mirror, which would allow people to travel from one dimension to another." Lucius continued, "he wanted to go to another dimension to explore, but he was denied because it was deemed to dangerous, and eventually the mirror was forgotten about, but then two years later, two people from an alternate universe travelled to ours, seeking help, but because there was already a version of one of them, she started convulsing, and nearly died because of entropic cascade failure, so they both had to go back. It was unfortunate that they couldn't stay in our dimension, because theirs was less-than pleasant, due to a Goa'uld invasion, but, if they had stayed, both versions would have died."

"Sounds horrible." Dorea commented.

"Indeed." Lucius nodded with a sigh.

**It would have been his mother who had made his seventeenth birthday cake. The life he had lost had hardly ever seemed so real to him as at this moment, when he knew he was about to see the place where it had been taken from him. **

Lily and Mrs Weasley burst into tears, sobbing loudly, while the other mothers sniffled and the students looked pityingly at Harry, who glared at them. James and Mr Weasley tried to comfort their wives while looking sombre, like most of the other fathers in the hall.

**After Hermione had gone to bed that night, Harry quietly extracted his rucksack from Hermione's beaded bag, and from inside it, the photograph album Hagrid had given him so long ago. For the first time in months, he perused the old pictures of his parents, smiling and waving up at him from the images, which were all he had left of them now.**

**Harry would gladly have set out for Godric's Hollow the following day, but Hermione had other ideas. Convinced as she was that Voldemort would expect Harry to return to the scene of his parents' deaths, she was determined that they would set off only after they had ensured that they had the best disguises possible. **

"That really is the best idea." Moody nodded approvingly.

"Wouldn't have made much difference if we had gone as ourselves." Hermione grimaced, "Polyjuice wouldn't have hidden our scents from any creatures."

**It was therefore a full week later – once they had surreptitiously obtained hairs from innocent Muggles who were Christmas shopping, and had practised Apparating and Disapparating while underneath the Invisibility Cloak together – that Hermione agreed to make the journey.**

**They were to Apparate to the village under cover of darkness, so it was late afternoon when they finally swallowed Polyjuice Potion, Harry transforming into a balding, middle-aged Muggle man, Hermione into his small and rather mousy wife. **

"Urgh, Hermione is nothing like that little scummy bastard Pettigrew." Remus and James grumbled.

**The beaded bag containing all of their possessions (apart from the Horcrux, which Harry was wearing around his neck) was tucked into an inside pocket of Hermione's buttoned-up coat. Harry lowered the Invisibility Cloak over them, then they turned into the suffocating darkness once again.**

**Heart beating in his throat, Harry opened his eyes. They were standing hand in hand in a snowy lane under a dark blue sky, in which the night's first stars were already glimmering feebly. Cottages stood on either side of the narrow road, Christmas decorations twinkling in their windows. A short way ahead of them, a glow of golden streetlights indicated the centre of the village.**

"**All this snow!" Hermione whispered beneath the cloak. "Why didn't we think of snow? After all our precautions, we'll leave prints! We'll just have to get rid of them – you go in front, I'll do it –"**

"You don't look like yourselves, so leaving footprints shouldn't be too bad." Charlus said.

"And besides, trying to get rid of those prints would take twice as long." Cygnus added.

**Harry did not want to enter the village like a pantomime horse, trying to keep themselves concealed while magically covering their traces.**

"**Let's take off the Cloak," said Harry, and when she looked frightened, "Oh, come on, we don't look like us and there's no one around."**

**He stowed the Cloak under his jacket and they made their way forward unhampered, the icy air stinging their faces as they passed more cottages. Any one of them might have been the one in which James and Lily had once lived or where Bathilda lived now. Harry gazed at the front doors, their snow-burdened roofs, and their front porches, wondering whether he remembered any of them, knowing deep inside that it was impossible, that**

"Not even someone with a semi-photographic memory would be able to remember something that far back." Albus sighed.

"I've already mentioned that I remembered the bike." Harry pointed out, "and I do remember the attack, so it isn't too much of a leap to think I might also remember the cottage as well."

"Merlin." Albus whispered, "no one should remember something like that."

**he had been little more than a year old when he had left this place forever. He was not even sure whether he would be able to see the cottage at all; he did not know what happened when the subjects of a Fidelius Charm died. **

"The charm would have collapsed." Flitwick said.

"The charm on the cottage in Godric's Hollow didn't have a chance to collapse." Albus sighed, "it was shattered, by the backlash from the rebounding Killing Curse. That's how I knew that something was wrong. The stone I had tied to the charm, to monitor it's strength, blew itself to pieces."

"Merlin." Flitwick whispered, "I never heard of something like that happening, but of course, I've never heard of anyone surviving the Killing Curse before."

**Then the little lane along which they were walking curved to the left and the heart of the village, a small square, was revealed to them.**

**Strung all around with coloured lights, there was what looked like a war memorial in the middle, **

"A memorial to those who died fighting Voldemort?" Dorea asked.

"No, to the Muggles who left Godric's Hollow and died during the first and second world wars." Harry replied.

**partly obscured by a windblown Christmas tree. There were several shops, a post office, a pub, and a little church whose stained-glass windows were glowing jewel-bright across the square.**

**The snow here had become impacted: It was hard and slippery where people had trodden on it all day. Villagers were criss-crossing in front of them, their figures briefly illuminated by street-lights. They heard a snatch of laughter and pop music as the pub door opened and closed; then they heard a carol start up inside the little church.**

"**Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve!" said Hermione.**

"**Is it?"**

"Merlin, you didn't even know it was December." Orion whispered, "I can't imagine not having access to a newspaper, which could tell me the date."

**He had lost track of the date; they had not seen a newspaper for weeks.**

"**I'm sure it is," said Hermione, her eyes upon the church. "They … they'll be in there, won't they? Your mum and dad? I can see the graveyard behind it."**

"Yeah, that's where the grave is." Remus said sadly.

"It is so very weird, hearing about someone going to visit your own grave." James murmured, feeling chills go down his spine.

**Harry felt a thrill of something that was beyond excitement, more like fear. Now that he was so near, he wondered whether he wanted to see after all. Perhaps Hermione knew how he was feeling, because she reached for his hand and took the lead for the first time, pulling him forward. Halfway across the square, however, she stopped dead.**

"**Harry, look!"**

**She was pointing at the war memorial. As they had passed it, it had transformed. Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. Snow lay upon all their heads, like fluffy white caps.**

"I think I know who they are." Lily whispered, looking at James, before turning to face Harry.

**Harry drew closer, gazing up into his parents' faces. He had never imagined that there would be a statue … how strange it was to see himself represented in stone, a happy baby without a scar on his forehead …**

"I didn't realise we would be famous enough to have a statue." James murmured.

"There were so many books published after Voldemort disappeared, that I don't think there is a single witch or wizard who doesn't know your names." Ginny said, "and most of the students in this hall grew up on stories of the Boy-Who-Lived, which is why a lot of us were a little weird, hero-worshipping him."

"You most of all." Harry smirked, "I haven't forgotten the first time I visited the Burrow, and you stuck your elbow in the butter-dish 'cos you were staring. And then there's the multiple times when you caught sight of me, squeaked, blushed, dropped whatever you were holding, then looked for the nearest exit, and ran."

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who acted strangely the first time they met you." Ginny snorted.

"I do know of a little blonde boy who acted like a spoiled brat and reminded me of Dudley when I first spoke to him, but at that point, he didn't know who I was." Harry grinned, "when he found out who I was, he then told me he could help me make friends with the right sort."

"Drat." Draco mumbled, "I really wish you'd forget about that."

"Unbelievable." Dorea whispered, "I am amazed that you've become such good friends if that was what your first meeting was like."

"**C'mon," said Harry, when he had looked his fill, and they turned again toward the church. As they crossed the road, he glanced over his shoulder; the statue had turned back into the war memorial.**

**The singing grew louder as they approached the church. It made Harry's throat constrict, it reminded him so forcefully of Hogwarts, of Peeves bellowing rude versions of carols from inside suits of armour, **

"Peeves is the greatest." The twins bellowed.

**of the Great Hall's twelve Christmas trees, of Dumbledore wearing a bonnet he had won in a cracker, of Ron in a hand-knitted sweater …**

**There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard. Hermione pushed it open as quietly as possible and they edged through it. On either side of the slippery path to the church doors, the snow lay deep and untouched. They moved off through the snow, carving deep trenches behind them as they walked around the building, keeping to the shadows beneath the brilliant windows.**

**Behind the church, row upon row of snowy tombstones protruded from a blanket of pale blue that was flecked with dazzling red, gold, and green wherever the reflections from the stained glass hit the snow. Keeping his hand closed tightly on the wand in his jacket pocket, Harry moved toward the nearest grave.**

"**Look at this, it's an Abbott, could be some long-lost relation of Hannah's!"**

"Wouldn't surprise me." Hannah nodded, "Dad's family have lived there for a couple of centuries. Since the seventeen-hundreds, I think, maybe earlier."

"**Keep your voice down," Hermione begged him.**

**They waded deeper and deeper into the graveyard, gouging dark tracks into the snow behind them, stooping to peer at the words on old headstones, every now and then squinting into the surrounding darkness to make absolutely sure that they were unaccompanied.**

"Good, good." Moody whispered, not really wanting to disturb the silence, despite feeling that he ought to be keeping people on their toes.

"**Harry, here!"**

**Hermione was two rows of tombstones away; he had to wade back to her, his heart positively banging in his chest.**

"**Is it –?"**

"**No, but look!"**

**She pointed to the dark stone. Harry stooped down and saw, upon the frozen, lichen-spotted granite, the words _Kendra Dumbledore_ and, a short way down her dates of birth and death, _and her daughter Ariana_. **

Lily was quietly sobbing into James' shoulder, while Lucius and Harry had their heads down, in honour of those who had lost their lives in the fight against evil. None of the other students were saying a word, even those who hated the headmaster, because they all knew that this was not the right time, and they didn't want to annoy the staff or attract the attention of the Blacks and Malfoys. They all knew that the Black and Malfoy families were dangerous, and didn't want to get on their bad sides.

**There was also a quotation:**

_**Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.**_

The Bloody Baron's rasp was the only sound in the hall, even though Albus was crying harder than he could ever remember. He couldn't even care that he was showing weakness to the Death Eater wannabes.

**So Rita Skeeter and Muriel had got some of their facts right. The Dumbledore family had indeed lived here, and part of it had died here.**

**Seeing the grave was worse than hearing about it. Harry could not help thinking that he and Dumbledore both had deep roots in this graveyard, and that Dumbledore ought to have told him so; yet he had never thought to share the connection. They could have visited the place together; for a moment Harry imagined coming here with Dumbledore; of what a bond that would have been, of how much it would have meant to him. But it seemed that to Dumbledore, the fact that their families lay side by side in the same graveyard had been an unimportant coincidence, irrelevant, perhaps, to the job he wanted Harry to do.**

"No, you are so much more than a tool." Albus whimpered, "I find it so hard to remember those times that I've never spoken of them."

**Hermione was looking at Harry, and he was glad that his face was hidden in shadow. He read the words on the tombstone again. _Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also_. He did not understand what these words meant. Surely Dumbledore had chosen them, as the eldest member of the family once his mother had died.**

Albus bowed his head, remembering the day he had been forced, not by any external source, but by his own knowledge that it was his duty as the oldest, to deal with choosing an epitaph for his mother's grave. That day had been one of the hardest of his life, but not as difficult as the day his sister was buried alongside Kendra, nor anywhere near as difficult as the day he had to face his former best friend and lover.

"**Are you sure he never mentioned –?" Hermione began.**

"**No," said Harry curtly, then, "let's keep looking," and he turned away, wishing he had not seen the stone: He did not want his excited trepidation tainted with resentment.**

"**Here!" cried Hermione again a few moments later from out of the darkness. "Oh no, sorry! I thought it said Potter."**

"It was close." Hermione mumbled, "but not quite."

"The name did begin with a P." Harry shrugged, "but the stone was too old."

"How old?" Charlus wondered.

"It was crumbling, covered in moss, had been weathered quite badly, and the date on it was twelve-ninety-one." Harry replied.

"Ah, that grave." Charlus nodded, "I remember when I found it. I couldn't believe that the story my father had told me, about part of our family's history, was actually right, and not a fairytale."

**She was rubbing at a crumbling, mossy stone, gazing down at it, a little frown on her face.**

"**Harry, come back a moment."**

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Smith asked acerbically, earning himself several glares from the girls he was sitting with.

"Be patient." Harry growled, annoyed with the blond Hufflepuff.

**He did not want to be sidetracked again, and only grudgingly made his way back through the snow toward her.**

"**What?"**

"**Look at this!" The grave was extremely old, weathered so that Harry could hardly make out the name. Hermione showed him the symbol beneath it.**

"**Harry, that's the mark in the book!"**

"That definitely means it isn't Grindelwald's." Remus frowned.

"But who's grave is it?" Susan wondered.

"The youngest brother's." Luna sing-songed.

**He peered at the place she indicated: the stone was so worn that it was hard to make out what was engraved there, though there did seem to be a triangular mark beneath the nearly illegible name.**

"**Yeah … it could be …"**

**Hermione lit her wand and pointed it at the name on the headstone.**

"**It says Ig – Ignotus, I think …"**

"I thought so." James grinned, "my too-many-greats grandfather."

"And my one-less, but still far too-many-greats grandfather." Charlus nodded, "his grand-daughter married my twenty-six-greats grandfather."

"That's a long way back." Hannah remarked.

"**I'm going to keep looking for my parents, all right?" Harry told her, a slight edge to his voice, and he set off again, leaving her crouched beside the old grave.**

**Every now and then he recognized a surname that, like Abbott, he had met at Hogwarts. Sometimes there were several generations of the same Wizarding family represented in the graveyard: Harry could tell from the dates that it had either died out, or the current members had moved away from Godric's Hollow. Deeper and deeper amongst the graves he went, and every time he reached a new headstone he felt a little lurch of apprehension and anticipation.**

**The darkness and the silence seemed to become, all of a sudden, much deeper. Harry looked around, worried, thinking of Dementors, then realized that the carols had finished, that the chatter and flurry of churchgoers were fading away as they made their way back into the square. Somebody inside the church had just turned off the lights.**

**Then Hermione's voice came out of the blackness for the third time, sharp and clear from a few yards away.**

"**Harry, they're here … right here."**

James and Lily took deep breaths, trying not to break down, even though they knew that they were going to hear about their own graves.

**And he knew by her tone that it was his mother and father this time: He moved toward her, feeling as if something heavy were pressing on his chest, the same sensation he had had right after Dumbledore had died, a grief that had actually weighed on his heart and lungs.**

**The headstone was only two rows behind Kendra and Ariana's. It was made of white marble, just like Dumbledore's tomb, and this made it easy to read, as it seemed to shine in the dark. **

"Merlin, who chose such a ridiculous tomb-stone?" James asked thickly, "I'd be happy with just a small piece of granite with my name on it, and maybe the dates."

"Minister Bagnold." Scrimgeour replied gently, "it was one of the last things she did before her heart gave out."

**Harry did not need to kneel or even approach very close to it to make out the words engraved upon it.**

_**James Potter, BORN 27 MARCH 1960, DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981  
Lily Potter, BORN 30 JANUARY 1960, DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981**_

_**The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.**_

"Isn't that something the Death Eaters believe in?" Lavender asked, slightly horrified.

"They may use those words, but they don't have the same meaning as they do in the epitaph." Harry said, "on there it means, death comes to us all, whether we want it to or not, and for those of us left, we should move on with our lives, but not forget our lost loved ones. Hermione said it so much better."

**Harry read the words slowly, as though he would have only one chance to take in their meaning, and he read the last of them aloud.**

"'**_The last enemy that shall be defeated is death_' …" A horrible thought came to him, and with a kind of panic. "Isn't that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?"**

"**It doesn't mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry," said Hermione, her voice gentle. "It means … you know … living beyond death. Living after death."**

"I couldn't have said it better." Charlus murmured.

**But they were not living, thought Harry. They were gone. The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents' mouldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.**

"Don't ever say something like that." Lily sobbed, "even without us there, you have so much to live for."

Harry smiled gently at his mother, hiding the fact that he was slightly confused as to what he should be feeling. On the one hand, he had his parents back, alive, and on the other, he remembered the crushing grief of being an orphan, so he didn't know whether to be glad that his parents were alive, or sad that they hadn't been.

**Hermione had taken his hand again and was gripping it tightly. He could not look at her, but returned the pressure, now taking deep, sharp gulps of the night air, trying to steady himself, trying to regain control. He should have brought something to give them, and he had not thought of it, and every plant in the graveyard was leafless and frozen. But Hermione raised her wand, moved it in a circle through the air, and a wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parents' grave. As soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: He did not think he could stand another moment there. He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore's mother and sister, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate. **

"That was the end of the chapter." The Baron said raspily, "I think that it might be a good idea to take a break."

"Indeed." Albus nodded, wiping his eyes with a rather garish yellow and purple handkerchief, "let's have something to eat, before we read the next chapter."


	22. Chapter 22

**Break**

With a bit of grumbling, but not as much as some people expected, the students agreed to the break. They all knew that they needed to recover from the sad chapter that had just finished, so were accepting that taking a break was a good idea.

Harry detached Lily the Limpet, who had grabbed on to him when they were reading about his reaction to seeing the grave, and passed her over to his father, before dashing out of the hall, desperate for the bathroom.

"Where's he going?" James asked curiously, looking at Lucius with slightly red-rimmed eyes.

"I presume he's going to the bathroom." Lucius replied, "we have been sat here for quite a while, and he has drunk a fairly large amount, so I'm not all that surprised."

"Oh." James mumbled, knowing that Harry would not want his father there while he was relieving himself.

Harry returned ten minutes after he had left, wearing a huge grin on his face.

"You look pleased." Andromeda commented, seeing the glint in Harry's eye.

"You have no idea how desperate I was for that piss." Harry snorted, "no one in this room could comprehend just how relieved I feel right now after that. Plus I got Kreacher to go and find the locket, when I was on my way back."

"So as soon as he brings it back, it can be cleansed." Lucius nodded.

"Yep, and then the only Horcrux left, is the last one." Harry grinned, "the one I don't know how to get at."

"We could use a mini-drone from one of the Mosquitoes on the Valkyrie." Draco suggested, serving himself from the platters that had appeared at the beginning of the break.

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking." Harry agreed, "we're already planning on using a Mosquito or two in the final battle, to help Grawp take on Voldie's giants, and Aragog's family, as well as the Dementors."

"I think someone should stay on the Valkyrie, or the Warrior Soul, using the sensors to monitor the battle, so that those on the ground don't lose track of any of Voldemort's army." Lucius said, "and at least some of the fighters on the ground could use hand-held Wraith, Goa'uld and Ancient weapons as well as their wands."

"We do have plenty of each in the armouries." Harry nodded, "and all of us have practised with them, so we could train a few others. I'm wondering when we should plan for the battle."

"That's a very good question." Hermione sighed, "we're safe for the moment, but we don't want to leave it too long."

"We'll have to get Albus' input, especially if we decide to hold the battle here." Lucius pointed out, "we'll also want to get the younger children to safety as quickly as possible, so the only ones here are the ones who want to fight."

"That means the first through fourth years will have to be evacuated." Hermione mused, "the sixth and seventh years, well, it'll be up to them, and the fifth years can look after the younger ones."

"We can't really plan much, not without talking to Albus, or the Minister." Harry sighed, "we do need their input, so we'll have to wait before planning the battle, but we can start thinking about what we need to do to bring the Empire back."

Lucius, Hermione and Draco agreed, so they began a long discussion, rehashing plans they had already thought of the basics for, with Eileen giving her opinion occasionally. Snape, who was sitting between his mother and Hermione, just sat and listened, along with the others who had not had their souls copied and sent back, all of whom had no real idea of what to say that would be at all helpful.

About an hour and ten minutes after the start of the break, and twenty minutes before the end, Kreacher popped into the great hall, next to Harry, holding the Locket of Slytherin in his hands.

"Kreacher has brought you the locket Master." The elderly house-elf said, sounding like a bullfrog to those who heard him. "Nasty sneak thief, Mundungus Fletcher, was about to steal it, but Kreacher stopped him. Kreacher took Master Regulus' locket from nasty sneak thief's hands."

"Thank you Kreacher." Harry smiled, gently taking the locket and placing it on the table in front of him. "You may return to what you were doing earlier."

"Yes Master." Kreacher squeaked, much nicer now that he knew that Harry was going to finish what Regulus had started.

"Will you need a hand cleansing it?" Charlus asked curiously, when Kreacher had popped out, presumably heading towards the kitchens.

"No, it's not a difficult ritual, which is why it's generally called a spell." Harry replied, "all that's needed is a chalk pentagram, some candles and a few bowls of herbs. Then I just chant a simple sentence, as many times as necessary."

"The sentence is not simple." Hermione snorted, "all right, it does translate into something simple, but you have to chant in Estonian."

"Good thing I know a bit of Estonian isn't it?" Harry sniggered.

"Well, would you mind if you had an audience?" Dorea queried.

"Not at all." Harry smiled, "anyone would be welcome to watch, and I'm sure the Room of Requirement can create an observation area."

"When are you planning on cleansing the locket anyway?" Snape asked, looking at, but not touching, the pendant sitting innocently on the table.

"As soon as possible." Harry sighed, "I don't have time now, but I should be able to do it later, when we've finished reading for today."

"That's good." Snape nodded, "I don't like the idea of having that thing lying around for too long."

"Nor do I." Harry agreed, grabbing the box that had held the cup, and placing the locket in it, before shrinking it and putting it back in his pocket. "At least the soul piece won't be able to do anything, not while it's inside the box."

"How does putting it in a box protect everyone?" Lily asked.

"The box is lined with lead." Harry answered, "we discovered that lead is very good for insulating against magic, so any item that has lead in it, will not let magic through it."

"Impressive." Snape commented, noticing that almost all the students had returned to the hall, and were waiting for the headmaster and Ministry personnel to return so that the reading could begin again.

"How long is the book?" Narcissa asked curiously, wondering how far they'd got, and how much longer they would be reading for.

"It's thirty-six chapters, plus the epilogue." Draco replied, "when we made the plan to come here and have it read, we weren't sure whether to read the epilogue, because it is completely wrong, but because we've only read about sixteen of the chapters, we decided not to worry about that just yet."

"When the people who wrote the note Albus received on Saturday, arrive, along with the three who came at lunchtime today and yesterday, then we will decide what to do about the epilogue." Hermione added.

"That sounds like a reasonable idea." Narcissa muttered as Albus and Scrimgeour returned, with Kingsley and Moody in their wake.

"Right, I hope we're all fed and watered, and are ready for the next chapter." Albus said as he sat back down in his golden throne-like chair.

"I think we are." Minerva agreed, looking around at the students, who all appeared eager to continue.

"Very well, who would like to read next?" Albus asked.

"I will." Scrimgeour shrugged, not really caring who was going to read, but knowing that someone would have to if they wanted to find out what happened next.

"Then, by all means, carry on." Albus smiled, twinkling his eyes once more.


	23. Chapter 23

**Bathilda's Secret**

"**Bathilda's Secret**," Scrimgeour read.

"**Harry, stop."**

"**What's wrong?"**

**They had only just reached the grave of the unknown Abbott. "There's someone there. Someone watching us. I can tell. There, over by the bushes."**

"Oh no." Mrs Weasley whispered, clutching on to her husband, not wanting to hear about her honorary children being in any more danger than they already had been throughout the book.

"That's not good." Lily said quietly.

"They don't look like themselves, so they should be all right." Laura Madley pointed out, having heard what Lily had said. She was a very shy third year Hufflepuff and hadn't said anything at all, though she was beginning to come out of her shell a little bit.

"But Luna knew who Harry was when he was using Polyjuice at the wedding." James grimaced.

"Luna sees the world in a very different way to the rest of us, so I don't think we can assume that there is anyone else who can tell who someone is through Polyjuice." Remus said.

**They stood quite still, holding on to each other, gazing at the dense black boundary of the graveyard. Harry could not see anything. "Are you sure?"**

"**I saw something move. I could have sworn I did …" She broke from him to free her wand arm.**

"**We look like Muggles," Harry pointed out.**

"But you did place flowers on your parents' grave, so that will be a bit odd to anyone who noticed." Lavender said.

"True, however, there are Muggles who do that sort of thing." Hermione sighed, "there are a few Muggles who do go to graveyards, just to place flowers on some of the graves, even if they aren't related to the people in the graves. My Mum's sister does that, every year, in the week before Christmas, she goes to her local church graveyard, and places flowers on some of the graves."

"**Muggles who've just been laying flowers on your parents' grave? Harry, I'm sure there's someone over there!"**

**Harry thought of _A History of Magic_; the graveyard was supposed to be haunted; what if –? But then he heard a rustle and saw a little eddy of dislodged snow in the bush to which Hermione had pointed. Ghosts could not move snow. **

"**It's a cat," said Harry, after a second or two, "or a bird. If it was a Death Eater we'd be dead by now. **

"It may not be a Death Eater, but the Muggle world does have criminals too." Dean pointed out, "it could have been a Muggle criminal waiting to get you alone so he could grab your valuables."

"We didn't think of that." Hermione smiled sheepishly.

**But let's get out of here, and we can put the Cloak back on."**

**They glanced back repeatedly as they made their way out of the graveyard. Harry, who did not feel as sanguine as he had pretended when reassuring Hermione, was glad to reach the gate and the slippery pavement. They pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over themselves. The pub was fuller than before: many voices inside it were now singing the carol that they had heard as they approached the church. For a moment, Harry considered suggesting they take refuge inside it, **

"That might have given you some protection from whoever was watching you." Remus said.

"Maybe, but some criminals wouldn't be put off by a crowd, and we wouldn't have been able to fight back as easily if we had to hide our use of magic." Harry pointed out.

"True." James sighed.

**but before he could say anything Hermione murmured, "Let's go this way," and pulled him down the dark street leading out of the village in the opposite direction from which they had entered. **

"I'm glad it wasn't too icy." Draco snorted, "you'd have been on your arses if it was."

**Harry could make out the point where the cottages ended and the lane turned into open country again. They walked as quickly as they dared, past more windows sparkling with multicoloured lights, the outlines of Christmas trees dark through the curtains.**

"**How are we going to find Bathilda's house?" asked Hermione, who was shivering a little and kept glancing back over her shoulder. "Harry? What do you think? Harry?" She tugged at this arm, but Harry was not paying attention. He was looking toward the dark mass that stood at the very end of this row of houses.**

"That's the cottage." Lily whispered.

**Next moment he sped up, dragging Hermione along with him, she slipped a little on the ice. "Harry –"**

"**Look … Look at it, Hermione …"**

"**I don't … oh!" He could see it; the Fidelius Charm must have died with James and Lily. **

**The hedge had grown wild in the sixteen years since Hagrid had taken Harry from the rubble that lay scattered amongst the waist-high grass. Most of the cottage was still standing, though entirely covered in the dark ivy and snow, but the right side of the top floor had been blown apart; that, Harry was sure, was where the curse had backfired. **

"Wow, that spell must have been powerful." Regulus said.

"Unbelievable." Charlus murmured, "that cottage has stood since ten-eighty-four, and it has withstood a lot, but evidently couldn't withstand the power of a rebounding Killing Curse."

**He and Hermione stood at the gate, gazing up at the wreck of what must once have been a cottage just like those that flanked it. "I wonder why nobody's ever rebuilt it?" whispered Hermione.**

"**Maybe you can't rebuild it?" Harry replied. "Maybe it's like the injuries from Dark Magic and you can't repair the damage?"**

"No, it was left as a monument." Remus said, "the Minister at the time, Millicent Bagnold, she ordered that it be bought by the Ministry and covered with wards to protect it from any more damage, and the money that it cost, was put in the Potter vault."

"How much?" Charlus asked, "how much would the Ministry pay for a ruined cottage that had been built nearly nine hundred years previously?"

"Quite a lot." Lucius smiled, "I think the price that was finally agreed on, was somewhere in the region of a hundred thousand Galleons."

"It was." Albus nodded, "I was the one that negotiated the sale, and felt that anything less was not only an affront to the memory of James and Lily, but also a poor way of showing our respect for their sacrifice."

"Merlin." Lily murmured, wiping a few tears away.

**He slipped a hand from beneath the Cloak and grasped the snowy and thickly rusted gate, not wishing to open it, but simply so he'd some part of the house. **

"**You're not going to go inside? It looks unsafe, it might – oh, Harry, look!" His touch on the gate seemed to have done it. A sign had risen out of the ground in front of them, up thorough the tangles of nettles and weeds, like some bizarre, fast-growing flower, and in golden letters upon the wood it said: **

_**On this spot, on this night of 31 October 1981,  
Lily and James Potter lost their lives.  
Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever  
to have survived the Killing Curse.  
This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left  
in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters  
and as a reminder of the violence  
that tore apart their family. **_

"The statue in the village centre may have shown us as we were, but that sign, and the remains of the cottage, are tangible proof of what we lost." James said thickly, letting Lily bury her head in his shoulder.

**And all around these neatly lettered words, scribbles had been added by other witches and wizards who had come to see the place where the Boy Who Lived had escaped. Some had merely signed their names in Everlasting Ink; others had carved their initials into the wood, still others had left messages. The most recent of these, shining brightly over sixteen years' worth of magical graffiti, all said similar things. **

'_**Good luck, Harry, wherever you are.' 'If you read this, Harry, we're all behind you!' 'Long live Harry Potter.' **_

"**They shouldn't have written on the sign!" said Hermione, indignant. **

"I agree." Lily said, sounding slightly muffled.

**But Harry beamed at her.**

"**It's brilliant. I'm glad they did. I …"**

**He broke off. A heavily muffled figure was hobbling up the lane toward them, silhouetted by the bright lights in the distant square. Harry thought, though it was hard to judge, that the figure was a woman. She was moving slowly, possibly frightened of slipping on the snowy ground. **

"_That wasn't why she was going so slowly_." Harry mumbled in Parseltongue, trying to make sure no one heard him.

**Her stoop, her stoutness, her shuffling gait all gave an impression of extreme age. They watched in silence as she drew nearer. Harry was waiting to see whether she would turn into any of the cottages she was passing, but he knew, instinctively, that she would not. At last she came to a halt a few yards from them, and simply stood there in the middle of the frozen road, facing them.**

"I don't like the sound of that." Ernie muttered, sounding slightly less pompous than he had at the beginning of the book.

**He did not need Hermione's pinch to his arm. There was next to no chance that this woman was a Muggle: she was standing there gazing at a house that ought to have been completely invisible to her, if she was not a witch. Even assuming that she _was_ a witch, however, it was odd behaviour to come out on a night this cold, simply to look at an old ruin. **

"I really don't like the sound of that." Ernie corrected himself.

**By all the rules of normal magic, meanwhile, she ought not to be able to see Hermione and him at all. Nevertheless, Harry had the strangest feeling that she knew that they were there, and also who they were. Just as he had reached this uneasy conclusion, she raised a gloved hand and beckoned.**

**Hermione moved closer to him under the Cloak, her arm pressed against his.**

"**How does she know?"**

"_She could smell us_." Harry hissed.

"Pardon?" Lily asked, beginning to panic again, "what did you mean, she could smell you?"

"You'll find out." Harry sighed.

**He shook his head. The woman beckoned again, more vigorously. Harry could think of many reasons not to obey the summons, and yet his suspicions about her identity were growing stronger every moment that they stood facing each other in the deserted street. **

"I think, and if I'm thinking the same thing as you, that that might be Bathilda." Charlus said, "as we've already mentioned, she is extremely old, and doesn't move very fast, or at least, she didn't whenever she visited us while I was a teenager."

**Was it possible that she had been waiting for them all these long months? That Dumbledore had told her to wait, and that Harry would come in the end? Was it not likely that it was she who had moved in the shadows in the graveyard and had followed them to this spot? Even her ability to sense them suggested some Dumbledore-ish power that he had never encountered before.**

**Finally Harry spoke, causing Hermione to gasp and jump.**

"Why would Hermione gasp and jump?" Lavender frowned, actually thinking about something that didn't revolve around boys, make-up and worshipping Trelawney.

"You'll see." Hermione said.

"**Are you Bathilda?"**

**The muffled figure nodded and beckoned again.**

"If that is Bathilda, why isn't she saying anything?" Lily asked, still sniffling a bit, but her suspicion was beginning to over-ride her lingering sadness.

**Beneath the Cloak Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Harry raised his eyebrows; Hermione gave a tiny, nervous nod.**

**They stepped toward the woman and, at once, she turned and hobbled off back the way they had come. Leading them past several houses, she turned in at a gate. They followed her up the front path through a garden nearly as overgrown as the one they had just left. She fumbled for a moment with a key at the front door, then opened it and stepped back to let them pass.**

Albus and Charlus frowned, both knowing that Bathilda never used keys, she relied on wards and locking spells, so they both knew that something was wrong, but neither could figure out what, without more information.

**She smelled bad,**

Minerva and Dorea pursed their lips, wondering what was going on, but, like Albus and Charlus, they decided to wait for more information, so said nothing.

**or perhaps it was her house; Harry wrinkled his nose as they sidled past her and pulled off the Cloak. Now that he was beside her, he realized how tiny she was; bowed down with age, she came barely level with his chest.**

"Bathilda never was exactly tall." Albus smiled slightly, "I was taller than her when I was thirteen."

**She closed the door behind them, her knuckles blue and mottled against the peeling paint, then turned and peered into Harry's face. Her eyes were thick with cataracts and sunken into folds of transparent skin, and her whole face was dotted with broken veins and liver spots. **

"Merlin, the years really have taken their toll." Charlus murmured sadly.

**He wondered whether she could make him out at all; even if she could, it was the balding Muggle whose identity he had stolen that she would see.**

**The odour of old age, of dust, of unwashed clothes and stale food intensified as the unwound a moth-eaten black shawl, revealing a head of scant white hair through which the scalp showed clearly. **

"**Bathilda?" Harry repeated. She nodded again. **

**Harry became aware of the locket against his skin; the thing inside it that sometimes ticked or beat had woken; he could feel it pulsing through the cold gold.**

"Get out of there." Remus said, "that does not sound good."

"You're talking to a book." Hermione pointed out, smiling slightly.

"I know that." Remus retorted, "I'm just trying to get book-you to leave."

**Did it know, could it sense, that the thing that would destroy it was near?**

**Bathilda shuffled past them, pushing Hermione aside as though she had not seen her, and vanished into what seemed to be a sitting room.**

"**Harry, I'm not sure about this." breathed Hermione. **

"I agree." Lily and Ginny whispered, "you should leave."

"**Look at the size of her, I think we could overpower her if we had to," said Harry.**

"Don't get too cocky." James said, "being cocky never gets you anywhere."

"That wasn't Harry being cocky, that him being confident." Hermione smiled, "and I know where that confidence came from. Our training, plus the fact that Harry has pulled off some amazing catches in Quidditch. He was confident in our ability to translate all of our skills into action against a little old lady."

"**Listen, I should have told you, I knew she wasn't all there. Muriel called her 'gaga.'"**

"**Come!" called Bathilda from the next room.**

**Hermione jumped and clutched Harry's arm.**

"Why is Hermione so jumpy?" Justin asked.

"And don't give us that whole not answering thing." Remus added.

"I will say this." Harry sighed, "I was the only one who could understand what Bathilda was saying."

"So that isn't actually Bathilda." Charlus whispered, "it just looks like her."

"You definitely need to get out of there." Lily said, "forget about asking her anything, she won't know the answers."

"We didn't, not until later." Hermione grimaced, "we may be able to change what happens this time around, but we can't change what happened in the book."

"**It's okay," said Harry reassuringly, and he led the way into the sitting room.**

**Bathilda was tottering around the place lighting candles, but it was still very dark, not to mention extremely dirty. Thick dust crunched beneath their feet, and Harry's nose detected, underneath the dank and mildewed smell, something worse, like meat gone bad. He wondered when was the last time anyone had been inside Bathilda's house to check whether she was coping. She seemed to have forgotten that she could do magic, too, for she lit the candles clumsily by hand, her trailing lace cuff in constant danger of catching fire.**

"No one can forget that they can do magic." Minerva huffed, "not even the extremely elderly."

"I don't think whoever is pretending to be Bathilda can do magic." Albus whispered, "there has been no mention of her using a wand at all."

"**Let me do that," offered Harry, and he took the matches from her. She stood watching him as he finished lighting the candle stubs that stood on saucers around the room, perched precariously on stacks of books and on side tables crammed with cracked and mouldy cups.**

**The last surface on which Harry spotted a candle was a bow-fronted chest of drawers on which there stood a large number of photographs. When the flame danced into life, its reflection wavered on their dusty glass and silver. He saw a few tiny movements from the pictures. As Bathilda fumbled with logs for the fire, he muttered "_Tergeo_." The dust vanished from the photographs, and he saw at once that half a dozen were missing from the largest and most ornate frames. **

"Bug-woman." Ginny snarled viciously, making those who heard her smile. In fact, Hermione and Harry were outright grinning at the hatred they heard in Ginny's voice.

**He wondered whether Bathilda or somebody else had removed them. Then the sight of a photograph near the back of the collection caught his eye, and he snatched it up.**

**It was the golden-haired, merry-faced thief, the young man who had perched on Gregorovitch's windowsill, smiling lazily up at Harry out of the silver frame. **

"The man who was in that picture in the novel about the headmaster." Seamus whispered, still very curious about the man's identity.

**And it came to Harry instantly where he had seen the boy before: in _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_, arm in arm with the teenage Dumbledore, and that must be where all the missing photographs were: in Rita's book.**

"Rita Skeeter should be squashed." James growled, "stealing photographs to put in a book of lies."

"**Mrs – Miss – Bagshot?" he said, and his voice shook slightly. "Who is this?"**

**Bathilda was standing in the middle of the room watching Hermione light the fire for her.**

"**Miss Bagshot?" Harry repeated, and he advanced with the picture in his hands as the flames burst into life in the fireplace. Bathilda looked up at his voice, and the Horcrux beat faster upon his chest.**

"**Who is this person?" Harry asked her, pushing the picture forwards.**

**She peered at it solemnly, then up at Harry.**

"**Do you know who this is?" he repeated in a much slower and louder voice than usual. "This man? Do you know him? What's he called?"**

**Bathilda merely looked vague.**

"She doesn't know." Albus murmured, "the real Bathilda would, but that's not her."

**Harry felt an awful frustration. How had Rita Skeeter unlocked Bathilda's memories?**

"**Who is this man?" he repeated loudly.**

"**Harry, what are you doing?" asked Hermione. **

"**This picture. Hermione, it's the thief, the thief who stole from Gregorovitch! Please!" he said to Bathilda. "Who is this?"**

**But she only stared at him. **

"She won't answer, and I think you should leave." Dorea said, "I don't like the fact that the Horcrux you're wearing became so active when you entered the house. I think there might be another one there, and that's not a good thing, even though you are hunting for the things."

"**Why did you ask us to come with you, Mrs – Miss – Bagshot?" asked Hermione, raising her own voice. "Was there something you wanted to tell us?"**

**Giving no sign that she had heard Hermione, Bathilda now shuffled a few steps closer to Harry. With a little jerk of her head she looked back into the hall. **

"**You want us to leave?" he asked.**

"Yes, leave." Lily whispered, imploring the book-version of her son to get out of there as fast as he could.

**She repeated the gesture, this time pointing firstly at him, then at herself, then at the ceiling. **

"**Oh, right … Hermione, I think she wants me to go upstairs with her."**

"**All right," said Hermione, "let's go."**

**But when Hermione moved, Bathilda shook her head with surprising vigour, once more pointing first at Harry, then to herself. **

"**She wants me to go with her, alone."**

"No, splitting up is the worst thing you could do." Remus said, "you're safer together."

"I've already said that nothing in the book can be changed, it won't happen this time around, but the book is unchangeable." Harry sighed, getting slightly annoyed with the way everyone seemed to think he was able to do what they wanted him to do, when he hadn't in the original time-line, and therefore, he couldn't change what the book said he'd done. "There are probably a lot more instances where you think we should have done something, and we didn't, but you cannot change what the book says, just by telling us what to do."

"**Why?" asked Hermione, and her voice rang out sharp and clear in the candlelit room, the old lady shook her head a little at the loud noise. **

"**Maybe Dumbledore told her to give the sword to me, and only to me?"**

"**Do you really think she knows who you are?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, looking down into the milky eyes fixed upon his own. "I think she does."**

"**Well, okay then, but be quick, Harry."**

"**Lead the way," Harry told Bathilda.**

"Why Harry?" Lily moaned, "why would you do something like that?"

"Because I thought she was going to tell me something, or show me something, that she didn't want Hermione to see." Harry replied, "if that really had been Bathilda, and she had told me to follow her alone, I would have. She was part of the reason we were in Godric's Hollow in the first place, there was no way I was going to leave without at least trying to talk to Bathilda."

**She seemed to understand, because she shuffled around him toward the door. Harry glanced back at Hermione with a reassuring smile, but he was not sure she had seen it; she stood hugging herself in the midst of the candlelit squalor, looking toward the bookcase. As Harry walked out of the room, unseen by both Hermione and Bathilda, he slipped the silver-framed photograph of the unknown thief inside his jacket. **

**The stairs were steep and narrow; Harry was half tempted to place his hands on stout Bathilda's backside to ensure that she did not topple over backward on top of him, which seemed only too likely. **

"You're a braver man than me." Regulus said, "I wouldn't want to touch her, especially if she smelled as badly as you said she did."

**Slowly, wheezing a little, she climbed to the upper landing, turned immediately right, and led him into a low-ceilinged bedroom.**

**It was pitch-black and smelled horrible: Harry had just made out a chamber pot protruding from under the bed before Bathilda closed the door and even that was swallowed by the darkness.**

"**_Lumos_," said Harry, and his wand ignited. He gave a start: Bathilda had moved close to him in those few seconds of darkness, and he had not heard her approach. **

"**You are Potter?" she whispered.**

"Is the fact that Hermione couldn't understand a word she said, the only reason she didn't talk when Hermione was there?" Abraxas asked, wondering if the events that were being read out, were actually familiar to him in any way.

"No, there was another reason, which will become clear in the next few pages." Harry replied, with a thin smile.

"**Yes, I am."**

**She nodded slowly, solemnly. Harry felt the Horcrux beating fast, faster than his own heart; it was an unpleasant, agitating sensation.**

"**Have you got anything for me?" Harry asked, but she seemed distracted by his lit wand-tip.**

"**Have you got anything for me?" he repeated.**

**Then she closed her eyes and several things happened at once: Harry's scar prickled painfully; the Horcrux twitched so that the front of his sweater actually moved; the dark, foetid room dissolved momentarily. He felt a leap of joy and spoke in a high, cold voice: _hold him_!**

"Sweet Merlin." Lily shrieked in horror, "she has a mental link with Voldemort, just like you, Harry, please tell me you got out of there."

"Not at that precise moment, I didn't." Harry said, "I was still trying to talk to the woman."

**Harry swayed where he stood: the dark, foul-smelling room seemed to close around him again; he did not know what had just happened.**

"**Have you got anything for me?" he asked for a third time, much louder.**

"**Over here," she whispered, pointing to the corner. Harry raised his wand and saw the outline of a cluttered dressing table beneath the curtained window.**

**This time she did not lead him. Harry edged between her and the unmade bed, his wand raised. He did not want to look away from her.**

"At least there's that." James muttered, "whatever or whoever that really is will strike if you do look away."

"**What is it?" he asked as he reached the dressing table, which was heaped high with what looked and smelled like dirty laundry.**

"**There," she said, pointing at the shapeless mass.**

**And in the instant that he looked away, his eyes taking the tangled mess for a sword hilt, a ruby, she moved weirdly: he saw it out of the corner of his eye; panic made him turn and horror paralysed him as he saw the old body collapsing and the great snake pouring from the place where her neck had been.**

"Oh Merlin." Dorea choked, trying not to throw up, and she wasn't the only one, though she was far more successful than almost all of the students, apart from those who were planning on joining the Death Eaters.

Snape and Pomfrey cleaned out their supplies of stomach-soothing and calming draughts, dosing everyone who had thrown up, as well as a few who had been lucky enough to not. Snape was grimacing, knowing that he was unlikely to get a decent night's sleep, because he would be spending most of the time brewing more potions.

**The snake struck as he raised his wand: the force of the bite to his forearm sent the wand spinning up toward the ceiling,**

"I thought Nagini was venomous." Narcissa whispered, glancing at the opposite end of the table, where Mr Weasley was sitting. She remembered hearing about how he nearly died after being bitten by Voldemort's familiar.

"She is, but since Sanasha bit me when I killed her in the Chamber, I'm immune to any snake-bite." Harry nodded.

"Incredible." Narcissa murmured.

**its light swung dizzyingly around the room and was extinguished: then a powerful blow from the tail to his midriff knocked the breath out of him: he fell backward onto the dressing table, into the mound of filthy clothing –**

**He rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the snake's tail, which thrashed down upon the table where he had been a second earlier: fragments of the glass surface rained upon him as he hit the floor. From below he heard Hermione call, "Harry?"**

**He could not get enough breath into his lungs to call back: then a heavy smooth mass smashed him to the floor and he felt it slide over him, powerful, muscular –**

"**No!" he gasped, pinned to the floor. **

"Merlin." Andromeda mumbled, wondering how Harry had got out of that mess.

"**_Yes,_" whispered the voice. "_Yesss … hold you … hold you …_" **

"**_Accio … Accio Wand …_"**

**But nothing happened and he needed his hands to try to force the snake from him as it coiled itself around his torso, squeezing the air from him, pressing the Horcrux hard into his chest, a circle of ice that throbbed with life, inches from his own frantic heart, and his brain was flooding with cold, white light, all thought obliterated, his own breath drowned, distant footsteps, everything going …**

"Oh Merlin, that is the worst time for you to get sucked into Voldemort's mind." Lily groaned.

**A metal heart was banging outside his chest, and now he was flying, flying with triumph in his heart, without need of broomstick or thestral …**

**He was abruptly awake in the sour-smelling darkness; Nagini had released him. He scrambled up and saw the snake outlined against the landing light: it struck, and Hermione dived aside with a shriek; **

"Thank Merlin Hermione was there." Susan whispered, "I dread to think what would have happened if she hadn't been."

**her deflected curse hit the curtained window, which shattered. Frozen air filled the room as Harry ducked to avoid another shower of broken glass and his foot slipped on a pencil-like something - his wand - He bent and snatched it up, but now the room was full of the snake, its tail thrashing; Hermione was nowhere to be seen and for a moment Harry thought the worst, but then there was a loud bang and a flash of red light, and the snake flew into the air, smacking Harry hard in the face as it went, coil after heavy coil rising up to the ceiling.**

"Good, now you can get out of there." Parvati screamed.

**Harry raised his wand, but as he did so, his scar seared more painfully, more powerfully than it had done in years.**

"What?" Hannah asked confusedly.

"The first time I remember it hurting that much was when it was first carved into my forehead, then it happened again when I touched Quirrell, who was acting as Voldemort's host in first year." Harry said, clarifying for those who had not heard about his first adventure while at Hogwarts.

"**He's coming!_ Hermione, he's coming!_"**

**As he yelled the snake fell, hissing wildly. Everything was chaos: it smashed shelves from the wall, and splintered china flew everywhere as Harry jumped over the bed and seized the dark shape he knew to be Hermione –**

**She shrieked with pain as he pulled her back across the bed: the snake reared again, but Harry knew that worse than the snake was coming, was perhaps already at the gate, his head was going to split open with the pain from his scar –**

**The snake lunged as he took a running leap, dragging Hermione with him; as it struck, Hermione screamed, "_Confringo!_" and her spell flew around the room, exploding the wardrobe mirror and ricocheting back at them, bouncing from floor to ceiling; Harry felt the heat of it sear the back of his hand. **

"I hope that bought you enough time to escape." Lily stuttered.

"It did." Hermione nodded, grimacing as she remembered the fact that her spell had broken Harry's wand.

**Glass cut his cheek as, pulling Hermione with him, he leapt from bed to broken dressing table and then straight out of the smashed window into nothingness, her scream reverberating through the night as they twisted in mid-air …**

"Another fundamental law of magic broken." Albus said with a strained smile, "it is supposedly impossible to Apparate when not standing on solid ground."

**And then his scar burst open and he was Voldemort and he was running across the fetid bedroom, his long white hands clutching at the windowsill as he glimpsed the bald man and the little woman twist and vanish, and he screamed with rage, a scream that mingled with the girl's, that echoed across the dark gardens over the church bells ringing in Christmas Day …**

"Thank Merlin you're free." The mothers in the hall, as well as Minerva, sighed.

**And his scream was Harry's scream, his pain was Harry's pain … that it could happen here, where it had happened before … here, within sight of that house where he had come so close to knowing what it was to die … to die … the pain was so terrible … ripped from his body … but if he had no body, why did his head hurt so badly; if he was dead, how could he feel so unbearably, didn't pain cease with death, didn't it go …**

_**The night wet and windy, two children dressed as pumpkins waddling across the square and the shop windows covered in paper spiders,**_

"I think this is that Halloween." James whispered, horrified that he was actually going to hear about how he died.

**_all the tawdry Muggle trappings of a world in which they did not believe … and he was gliding along, that sense of purpose and power and rightness in him that he always knew on these occasions … not anger … __that was for weaker souls than he … but triumph, yes … he had waited for this, he had hoped for it …_**

"_**Nice costume, mister!"**_

_**He saw the small boy's smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his painted face: then the child turned and ran away … beneath the robe he fingered the handle of his wand … one simple movement and the child would never reach his mother … but unnecessary, quite unnecessary …**_

"He was going to kill an innocent little Muggle boy?" Hannah asked, with horror in her voice.

"But he didn't." Ernie said, "we should be grateful for whatever made him choose not to."

_**And along a new and darker street he moved, and now his destination was in sight at last, the Fidelius Charm broken, though they did not know it yet …**_

"That stupid rat." Remus whispered, "he could have come to us for help when he first joined, he didn't have to join, just to feel powerful. We would have helped him, if only we'd known what he had done."

"I don't think he wanted help." Lucius sighed, "when I first saw him after he took the Mark, I asked him why he did it, and his reply was less-than pleasant. He told me that, 'the mudblood whore was going to regret the day she chose the stupid blood traitor over him'. I got the impression that he was in love with Lily, and wanted her all to himself."

"Merlin." James grimaced, "how did we not notice?"

"I noticed that he was beginning to get slightly creepy every time he saw me, but I didn't realise that he wanted me." Lily said, "I never saw him as anything other than an acquaintance. He wasn't my friend, he was, just, around, and I don't think he ever spoke a single word to me when you weren't there."

"Bloody hell, I never noticed that." James groaned.

"You were so in love with her that you just didn't see anyone else." Remus pointed out, "and you got really jealous when you found out that Frank was interested too, so maybe Pettigrew hid his attraction around you."

"Maybe." James sighed.

_**and he made less noise than the dead leaves slithering along the pavement as he drew level with the dark hedge, and stared over it …**_

_**They had not drawn the curtains, he saw them quite clearly in their little sitting room, the tall, black-haired man in his glasses, making puffs of coloured smoke erupt from his wand for the amusement of the small black-haired boy in his blue pyjamas. The child was laughing and trying to catch the smoke, to grab it in his small fist …**_

"How dare he?" James and Charlus snarled, both looking quite insane, "how dare that … that … _thing _watch that?"

Lily and Dorea were also utterly furious, but they, unlike their husbands, were unable to say anything to express that. Lily couldn't believe that Voldemort could watch a small family in such loving surroundings without feeling even the smallest amount of remorse, and Dorea … she was stunned that Voldemort could be so callous as to want to end such a wonderful scene.

Everyone else in the hall was silent, knowing that not only were they hearing about the night that Voldemort was defeated for the first time, but they were also hearing about the night a small family was torn apart in one of the worst ways possible. Scrimgeour's voice was the only thing that could be heard over the anger from the Potters, and even though he seemed perfectly calm on the outside, inside, he was also quivering with anger at Voldemort's callousness.

_**A door opened and the mother entered, saying words he could not hear, her long dark-red hair falling over her face. Now the father scooped up the son and handed him to the mother. He threw his wand down upon the sofa and stretched, yawning …**_

_**The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but James Potter did not hear. His white hand pulled out the wand beneath his cloak and pointed it at the door, which burst open.**_

_**He was over the threshold as James came sprinting into the hall. It was easy, too easy, he had not even picked up his wand …**_

"James, you idiot." Remus groaned.

"Didn't I teach you anything, Potter?" Moody roared, his own anger bursting out of him despite his best efforts to prevent it. "Didn't I teach you to never leave your wand lying around when you might need it?"

"_**Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"**_

_**Hold him off, without a wand in his hand! … He laughed before casting the curse …**_

"**Avada Kedavra!"**

_**The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glow like lighting rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut …**_

Lily sobbed, her heart breaking at the thought of James dying like that, and while she knew that it was probably cruel of her, she was glad that Harry had replaced both of them with machines, so neither one of them had to suffer that fate.

Remus, too, was crying, remembering the story Sirius had told him when they got drunk one night while at Grimmauld place. He remembered Sirius telling him how James and Lily had been found, their faces showing how terrified they had been as they died, while Harry had tried to get Lily to wake up, bleeding from the scar on his head and crying his eyes out. Remus didn't want to have those images in his mind, but there was nothing he could do to stop them, and not even being held by Tonks, who was also in tears, could hold them at bay.

_**He could hear her screaming from the upper floor, trapped, but as long as she was sensible, she, at least, had nothing to fear …**_

"That still makes no bloody sense." Lily said, still with tears streaming down her face, "why the hell would he spare me? I'm just a stupid Mudblood to him. Even if someone begged him to spare me, he wouldn't have done, because he hates anyone with non-magical parents."

"I think he was willing to honour the request, because he felt that the one who had made it deserved to be given a reward." Harry sighed.

_**he climbed the steps, listening with faint amusement to her attempts to barricade herself in … she had no wand upon her either … how stupid they were, and how trusting, thinking that their safety lay in friends, that weapons could be discarded even for moments …**_

_**He forced the door open, cast aside the chair and boxes hastily piled against it with one lazy wave of his wand … and there she stood, the child in her arms. At the sight of him, she dropped her son into the crib behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be chosen instead …**_

"I really don't understand." Regulus muttered quietly. He could not get his mind around the fact that Voldemort was actually willing to honour a request from one of the Death Eaters, even if the Dark Lord truly did think that the man deserved a reward. It just did not make any sense.

"_**Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"**_

"_**Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside, now …"**_

"_**Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –"**_

"I can understand why you'd do that." Narcissa whispered, herself in floods of tears, "I would have done the same thing in your position."

"_**This is my last warning –"**_

"_**Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy … Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything …"**_

"_**Stand aside – stand aside, girl –"**_

_**He could have forced her away from the crib, but it seemed more prudent to finish them all …**_

"If he had pushed me aside, I would have killed myself within a week." Lily cried, burying her head back in James' shoulder, "I think the replica of me would have done the same thing. I wouldn't want to live if both my husband and son were dead."

_**The green light flashed around the room and she dropped like her husband. The child had not cried all this time. He could stand, clutching the bars of his crib, and he looked up into the intruder's face with a kind of bright interest, perhaps thinking that it was his father who hid beneath the cloak, making more pretty lights, and his mother would pop up any moment, laughing –**_

"Sorry son, not this time." James mumbled, more and more tears pouring down his cheeks as he thought of his ridiculously brave boy who had lost so much in the space of a few minutes.

**_He pointed the wand very carefully into the boy's face: He wanted to see it happen, the destruction of this one, inexplicable danger._ **

"Don't you mean, the creation of the one who will kill you you noseless wanker." Ginny cackled sadly.

"Don't cackle, Ginny." Draco grimaced, trying to lighten the mood a bit, "Hermione imitating your mum is bad enough, without you joining in."

"Right." Ginny nodded, sounding as though her nose was blocked up, "I'll remember that."

_**The child began to cry: it had seen that he was not James. He did not like it crying, he had never been able to stomach the small ones whining in the orphanage –**_

"**Avada Kedavra!"**

_**And then he broke: he was nothing, nothing but pain and terror, and he must hide himself, not here in the rubble of the ruined house, where the child was trapped screaming, but far away … far away …**_

"It didn't mention the fact that the curse bounced right off your head." Fred said, trying to inject some humour into the hall.

"Now is not the time." Mrs Weasley snapped, still crying, like most of the females in the hall.

"**No," he moaned. **

**_The snake rustled on the filthy, cluttered floor, and he had killed the boy, and yet he _was_ the boy …_**

"**No …"**

_**And now he stood at the broken window of Bathilda's house, immersed in memories of his greatest loss, and at his feet the great snake slithered over broken china and glass … he looked down and saw something … something incredible …**_

"**No …"**

"**Harry, it's all right, you're all right!"**

"Oh good, you're awake." Lily said.

"But he's still half in Voldemort's mind." James pointed out, "I don't know whether Voldemort could tell or not, but that doesn't seem like the best place to be."

"I don't think he realised that I was there." Harry said, "he only found out about the connection last year, and discovered that it wasn't a good thing to have, when he tried to possess me at the end of last year. I threw him out, and he needed quite a bit of time to recover."

"He still hadn't recovered when I saw him last." Snape said, "he was injured really very badly, and I was ordered to provide any healing potion that had a chance of working, because his body was on the very brink of collapse."

"Impressive." Dorea whispered.

_**He stooped down and picked up the smashed photograph. There he was, the unknown thief, the thief he was seeking …**_

"**No … I dropped it … I dropped it …"**

"**Harry, it's okay, wake up, wake up!"**

**He was Harry … Harry, not Voldemort … and the thing that was rustling was not a snake … He opened his eyes.**

"Thank Merlin you're back in your own head." Minerva whispered, not wanting to hear about Harry being stuck in the mind of a madman like Voldemort, any longer.

"**Harry," Hermione whispered. "Do you feel all – all right?"**

"**Yes," he lied.**

**He was in the tent, lying on one of the lower bunks beneath a heap of blankets. He could tell that it was almost dawn by the stillness and quality of the cold, flat light beyond the canvas ceiling. He was drenched in sweat; he could feel it on the sheets and blankets.**

"**We got away."**

"**Yes," said Hermione. "I had to use a Hover Charm to get you into your bunk. I couldn't lift you. You've been … Well, you haven't been quite …"**

"That must have been terrifying for you Hermione." Narcissa murmured, beginning to calm down, though she hadn't stopped crying.

"It was, I knew that Harry was seeing something from Voldemort, but I didn't know what, or how to get him out of it." Hermione sighed, "I felt a bit useless actually."

**There were purple shadows under her brown eyes and he noticed a small sponge in her hand: She had been wiping his face. "You've been ill," she finished. "Quite ill."**

"**How long ago did we leave?"**

"**Hours ago. It's nearly morning."**

"That's less time than when I was bitten by Nagini." Mr Weasley said, "I was out of it for nearly two days."

"That's probably due to the combination of phoenix tears and basilisk venom in Harry's veins." Snape mused, "having survived the bite from a basilisk, he is immune to the venom from all other snakes, but he would still suffer some effect from it, without actually dying."

"Plus, that was actually a dry bite." Harry said, "Nagini wasn't intending to kill me, and because she didn't know that I could survive her venom, she didn't inject any."

"So why were you unconscious?" Snape queried.

"The memory of that Halloween was overwhelming Voldemort, and somehow I got sucked into it too." Harry shrugged, "I don't think I've ever been able to stay conscious while inside Voldemort's mind."

"**And I've been … what, unconscious?"**

"**Not exactly," said Hermione uncomfortably. "You've been shouting and moaning and … things," she added in a tone that made Harry feel uneasy. What had he done? Screamed curses like Voldemort; cried like the baby in the crib?**

"No, nothing like that, you were speaking Parseltongue, so I don't actually know what you were saying." Hermione said.

"**I couldn't get the Horcrux off you," Hermione said, and he knew she wanted to change the subject. "It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You've got a mark; I'm sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too, but I've cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it …"**

**He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. He could also see the half healed puncture marks to his forearm.**

"You know, Harry, if I didn't think of you as a brother, I'd be fantasising right about now." Ginny grinned, though she still had slightly red eyes from crying so much.

"**Where've you put the Horcrux?"**

"**In my bag. I think we should keep it off for a while."**

**He lay back on his pillows and looked into her pinched grey face.**

"**We shouldn't have gone to Godric's Hollow. It's my fault, it's all my fault. Hermione, I'm sorry."**

"**It's not your fault. I wanted to go too; I really thought Dumbledore might have left the sword there for you."**

"**Yeah, well … we got that wrong, didn't we?"**

"**What happened, Harry? What happened when she took you upstairs? **

"I really wish I didn't know now." Hermione sighed, "I think I was happier in my ignorance. That was truly disgusting."

"As disgusting as the way a Wraith feeds?" Harry asked with a wry grin.

"I don't know actually." Hermione grimaced.

"How do they feed?" Snape wondered.

"By sucking the life out through their victims' chests." Lucius replied, with a slightly green tinge to his face, which did not go well with his red-rimmed eyes. "They have holes on their hands, which they use to suck the life out."

"That sounds horrible." Andromeda whispered, "is there any way to protect someone from that?"

"We did help one of the native groups in the Pegasus galaxy create a serum which would erase the Wraiths' ability to such the life out, and it worked, but it also killed about a third of the people who took it." Caruso said, "and those that didn't die after taking the serum, were killed when the Wraith bombarded the planet, wiping out every single living thing."

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound good." Narcissa murmured.

**Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?"**

"**No." he said. "_She_ was the snake … or the snake was her … all along."**

"**W-what?"**

**He closed his eyes. He could still smell Bathilda's house on him; it made the whole thing horribly vivid.**

"**Bathilda must've been dead a while. The snake was … was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric's Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I'd go back."**

"**The snake was _inside_ her?"**

**He opened his eyes again. Hermione looked revolted, nauseated. **

"**Lupin said there would be magic we'd never imagined." Harry said. "She didn't want to talk in front of you, because it was Parseltongue, all Parseltongue, and I didn't realize, but of course I could understand her.**

"Of course, that's why Hermione didn't understand." Remus said, "only a Parselmouth would be able to, and she isn't."

"If I had transformed into my fourth animagus form before that incident, then I would have been." Hermione sighed, "but when I found out that my fourth form was an adder, I decided not to use it."

"Why?" James wondered.

"Because while I'm OK with pythons and constrictors, venomous snakes scare me." Hermione replied, "I think it might be because I was petrified by the basilisk, but even before then I wasn't happy near a viper or any other snake that could bite me and inject venom."

"You aren't the only one who doesn't like venomous snakes." James commiserated, "they give me the willies, but I can handle a constrictor all right."

"Evidently, your fear of venomous snakes is not as bad as your fear of flesh-eating slugs." Remus grinned.

"Yuck." James shivered, wide-eyed.

**Once we were up in the room, the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who, I heard it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he said to keep me there … and then …"**

**He remembered the snake coming out of Bathilda's neck: Hermione did not need to know the details.**

"… **she changed, changed into the snake, and attacked."**

**He looked down at the puncture marks.**

"**It wasn't supposed to kill me, just keep me there till You-Know-Who came."**

**If he had only managed to kill the snake, it would have been worth it, all of it … Sick at heart, he sat up and threw back the covers. **

"When will you learn that you need to rest after something like that?" Pomfrey sighed in frustration.

"Probably around the same time as you learn that the patient is always right." Harry snorted, "besides, I always feel a lot better if I can move, if I'm not stuck in a bed."

"**Harry, no, I'm sure you ought to rest!"**

"**You're the one who needs sleep. No offence, but you look terrible. I'm fine. I'll keep watch for a while. Where's my wand?"**

**She did not answer, she merely looked at him.**

"Please tell me she's merely worried about your health." Dorea begged, not wanting to be right about what she was thinking.

"**Where's my wand, Hermione?"**

**She was biting her lip, and tears swam in her eyes.**

"**Harry …"**

"**_Where's my wand?_"**

**She reached down beside the bed and held it out to him.**

**The holly and phoenix wand was nearly severed in two. **

"Crap." Dean and Seamus swore, along with quite a few of the older students, and even a few of the guests.

"Not only have you lost the protection of the twin cores, but you've only got one wand between the pair of you now." Neville groaned.

**One fragile strand of phoenix feather kept both pieces hanging together. The wood had splintered apart completely. Harry took it into his hands as though it was a living thing that had suffered a terrible injury. He could not think properly: everything was a blur of panic and fear. Then he held out the want to Hermione.**

"**Mend it. Please."**

"When a wand is as badly damaged as that, it cannot be fixed." Flitwick sighed, "that's why we snap the wands of those we are forced to expel, and why certain criminals should have theirs snapped as soon as they are caught."

"**Harry, I don't think, when it's broken like this –"**

"**Please, Hermione, try!"**

"**_R-Reparo_."**

**The dangling half of the wand resealed itself. Harry held it up. **

"**_Lumos!_"**

**The wand sparked feebly, then went out. Harry pointed it at Hermione.**

"**_Expelliarmus!_"**

**Hermione's wand gave a little jerk, but did not leave her hand. The feeble attempt at magic was too much for Harry's wand, which split into two again.**

"How on earth are you going to cope with just one wand?" Padma asked.

"We managed." Harry smiled, "and something happened a couple of weeks later that solved our problem."

**He stared at it, aghast, unable to take in what he was seeing … the wand that had survived so much …**

"**Harry." Hermione whispered so quietly he could hardly hear her. "I'm so, so sorry. I think it was me. As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming for us, and so I cast a Blasting Curse, and it rebounded everywhere, and it must have – must have hit –"**

"**It was an accident." said Harry mechanically. He felt empty, stunned. "We'll – we'll find a way to repair it."**

"**Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to," said Hermione, the tears trickling down her face. "Remember … remember Ron? When he broke his wand, crashing the car? It was never the same again, he had to get a new one."**

"What precisely did your wand do after you broke it, Ron?" Charlus asked, not really wanting to draw too much attention to the red-head who was still unhappy about his departure, but still wanting to know what happened.

"Among other things, it shot out of my hand and hit professor Flitwick in one charms lesson, then in transfiguration, it engulfed everyone in foul-smelling smoke, and backfired when I tried hexing someone." Ron replied quietly, "but it's greatest moment was when Lockhart ripped it out of my hand and tried Obliviating us with it. It backfired, completely wiping his own memory."

"How completely was completely?" James asked with an eager grin, happy to know that there was some joviality in the world.

"Let's just say that when we got out of the Chamber, professor Dumbledore spoke to him, and his reply was, 'Am I a professor? Goodness, I suspect I was hopeless, was I?'" Harry sniggered.

"He's currently in St Mungo's." Ginny giggled, "learning how to read and write again."

"He can't even remember his own name." Hermione added.

"That's brilliant." Remus laughed.

**Harry thought of Ollivander, kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort; of Gregorovitch, who was dead. How was he supposed to find himself a new wand?**

"**Well," he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, "well, I'll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep watch."**

**Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her wand, and he left her sitting beside his bed, desiring nothing more than to get away from her.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Scrimgeour said, breathing a sigh of relief, "who wants to go next?"

"I will." Pansy offered, "unless anyone else wants a go?"

"You can go, then someone else can read after you." Blaise shrugged.

"OK." Pansy nodded, summoning the book and opening it to the right page.


	24. Chapter 24

**The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore**

"**The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore**," Pansy read, groaning a bit at the title.

"Oh great, more of Skeeter's crap." Blaise grimaced.

"If anyone really wants an explanation at the end of the chapter, I will do so, to the best of my ability." Albus sighed, holding his head in his hands.

**The sun was coming up: the pure, colourless vastness of the sky stretched over him, indifferent to him and his suffering. Harry sat down in the tent entrance and took a deep breath of clean air. Simply to be alive to watch the sun rise over the sparkling snowy hillside ought to have been the greatest treasure on earth, yet he could not appreciate it: His senses had been spiked by the calamity of losing his wand. He looked out over a valley blanketed in snow, distant church bells chiming through the glittering silence.**

**Without realizing it, he was digging his fingers into his arms as if he were trying to resist physical pain. He had spilled his own blood more times than he could count; he had lost all bones in his right arm once; **

"Lockhart, the idiot." Pomfrey grumbled.

**this journey had already given him scars to his chest and forearm to join those on his hand and forehead, **

"You forgot about the two already on your arm." Hermione whispered, "the ones you got from Sanasha and ratboy."

**but never, until this moment, had he felt himself to be fatally weakened, vulnerable, and naked, as though the best part of his magical power had been torn from him. **

**He knew exactly what Hermione would say if he expressed any of this: the wand is only as good as the wizard. But she was wrong, his case was different. She had not felt the wand spin like the needle of a compass and shoot golden flames at his enemy. He had lost the protection of the twin cores, and only now that it was gone did he realize how much he had been counting on it.**

"Even if your wand wasn't broken, I doubt the twin cores would help if V-Voldemort got his hands on another wand." Hannah pointed out sadly.

"We still don't really know what wand he's looking for, anyway." Susan grumbled, "there are just too many mysteries in this book. Can't you solve one mystery before uncovering another one?"

"I did mention that he seemed to be looking for the so-called Wand of Destiny." Charlus said, "but I'm still not sure he will actually find it."

"True, but there is the possibility that he isn't actually looking for that particular wand, and if he isn't, we have no idea what other wand he could be looking for." Susan sighed.

"There is another famous wand that I've heard of, that he could be looking for." Dorea frowned, "the so-called Deathstick."

"I thought that was just another name for the Wand of Destiny." Padma muttered, confused.

"It might well be, but if it isn't, then that is another possible wand he could be looking for." James smiled.

**He pulled the pieces of the broken wand out of his pocket and, without looking at them, tucked them away in Hagrid's pouch around his neck. The pouch was now too full of broken and useless objects to take any more. Harry's hand brushed the old Snitch through the mokeskin and for a moment he had to fight the temptation to pull it out and throw it away. Impenetrable, unhelpful, useless, like everything else Dumbledore had left behind –**

"Undoubtedly, those items may seem worthless, but they may not be." Albus said, trying to remain serene, though he was terrified of what Rita Skeeter had uncovered.

**And his fury at Dumbledore broke over him now like lava, scorching him inside, wiping out every other feeling. Out of sheer desperation they had talked themselves into believing that Godric's Hollow held answers, convinced themselves that they were supposed to go back, that it was all part of some secret path laid out for them by Dumbledore: but there was no map, no plan. **

"I think that if there is a plan, then you're too close to the events to really see it." Lisa frowned, "it's probably easier to see where you're supposed to go by looking at everything from an outsider's point of view."

**Dumbledore had left them to grope in the darkness, to wrestle with unknown and undreamed-of terrors, alone and unaided: nothing was explained, nothing was given freely, they had no sword,**

"I'm sure that if I knew that it would be the easiest way to destroy Horcruxes, then I would have organised a way to get the real sword to you." Albus said with a strained smile.

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy for the one you told to get it to us, to actually do so." Harry sniggered, "the poor man had no clue where we were, and he couldn't really go tramping around the country, trying to find us. He did eventually succeed in getting it to us, though, so everything did work itself out."

**and now, Harry had no wand. And he had dropped the photograph of the thief, and it would surely be easy now for Voldemort to find out who he was …**

"Maybe he will find out, but that doesn't mean that he will know where the thief is now." Anthony said.

"Even if he does find the thief's identity, there is the possibility that the man is dead by now." Terry nodded.

**Voldemort had all the information now …**

"Not all of it." Albus said, "I don't think Voldemort studied wand-lore, so even if he does find the wand he's looking for, he wouldn't know how to get it to work properly for him."

"**Harry?"**

**Hermione looked frightened that he might curse her with her own wand. Her face streaked with tears, she crouched down beside him, two cups of tea trembling in her hands and something bulky under her arm.**

"**Thanks," he said, taking one of the cups.**

"**Do you mind if I talk to you?"**

"**No," he said because he did not want to hurt her feelings.**

"At least you were trying to keep your anger from hurting her." Lavender whispered.

"**Harry, you wanted to know who that man in the picture was. Well … I've got the book."**

**Timidly she pushed it onto his lap, a pristine copy of _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_.**

"**Where – how –?"**

"**It was in Bathilda's sitting room, just lying there … **

"Hermione seems to have really sticky fingers around books." Charlus snorted.

"She can also be quite creepy around them at times." Lucius mumbled, "when I showed her the library at Malfoy Manor, she started drooling, and looked like she wanted to move in. I got a bit worried when she missed lunch that day, so I went to find out if she wanted anything to eat, and found her cuddling a book, crooning at it."

"How so very odd." Dorea murmured.

**This note was sticking out of the top of it."**

**Hermione read the few lines of spiky, acid-green writing aloud.**

"'**_Dear Batty, Thanks for your help. Here's a copy of the book, hope you like it. You said everything, even if you don't remember it. Rita.'_**

"I can't believe that little bitch would gloat about the fact that she got all that information and then wiped Bathilda's memory." Lily snarled.

**I think it must have arrived while the real Bathilda was alive, but perhaps she wasn't in any fit state to read it?"**

"**No, she probably wasn't."**

"Indeed not." Cygnus sighed, "since she's a hundred and forty, she's old enough that any spell that affects the memory, whether a simple modification or the removal of any memories, will affect her mental stability. In the elderly, the mind is extremely vulnerable, and is generally the first thing to go."

**Harry looked down upon Dumbledore's face and experienced a surge of savage pleasure: now he would know if all the things that Dumbledore had never thought it worth telling him, whether Dumbledore wanted him to or not.**

"Harry, how could you think that way?" Lily asked incredulously.

"I was feeling a bit vindictive that day." Harry sighed, "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly."

"**You're still really angry at me, aren't you?" said Hermione; he looked up to see fresh tears leaking out of her eyes, and knew that his anger must have shown in his face.**

"**No," he said quietly. "No, Hermione, I know it was an accident. You were trying to get us out of there alive, and you were incredible. I'd be dead if you hadn't been there to help me."**

"So why did you seem so angry?" Susan asked gently.

"I was angry with the situation." Harry replied, "I couldn't help but feel that I had been used, like you would use a fork, or a quill, and combining that with the fact that my wand was broken, I guess that I just needed something to focus my anger on."

**He tried to return her watery smile, then turned his attention to the book. Its spine was stiff; it had clearly never been opened before. He riffled through the pages, looking for photographs. He came across the one he sought almost at once, the young Dumbledore and his handsome companion, roaring with laughter at some long-forgotten joke. Harry dropped his eyes to the caption.**

_**Albus Dumbledore, shortly after his mother's death, with his friend Gellert Grindelwald.**_

"What?" Most of the people in the hall yelled, while others were struck dumb by that revelation.

The ones who wanted to join the Death Eaters were pleased that the people who believed that Dumbledore was the hero of the Light, were having their beliefs shot down so brutally. It could only be a good thing for the Dark Lord, who would be able to take advantage of the new split in the Light Side. Harry, Lucius and all those who had had their souls copied and sent back, knew just what was going through the minds of the Death Eater wannabes, so made sure to keep an eye on possible ramifications of the revelation of Albus' past.

**Harry gaped at the last word for several long moments. Grindelwald. His friend Grindelwald. He looked sideways at Hermione, who was still contemplating the name as though she could not believe her eyes. Slowly she looked up at Harry.**

"**_Grindelwald?_"**

"That's what I'm wondering." Tonks whispered.

"I did wonder." Lily muttered, "that's what my letter to Sirius was about. Bathilda had mentioned the friendship between them, and I wanted to ask Sirius whether he knew about it, or whether he thought that Bathilda's senility was beginning to take control."

"Unfortunately, their friendship adds weight to Skeeter's suggestion that Grindelwald would surrender without a fight." James sighed.

"However, she never took into account the fact that there were wizards and witches who died during that battle, whose families would know that there was something wrong with that suggestion." Charlus said, "my parents were killed during that last battle with Grindelwald, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who lost loved ones that day."

"Let's move on, quickly." Harry suggested, watching Albus' shoulders begin to shake a little as the old man started crying again.

**Ignoring the remainder of the photographs, Harry searched the pages around them for a recurrence of that fatal name. He soon discovered it and read greedily, but became lost: it was necessary to go farther back to make sense of it all, and eventually he found himself at the start of a chapter entitled 'The Greater Good'. **

"Oh sweet Merlin, it's worse than I thought." Albus whimpered.

**Together, he and Hermione started to read:**

_**Now approaching his eighteenth birthday, Dumbledore left Hogwarts in a blaze of glory - Head Boy, Prefect, Winner of the Barnabus Finkley Prize for Exceptional Spell-Casting, British Youth Representative to the Wizengamot, Gold Medal-Winner for Ground-Breaking Contribution to the International Alchemical Conference in Cairo. Dumbledore intended, next, to take a Grand Tour with Elphias "Dogbreath" Doge, the dim-witted but devoted sidekick he had picked up at school.**_

"The words Elphias and dim-witted do not belong in the same sentence." Flitwick snapped, "he was brilliant at charms, intuitive and a real joy to teach."

_**The two young men were staying at the Leaky Cauldron in London, preparing to depart for Greece the following morning, when an owl arrived bearing news of Dumbledore's mother's death. 'Dogbreath' Doge, who refused to be interviewed for this book, has given the public his own sentimental version of what happened next. He represents Kendra's death as a tragic blow, and Dumbledore's decision to give up his expedition as an act of noble self-sacrifice.**_

"He gave it up because it was the right thing to do you foul loathsome little cockroach bitch." Hermione yelled, finally feeling able to say what she had wanted to say for quite some time.

"Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel." Orion grinned, though he knew that there wasn't really all that much to laugh about, especially with this little bit of the book.

_**Certainly Dumbledore returned to Godric's Hollow at once, supposedly to 'care' for his younger brother and sister. But how much care did he actually give them?**_

"As much as a nearly eighteen-year-old can." Abraxas snorted, "it can't have been easy for him, being thrown into that kind of situation with no real preparation."

"_**He were a head case, that Aberforth," said Enid Smeek, whose family lived on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow at that time. "Ran wild. 'Course, with his mum and dad gone you'd have felt sorry for him, only he kept chucking goat dung at my head. I don't think Albus was fussed about him. I never saw them together, anyway."**_

"And what was Enid Smeek doing to provoke that?" Caruso asked, "I may not have known Abe Dumbledore when he was a teenager, but I know him now, and I can say, with some amount of certainty, that he would never do anything like that without some kind of provocation. He is a fairly laid-back man, but if people push him enough, then he'll go after them."

_**So what was Albus doing, if not comforting his wild young brother? The answer, it seems, is ensuring the continued imprisonment of his sister. For though her first gaoler had died, there was no change in the pitiful condition of Ariana Dumbledore. Her very existence continued to be known only to those few outsiders who, like 'Dogbreath' Doge, could be counted upon to believe in the story of her 'ill health'.**_

Albus lost the fight against his grief and broke down again as he thought about his sister's last weeks.

_**Another such easily satisfied friend of the family was Bathilda Bagshot, the celebrated magical historian who has lived in Godric's Hollow for many years. Kendra, of course, had rebuffed Bathilda when she first attempted to welcome the family to the village. Several years later, however, the author sent an owl to Albus at Hogwarts, having been favourably impressed by his paper on trans-species transformation in Transfiguration Today. This initial contract led to acquaintance with the entire Dumbledore family. At the time of Kendra's death, Bathilda was the only person in Godric's Hollow who was on speaking terms with Dumbledore's mother.**_

_**Unfortunately, the brilliance that Bathilda exhibited earlier in her life has now dimmed. "The fire's lit, but the cauldron's empty," as Ivor Dillonsby put it to me, or, in Enid Smeek's slightly earthier phrase, "She's nutty as squirrel poo."**_

"Maybe we should feed Skeeter some squirrel poo." Seamus mused.

_**Nevertheless, a combination of tried-and-tested reporting techniques enabled me to extract enough nuggets of hard fact to string together the whole scandalous story.**_

"How that little buggy bitch expects people to believe what she writes, when she writes that kind of crap, is beyond me." Ginny snarled.

_**Like the rest of the Wizarding world, Bathilda puts Kendra's premature death down to a 'backfiring charm', a story repeated by Albus and Aberforth in later years. Bathilda also parrots the family line on Ariana, calling her 'frail' and 'delicate'.**_

"She really was delicate." Albus whimpered, "she wouldn't have been able to cope if there were too many strangers around, which is why we didn't want anyone visiting or prying."

_**On one subject, however, Bathilda is well worth the effort I put into procuring Veritaserum, for she, and she alone, knows the full story of the best-kept secret of Albus Dumbledore's life. Now revealed for the first time, it calls into question everything that his admirers believed of Dumbledore: his supposed hatred of the Dark Arts, his opposition into the oppression of Muggles, even his devotion to his own family.**_

_**The very same summer that Dumbledore went home to Godric's Hollow, now an orphan and head of the family, Bathilda Bagshot agreed to accept into her home her great-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald.**_

_**The name of Grindelwald is justly famous: in a list of Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time, he would miss out on the top spot only because You-Know-Who arrived, a generation later, to steal his crown. As Grindelwald never extended his campaign of terror to Britain, however, the details of his rise to power are not widely known here.**_

_**Educated at Durmstrang, a school famous even then for its unfortunate tolerance of the Dark Arts, Grindelwald showed himself quite as precociously brilliant as Dumbledore. Rather than channel his abilities into the attainment of awards and prizes, however, Gellert Grindelwald devoted himself to other pursuits. At sixteen years old, even Durmstrang felt it could no longer turn a blind eye to the twisted experiments of Gellert Grindelwald, and he was expelled.**_

"Does anyone know what he did to get expelled?" Remus asked out of morbid curiosity, "I mean, what he did in his experiments?"

"That has never been revealed, and I don't even think any of the people he went to school with are still around, so I think that mystery will just have to be left unsolved." Albus replied, not really wanting to remember the man he had once loved.

_**Hitherto, all that has been known of Grindelwald's next movements is that he 'travelled around for some months.' It can now be revealed that Grindelwald chose to visit his great-aunt in Godric's Hollow, and that there, intensely shocking though it will be for many to hear it, he struck up a close friendship with none other than Albus Dumbledore.**_

"_**He seemed a charming boy to me," babbles Bathilda, "whatever he became later. Naturally I introduced him to poor Albus, who was missing the company of lads his own age. The boys took to each other at once."**_

"I can see why." Terry said quietly, "both were described as being exceptionally intelligent, and if they were unable to have intellectual discussions with anyone else, they would automatically gravitate towards each other."

_**They certainly did. Bathilda shows me a letter, kept by her that Albus Dumbledore sent Gellert Grindelwald in the dead of night.**_

"_**Yes, even after they'd spent all day in discussion – both such brilliant young boys, they got on like a cauldron on fire – I'd sometimes hear an owl tapping at Gellert's bedroom window, delivering a letter from Albus! An idea would have struck him and he had to let Gellert know immediately!"**_

_**And what ideas they were. Profoundly shocking though Albus Dumbledore's fans will find it, here are the thoughts of their seventeen-year-old hero, as relayed to his new best friend. (A copy of the original letter may be seen on page 463.)**_

_**Gellert –  
Your point about Wizard dominance being FOR THE MUGGLES' OWN GOOD - this, I think, is the crucial point. Yes, we have been given power and yes, that power gives us the right to rule, but it also gives us responsibilities over the ruled. We must stress this point, it will be the foundation stone upon which we build. Where we are opposed, as we surely will be, this must be the basis of all our counterarguments. We seize control FOR THE GREATER GOOD. And from this it follows that where we meet resistance, we must use only the force that is necessary and no more. (This was your mistake at Durmstrang! But I do not complain, because if you had not been expelled, we would never have met.)  
Albus**_

"I can't believe it, I _won't_ believe it." Alicia said.

"Unfortunately, the letter is real." Albus sighed, "and it took one of the worst nights of my life to realise how wrong I was."

"There is one thing about that letter that no one seems to have picked up on." Harry said quietly but clearly, "those are not the words of someone who wants world domination like Voldemort. They are the words of someone who thinks that wizards should be leaders of the world, without being oppressors. They're the words of someone who thinks that he should use his talents to lead, not someone who wants to destroy everything in his path."

"How do you work that out?" Ernie asked, slightly pompously.

"I read between the lines." Harry replied, "notice the second sentence, where he says that with power comes responsibility. He basically said that it is our responsibility to use our power, whether political, financial, or magical, to make the world a better place for those who live in it, as well as future generations. Nowhere in that letter are the words death and destruction written, or even implied. Unfortunately it took me a few years to work that out, and all my thoughts in the book will contradict what I've just said."

"Oh." Many students murmured, vowing to think about what Harry had said.

_**Astonished and appalled though his many admirers will be, this letter constitutes proof that Albus Dumbledore once dreamed of overthrowing the Statute of Secrecy and establishing wizard rule over Muggles. What a blow for those who have always portrayed Dumbledore as the Muggle-borns' greatest champion! How hollow those speeches promoting Muggle rights seem in the light of this damning new evidence! How despicable does Albus Dumbledore appear, busy plotting his rise to power when he should have been mourning his mother and caring for his sister!**_

"Oh honestly." Dorea said exasperatedly, "you can't judge someone on what they were like as a teenager. People change over time, they grow up."

_**No doubt those determined to keep Dumbledore on his crumbling pedestal will bleat that he did not, after all, put his plans into action, that he must have suffered a change of heart, that he came to his senses.**_

"But he did, there's no denying it." Susan said plainly.

_**However, the truth seems altogether more shocking.**_

_**Barely two months into their great new friendship, Dumbledore and Grindelwald parted, never to see each other again until they met for their legendary duel (for more, see chapter 22). What caused this abrupt rupture? Had Dumbledore come to his senses? Had he told Grindelwald he wanted no more part in his plans? Alas, no.**_

"_**It was poor little Ariana dying, I think, that did it," says Bathilda. "It came as an awful shock. Gellert was there in the house when it happened, and he came back to my house all of a dither, told me he wanted to go home the next day. Terribly distressed, you know. So I arranged a Portkey and that was the last I saw of him.**_

"Now _that_ I can't believe." Hannah snapped, "what kind of person could leave their friend to suffer a loss on his own like that?"

"Voldemort would have." Harry shrugged, "if he'd had actual friends instead of worshippers."

"_**Albus was beside himself at Ariana's death. It was so dreadful for those two brothers. They had lost everybody except for each other. No wonder tempers ran a little high. Aberforth blamed Albus, you know, as people will under these dreadful circumstances. But Aberforth always talked a little madly, poor boy. All the same, breaking Albus's nose at the funeral was not decent. It would have destroyed Kendra to see her sons fighting like that, across her daughter's body. A shame Gellert could not have stayed for the funeral … he would have been a comfort to Albus, at least …**_

"I doubt that." Katie said, "I don't think I would want someone at the funeral if I lost my sister and that person was there when she died. I think it would be too much of a painful reminder."

_**This dreadful coffin-side brawl, known only to those few who attended Ariana Dumbledore's funeral, raises several questions. Why exactly did Aberforth Dumbledore blame Albus for his sister's death? Was it, as 'Batty' pretends, a mere effusion of grief? Or could there have been some more concrete reason for his fury? Grindelwald, expelled from Durmstrang for the near-fatal attacks upon fellow students, fled the country hours after the girl's death, and Albus (out of shame or fear?) never saw him again, not until forced to do so by the pleas of the wizarding world.**_

_**Neither Dumbledore nor Grindelwald ever seems to have referred to this brief boyhood friendship in later life. However, there can be no doubt that Dumbledore delayed, for some five years of turmoil, fatalities, and disappearances, his attack upon Gellert Grindelwald. Was it lingering affection for the man or fear of exposure as his once best friend that caused Dumbledore to hesitate? Was it only reluctantly that Dumbledore set out to capture the man he was once so delighted he had met?**_

"I think I would be utterly disgusted if he hadn't been reluctant." Minerva sniffed, "and I think it's only natural to be afraid of facing someone he had once cared for so much. It is far harder to face a loved-one in battle than it is to face someone who has always been an enemy."

_**And how did the mysterious Ariana die? Was she the inadvertent victim of some Dark rite? Did she stumble across something she ought not to have done, as the two young men sat practising for their attempt at glory and domination? Is it possible that Ariana Dumbledore was the first person to die 'for the greater good'?**_

"I hope not." Remus muttered, making Harry wonder if she was actually. After all, her death helped make Albus become the man the world knew.

**The chapter ended here and Harry looked up. Hermione had reached the bottom of the page before him. She tugged the book out of Harry's hands, looking a little alarmed by his expression, and closed it without looking at it, as though hiding something indecent.**

"**Harry –"**

**But he shook his head. Some inner certainty had crashed down inside him; it was exactly as he had felt after Ron left. He had trusted Dumbledore, believed him the embodiment of goodness and wisdom. All was ashes: how much more could he lose? Ron, Dumbledore, the phoenix wand …**

"**Harry." She seemed to have heard his thoughts. "Listen to me. It – it doesn't make a very nice reading –"**

"It's Skeeter, what did you expect?" Angelina snorted bitterly.

"– **yeah, you could say that –"**

"– **but don't forget, Harry, this is Rita Skeeter writing."**

"Exactly." Alicia said, "nothing she says is to be believed one hundred percent."

"**You did read that letter to Grindelwald, didn't you?"**

"**Yes, I – I did." She hesitated, looking upset, cradling her tea in her cold hands. "I think that's the worst bit. I know Bathilda thought it was all just talk, but 'For the Greater Good' became Grindelwald's slogan, his justification for all the atrocities he committed later. And … from that … it looks like Dumbledore gave him the idea. They say 'For the Greater Good' was even carved over the entrance to Nurmengard."**

"What's Nurmengard?" Mark asked.

"It does get explained in the book." Harry replied with twitching lips.

"**What's Nurmengard?"**

"Oh, oops." Mark mumbled, realising that he had asked the same question as book-Harry.

"**The prison Grindelwald had built to hold his opponents. He ended up in there himself, once Dumbledore had caught him.**

"Voldemort's going to want to talk to him." Hannah whispered in horror.

"Merlin, that's not good." Susan murmured.

"But how do we know that Grindelwald hasn't died in the fifty-odd years he's been imprisoned?" Padma pointed out.

"That's a good point." Susan said, breathing a sigh of relief.

**Anyway, it's – it's an awful thought that Dumbledore's ideas helped Grindelwald rise to power. But on the other hand, even Rita can't pretend that they knew each other for more than a few months one summer when they were both really young, and –"**

"I was older than most of the children in this hall." Albus said, "and I do believe that most of you wouldn't be as blind as I was then."

"**I thought you'd say that," said Harry. He did not want to let his anger spill out at her, but it was hard to keep his voice steady.**

"Oh dear." Dorea grimaced, "my temper, combined with Lily's, nicely wrapped up in one package."

"**I thought you'd say 'they were young'. They were the same age as we are now. And here we are, risking our lives to fight the Dark Arts, and there he was, in a huddle with his new best friend, plotting their rise to power over the Muggles."**

**His temper would not remain in check much longer: he stood up and walked around, trying to work some of it off.**

"That sounds like something I would do." James muttered, "if I didn't find something to punch."

"Or someone to hex." Snape growled.

"**I'm not trying to defend what Dumbledore wrote," said Hermione. "All that 'right to rule' rubbish, it's 'Magic Is Might' all over again. But Harry, his mother had just died, he was stuck alone in the house –"**

"**Alone? He wasn't alone! He had his brother and sister for company, his Squib sister he was keeping locked up –"**

"**I don't believe it," said Hermione. She stood up too. "Whatever was wrong with that girl, I don't think she was a Squib. The Dumbledore we knew would never, ever have allowed –"**

"I definitely wouldn't have allowed that." Albus said quietly.

"**The Dumbledore we thought we knew didn't want to conquer Muggles by force!" Harry shouted, his voice echoing across the empty hilltop, and several blackbirds rose into the air, squawking and spiralling against the pearly sky.**

"**He changed, Harry, he changed! It's as simple as that! Maybe he did believe these things when he was seventeen, but the whole of the rest of his life was devoted to fighting the Dark Arts! Dumbledore was the one who stopped Grindelwald, the one who always voted for Muggle protection and Muggle born rights, who fought You-Know-Who from the start, and who died trying to bring him down!"**

"It's still hard to believe that such a powerful and experienced wizard could be killed by someone so much younger and less experienced." Andromeda said.

"Even the best of us can be taken by surprise." Albus sighed, "besides, I'm already dying, and I think a Killing Curse to the chest might just be one of the least painful ways to go."

**Rita's book lay on the ground between them, so that the face of Albus Dumbledore smiled dolefully at both.**

"**Harry, I'm sorry, but I think the real reason you're so angry is that Dumbledore never told you any of this himself."**

"I doubt he could have told anyone." Cygnus said, glancing at the broken shell of a man seated in the headmaster's chair. "I can't imagine it being easy to hear Skeeter dragging all this back into daylight after nearly a century of it being hidden."

"**Maybe I am!" Harry bellowed, and he flung his arms over his head, hardly knowing whether he was trying to hold in his anger or protect himself from the weight of his own disillusionment. "Look what he asked from me, Hermione! Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don't expect me to explain everything, just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I'm doing, trust me even though I don't trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!"**

**His voice cracked with the strain, and they stood looking at each other in the whiteness and emptiness, and Harry felt they were as insignificant as insects beneath that wide sky.**

"**He loved you," Hermione whispered. "I know he loved you."**

"Like the grandson I never had." Albus murmured, shedding a few more tears.

**Harry dropped his arms.**

"**I don't know who he loved, Hermione, but it was never me. This isn't love, the mess he's left me in. He shared a damn sight more of what he was really thinking with Gellert Grindelwald than he ever shared with me."**

"The difference is that Gellert never truly cared about me, and after him, I couldn't handle the thought of anyone else I cared about, using my own thoughts and feelings against me." Albus sighed.

**Harry picked up Hermione's wand, which he had dropped in the snow, and sat back down in the entrance of the tent.**

"**Thanks for the tea. I'll finish the watch. You get back in the warm."**

**She hesitated, but recognized the dismissal. She picked up the book and then walked back past him into the tent, but as she did so, she brushed the top of his head lightly with her hand. He closed his eyes at her touch, and hated himself for wishing that what she said was true: that Dumbledore had really cared.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Pansy said, breathing a sigh of relief at having got through that emotional roller-coaster fairly quickly. "Who wants to go next?"

"I will." Ginny smiled, "I haven't read yet, and this, despite the disgusting things Skeeter has written, is a rather more interesting book than any I've heard of recently."

"There you go." Pansy grinned, gently floating the book towards the middle table, where Ginny was sitting between Ted Tonks and Luna.


	25. Chapter 25

**The Silver Doe**

"**The Silver Doe**," Ginny read.

"That sounds like my Patronus." Lily frowned.

**It was snowing by the time Hermione took over the watch at midnight. Harry's dreams were confused and disturbing: Nagini wove in and out of them, first through a wreath of Christmas roses. He woke repeatedly, panicky, convinced that somebody had called out to him in the distance, imagining that the wind whipping around the tent was footsteps or voices.**

"That's not good." Neville said, "Harry's instincts are usually right, so if he thinks there's someone out there, there probably is."

**Finally he got up in the darkness and joined Hermione, who was huddled in the entrance to the tent reading _A History of Magic_ by the light of her wand. The snow was falling thickly, and she greeted with relief his suggestion of packing up early and moving on.**

"**We'll somewhere more sheltered," she agreed, shivering as she pulled on a sweatshirt over her pyjamas. "I kept thinking I could hear people moving outside. I even thought I saw somebody one or twice."**

"That really doesn't sound good." James muttered nervously.

**Harry paused in the act of pulling on a jumper and glanced at the silent, motionless Sneakoscope on the table.**

"I hope that one isn't broken like your other one." Dean said.

"**I'm sure I imagined it," said Hermione, looking nervous. "The snow in the dark, it plays tricks on your eyes … but perhaps we ought to Disapparate under the Invisibility Cloak, just in case?"**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed once more, realising that that was the perfect opportunity, and knowing that at least some of the emotional stuff was over, he wasn't going to be hurting anyone's feelings too much.

**Half an hour later, with the tent packed, Harry wearing the Horcrux, and Hermione clutching the beaded bag, they Disapparated. The usual tightness engulfed them; Harry's feet parted company with the snowy ground, then slammed hard onto what felt like frozen earth covered in leaves.**

"**Where are we?" he asked, peering around at the fresh mass of trees as Hermione opened the beaded bag and began tugging out the tent poles.**

"**The Forest of Dean," she said, "I came camping here once with my mum and dad."**

"I'm not sure actually mentioning your location was a good idea." Sprout said worriedly, "especially with the bag open. The portrait might hear and lead the Death Eaters right to you."

"He wouldn't be able to tell anyone who wanted them dead." Dorea corrected, "the Black family magic would stop him if he tried. The only person he could tell is the headmaster, as long as the headmaster doesn't have anyone who wants Harry dead with him, and as long as he, himself doesn't want to kill Harry."

"So it shouldn't be too dangerous for them if Severus knows." Minerva nodded.

"Indeed." Orion smiled.

"If he did know, he could tell the person who had the real Sword of Gryffindor." Colin grinned.

"There is that." Sprout whispered, "but we don't know who has it, and if Severus doesn't know, then he wouldn't be able to do anything about getting the sword to them."

"If I hadn't left the sword in Severus' possession, then I would have told him who had it." Albus said.

"We didn't think of that possibility." Minerva sighed, "it does sound like the most reasonable suggestion."

"Indeed it does." Snape nodded, wondering how he was going to get the sword to Harry, without blowing his cover.

**Here too snow lay on the trees all around and it was bitterly cold, but they were at least protected from the wind. They spent most of the day inside the tent, huddled for warmth around the useful bright blue flames that Hermione was adept at producing, and which could be scooped up and carried in a jar. **

"OK, she's better than me." Lily giggled, "I couldn't conjure flames like that until just after Harry was born."

"Hermione's been conjuring those blue flames since first year." Harry smirked.

"Yeah, definitely better than me." Lily snorted.

**Harry felt as though he was recuperating from some brief but severe illness, an impression reinforced by Hermione's solicitousness. **

"You _are_ recuperating." Mrs Weasley and Pomfrey said waspishly, before looking at each other with raised eyebrows, having both said the same thing at exactly the same time.

"You're supposed to be resting, in a bed." Pomfrey continued after making sure that Mrs Weasley wasn't going to speak at the same time again.

"The patient is always right." Harry said flatly, "and it was bloody irritating when she kept looking at me as though I was going to break."

**That afternoon fresh flakes drifted down upon them, so that even their sheltered clearing had a fresh dusting of powdery snow.**

**After two nights of little sleep, Harry's senses seemed more alert than usual. **

"I don't know how your senses could be even more alert than they are normally. Well normal for you anyway." Ron said, knowing that this was when he was going to return, so felt more comfortable speaking. "I mean really, with the fact that you were able to see the Snitch as it was released at the World Cup, even with those horrible glasses, your senses must have been incredible that night if they were even more alert."

**Their escape from Godric's Hollow had been so narrow that Voldemort seemed somehow closer than before, more threatening. As darkness drove in again Harry refused Hermione's offer to keep watch and told her to go to bed.**

"Harry, you should go to bed, and sleep to recover from your ordeal." Mrs Weasley fretted, seemingly forgetting what Lily and Dorea had said about her over-protectiveness.

**Harry moved an old cushion into the tent mouth and sat down, wearing all the sweaters he owned but even so, still shivery. The darkness deepened with the passing hours until it was virtually impenetrable. He was on the point of taking out the Marauder's Map, so as to watch Ginny's dot for a while, before he remembered that it was the Christmas holidays and that she would be back at the Burrow.**

"I'm sure I would be happy to be away from Hogwarts that year." Ginny said, "though I do think being with someone who thinks I should be a perfectly girly-girl and not play Quidditch, would be a bit much."

"Is that what you want to do when you graduate?" Oliver asked eagerly, "become a pro Quidditch player?"

"Yes, I'm hoping to join the Holyhead Harpies, as either Seeker or Chaser, I'm not fussed." Ginny grinned.

"Playing Quidditch is not proper for a Lady." Mrs Weasley huffed.

"Molly, you may have raised our niece, but she is Bella's daughter, not yours, and it is her choice." Narcissa said sternly, "if she wants to play Quidditch professionally, then she will be allowed to, and I'm sure Bella would be happy if she succeeded."

"It is extremely old-fashioned to say that girls shouldn't play Quidditch professionally, and no one else thinks like that." Andromeda added.

"Not even Great-Aunt Anastasia, who was born in eighteen-fifty-three." Caruso agreed, "and don't forget that the Holyhead Harpies are an all-female team, founded at the beginning of the thirteenth century, which means that they're the second oldest team in Britain."

**Every tiny movement seemed magnified in the vastness of the forest. Harry knew that it must be full of living creatures, but he wished they would all remain still and silent so that he could separate their innocent scurryings and prowlings from noises that might proclaim other, sinister movements. He remembered the sound of a cloak slithering over dead leaves many years ago, and at once thought he heard it again before mentally shaking himself. **

"Oh Merlin, I don't want to be reminded of that night." Neville grimaced.

**Their protective enchantments had worked for weeks; why should they break now? And yet he could no throw off the feeling that something was different tonight.**

**Several times he jerked upright, his neck aching because he had fallen asleep, slumped at an awkward angle against the side of the tent. The night reached such a depth of velvety blackness that he might have been suspended in limbo between Disapparation and Apparation. He had just held a hand in front of his face to see whether he could make out his fingers**

"Oh dear, if it's that dark, then you're unlikely to see anything that wants to kill you, and I doubt that lighting your wand, or creating light, would do anything other than draw attention to yourself." Sinistra whispered.

**when it happened.**

"When what happened?" Susan asked suspiciously.

"Let me read, and you'll find out." Ginny snorted.

**A bright silver light appeared right ahead of him, moving through the trees. Whatever the source, it was moving soundlessly. The light seemed simply to drift toward him.**

**He jumped to his feet, his voice frozen in his throat, and raised Hermione's wand. He screwed up his eyes as the light became blinding, the trees in front of it pitch black in silhouette, and still the thing came closer …**

**And then the source of the light stepped out from behind an oak. It was a silver white doe, moon-bright and dazzling, picking her way over the ground, still silent, and leaving no hoof-prints in the fine powdering of snow. She stepped toward him, her beautiful head with its wide, long-lashed eyes held high.**

"The Silver Doe." Hannah whispered, "it's definitely a Patronus."

"But I'm the only person I know who has a doe Patronus." Lily murmured, "and a dead person cannot conjure one."

"So whose is it?" Ernie asked.

"That will be revealed later in the book." Hermione said.

**Harry stared at the creature, filled with wonder, not at her strangeness, but her inexplicable familiarity. He felt that he had been waiting for her to come, but that he had forgotten, until this moment, that they had arranged to meet. **

"It could be a trap." Parvati gasped worriedly.

"I don't know." Neville said, "when we were doing Patroni in the DA last year, Harry said that not many people could produce one, which is why he wasn't too upset when it took us all ages to get even shapeless mist."

"And also, a Patronus is, in essence, an embodiment of the caster's positive feelings, like love and happiness." Charlus added, "I'm not sure how many of the Death Eaters could produce one, and those who have been in close proximity to Dementors for too long, lose the ability to cast the charm completely."

"Well, we won't be able to work it out, so why don't we let Ginny read and see what happens." Flitwick suggested.

**His impulse to shout for Hermione, which had been so strong a moment ago, had gone. He knew, he would have staked his life on it, that she had come for him, and him alone.**

"It could still be a trap." Susan worried, "someone could have found out about Mrs Potter's Patronus, and used the image to lure you away from the tent."

"That is a very slight possibility." Minerva sighed, "but there is a distinct problem with that theory. As far as I know, there is no spell that can imitate a Patronus, and no one can create one in the image of someone else's. A Patronus is part of someone's very personality, and while they do change as the years go by, a person cannot change their Patronus deliberately."

**They gazed at each other for several long moments and then she turned and walked away.**

"**No," he said, and his voice was cracked with lack of use. "Come back!"**

**She continued to step deliberately through the trees, and soon he brightness was striped by their thick black trunks. For one trembling second he hesitated. Caution murmured it could be a trick, a lure, a trap. But instinct, overwhelming instinct, told him that this was not Dark Magic. He set off in pursuit.**

"You are far too brave for your own good." Lily groaned.

"Maybe." Harry grinned, "but what's life without a little danger?"

**Snow crunched beneath his feet, but the doe made no noise as she passed through the trees, for she was nothing but light. Deeper and deeper into the forest she led him, and Harry walked quickly, sure that when she stopped, she would allow him to approach her properly. And then she would speak and the voice would tell him what he needed to know.**

"Harry, you wouldn't have been happy if she had had a message for you." Hermione giggled, "even if it would have been nice to hear any message, and the voice of the person who cast that Patronus is like smooth dark chocolate, the simple fact that the caster is male, while the Patronus appears female, would have been truly weird."

"So you know who produced the doe Patronus." James said, "will you tell us who it was?"

"Nope." Hermione snorted, "you'll have to wait to find out."

**At last she came to a halt. She turned her beautiful head toward him once more, and he broke into a run, a question burning in him, but as he opened his lips to ask it, she vanished.**

**Though the darkness had swallowed her whole, her burnished image was still imprinted on his retinas; it obscured his vision, brightening when he lowered his eyelids, disorienting him. Now fear came: Her presence had meant safety.**

"Way too brave." Lily grimaced, "couldn't you be a coward, just once?"

"No way." Harry sniggered.

"**_Lumos!_" he whispered, and the wand-tip ignited.**

**The imprint of the doe faded away with every blink of his eyes as he stood there, listening to the sounds of the forest, to distant crackles of twigs, soft swishes of snow. Was he about to be attacked? Had she enticed him into an ambush? Was he imagining that somebody stood beyond the reach of the wand-light, watching him?**

"Probably not." Neville said, "if you think there is someone there, there probably is someone there."

"But who are they, and why are they there?" Remus asked, staring at Neville, who shrugged.

"Whoever they are, they probably don't want to hurt him." James sighed, "if they were going to hurt him, they would have already tried something."

**He held the wand higher. Nobody ran out at him, no flash of green light burst from behind a tree. Why, then, had she led him to this spot?**

**Something gleamed in the light of the wand, and Harry spun about, but all that was there was a small, frozen pool, its black, cracked surface glittering as he raised his wand higher to examine it.**

**He moved forward rather cautiously and looked down. The ice reflected his distorted shadow and the beam of wand-light, but deep below the thick, misty grey carapace, something else glinted. A great silver cross …**

"Is that what I think it is?" Dean asked with an excited grin.

"Maybe." Harry grinned, "of course, I know what it is, and I don't know what you think it is, so it might be something totally different to what you think it is."

"Oh crap." Dean muttered, "I'm confused."

"You ain't the only one." Seamus snorted.

**His heart skipped into his mouth: he dropped to his knees at the pool's edge and angled the wand so as to flood the bottom of the pool with as much light as possible. A glint of deep red … it was a sword with glittering rubies in its hilt … the sword of Gryffindor was lying at the bottom of the forest pool.**

"I thought it might be." Dean grinned, "you are so lucky to see that, Harry."

"But how is he going to get at it when it's at the bottom of a pond?" Hannah asked nervously.

"Don't worry, I figured something out." Harry smiled.

**Barely breathing, he stared down at it. How was this possible? How could it have come to be lying in a forest pool, this close to the place where they were camping? Had some unknown magic drawn Hermione to this spot, or was the doe, which he had taken to be a Patronus, some kind of guardian of the pool? Or had the sword been put into the pool after they had arrived, precisely because they were here? **

"It sounds like whoever the headmaster entrusted with the care of the sword, put it there once he or she found out that you were there." Remus frowned.

"I still don't particularly like the fact that someone knows." Charlus grimaced, "because if that person is captured and tortured for information, before they leave, he or she could lead the Death Eaters right to them."

"There was no way the person could be captured, unless Voldemort was told that he was disloyal." Harry smiled, "the man was rather high up in the ranks of the Death Eaters, but he was spying on Voldemort for quite some time."

"So it's either Lucius or Severus." Sprout frowned.

"We'll just have to wait to find out." Minerva sighed, "that lot aren't likely to tell us. They do keep giving us that ridiculously annoying 'you'll see' answer."

**In which case, where was the person who wanted to pass it to Harry? Again he directed the wand at the surrounding trees and bushes, searching for a human outline, for the glint of an eye, but he could not see anyone there. **

"That doesn't mean they aren't there, they could be under a disillusionment charm." Cho pointed out.

**All the same, a little more fear leavened his exhilaration as he returned his attention to the sword reposing upon the bottom of the frozen pool.**

**He pointed the wand at the silvery shape and murmured, "_Accio Sword_."**

"That won't work." Albus smiled, "the sword has an enchantment on it that won't allow it to be summoned."

**It did not stir. He had not expected it to. If it had been that easy the sword would have lain on the ground for him to pick up, not in the depths of a frozen pool. He set off around the circle of ice, thinking hard about the last time the sword had delivered itself to him. He had been in terrible danger then, and had asked for help.**

"**Help," he murmured, but the sword remained upon the pool bottom, indifferent, motionless.**

"Is it just me, or did that sound ridiculous, expecting an inanimate object to respond to a call for help?" George asked.

"It may well have been ridiculous, but I thought I ought to try all other avenues before doing what I thought I would have to, which wasn't exactly what I wanted to do." Harry shrugged.

**What was it, Harry asked himself (walking again), that Dumbledore had told him the last time he had retrieved the sword? _Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat._ And what were the qualities that defined a Gryffindor? A small voice inside Harry's head answered him: _their daring nerve and chivalry set Gryffindor apart._**

"Hasn't poor Harry suffered enough?" Mrs Weasley groaned, knowing that he would have to go for a swim in freezing cold water.

**Harry stopped walking and let out a long sigh, his smoky breath dispersing rapidly upon the frozen air. He knew what he had to do. If he was honest with himself, he had thought it might come to this from the moment he had spotted the sword through the ice.**

"Yes, and because it was early January, it wasn't the most desirable course of action." Harry nodded.

"You are by far, the craziest person I know, and that's saying something, 'cos I know Sirius, and he's pretty crazy too." Regulus sniggered.

"I don't know, Bella might give Sirius a run for his money in being crazy." Lucius snorted, "especially when she's hormonal."

"She's a Black, what did you expect?" Dorea said dryly.

"Hermione was worse when she was hormonal and caffeine-deprived, than Aunt Bella could ever be." Draco grimaced.

"Yeah, I'd rather face Bella at her maddest than face hormonal, decaffeinated Hermione." Harry nodded.

"Oh dear." Andromeda whispered, "shall we move on?"

"Good idea." Hermione said, glaring at both Harry and Draco for mentioning her instability when she was pregnant.

**He glanced around at the surrounding trees again, but was convinced now that nobody was going to attack him. They had had their chance as he walked alone through the forest, had had plenty of opportunity as he examined the pool. The only reason to delay at this point was because the immediate prospect was so deeply uninviting.**

"No bloody wonder." James sniggered, "it's below freezing."

**With fumbling fingers Harry started to remove his many layers of clothing. Where "chivalry" entered into this, he thought ruefully, he was not entirely sure, unless it counted as chivalrous that he was not calling for Hermione to do it in his stead.**

"There are many things I would do for my brother-in-all-but-blood, but diving into a frozen pool is not one of them." Hermione said, "not even if someone offered me a million Galleons."

**An owl hooted somewhere as he stripped off, and he thought with a pang of Hedwig. He was shivering now, his teeth chattering horribly, and yet he continued to strip off until at last he stood there in his underwear, barefooted in the snow. **

**He placed the pouch containing his wand, his mother's letter, the shard of Sirius's mirror, and the old Snitch on top of his clothes, then he pointed Hermione's wand at the ice.**

"You forgot to take the Horcrux off." Snape said, slightly worried, but he was confident in Harry's ability to complete the mission, due to all the training he had been given.

"**_Diffindo_."**

**It cracked with a sound like a bullet in the silence. The surface of the pool broke and chunks of dark ice rocked on the ruffled water. As far as Harry could judge, it was not deep, but to retrieve the sword he would have to submerge himself completely.**

"That sounds really enticing." Seamus said sarcastically, "I really wanna go swimming in an icy pool."

**Contemplating the task ahead would not make it easier or the water warmer. He stepped to the pool's edge and placed Hermione's wand on the ground still lit. Then, trying not to imagine how much colder he was about to become or how violently he would soon be shivering, he jumped.**

"Just get it over with, you can warm up once you're out again, but it's best to get in and out as fast as you can." Narcissa said gently.

**Every pore of his body screamed in protest. The very air in his lungs seemed to freeze solid as he was submerged to his shoulders in the frozen water. He could hardly breathe: trembling so violently the water lapped over the edges of the pool, he felt for the blade with his numb feet. He only wanted to dive once.**

"I'm not fecking surprised." Seamus laughed, "I bet it's fecking cold in that pool."

"Mr Finnigan, your language could do with some work." Minerva said sternly, "I won't take points, but be warned, the younger years don't need to hear too much of that language."

**Harry put off the moment of total submersion from second to second, gasping and shaking, until he told himself that it must be done, gathered all his courage, and dived.**

**The cold was agony: it attacked him like fire. His brain itself seemed to have frozen as he pushed through the dark water to the bottom and reached out, groping for the sword. His fingers closed around the hilt; he pulled it upwards.**

"Well done, now you can get out and get warmed up." Lily said.

**Then something closed tight around his neck. He thought of water weeds, though nothing had brushed him as he dived, and raised his hand to free himself. It was not weed: The chain of the Horcrux had tightened and was slowly constricting his windpipe.**

"You. Are. An. Idiot." James said slowly, as if he was talking to a three-year-old, "why didn't you take the Horcrux off?"

"I didn't realise it would do what it did." Harry shrugged, "I knew that the Horcruxes were alive in a way, but I didn't realise they had that kind of power."

**Harry kicked out wildly, trying to push himself back to the surface, but merely propelled himself into the rocky side of the pool. Thrashing, suffocating, he scrabbled at the strangling chain, his frozen fingers unable to loosen it, and now little lights were popping inside his head, and he was going to drown, there was nothing left, nothing he could do, and the arms that closed around his chest were surely Death's …**

"Please don't think like that." Lily moaned, "think positively."

**Choking and retching, soaking and colder than he had ever been in his life, he came to face-down in the snow. Somewhere, close by, another person was panting and coughing and staggering around. Hermione had come again, as she had come when the snake attacked … yet it did not sound like her, not with those deep coughs, not judging by the weight of the footsteps …**

"Perhaps it's the person who put the sword in the pool." Ernie said.

"Maybe not." Justin muttered, glancing between Ron and Hermione, who were both trying to not laugh.

**Harry had no strength to lift his head and see his saviour's identity. All he could do was raise a shaking hand to his throat and feel the place where the locket had cut tightly into his flesh. It was gone: someone had cut him free. Then a panting voice spoke from over his head.**

"**Are – you – _mental_?"**

"There's only one person I know who would talk like that." Katie grinned.

**Nothing but the shock of hearing that voice could have given Harry the strength to get up. Shivering violently, he staggered to his feet. There before him stood Ron, **

"I knew it." Justin said.

"That's why Harry and that lot weren't as upset as the rest of us when we read about Ron leaving." Susan realised, "they already knew that he returned."

**fully dressed but drenched to the skin, his hair plastered to his face, the sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Horcrux dangling from its broken chain in the other.**

"I have to say, I think that's one of the best ways to make up for being a planet-sized prat." Angelina giggled.

"It does mean that they have to forgive him, otherwise they'd look like ungrateful idiots." Alicia snorted.

"Well, I know that Harry will forgive Ron easily, he's like that, but Hermione …" Dean said.

"I dread to think what her reaction will be." Seamus grimaced.

"**Why the _hell_," panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody of hypnosis, "didn't you take the thing off before you dived?"**

"I think we all want to know that." Orion drawled.

**Harry could not answer. The silver doe was nothing, nothing compared with Ron's reappearance; he could not believe it. Shuddering with cold, he caught up the pile of clothes still lying at the water's edge and began to pull them on. As he dragged sweater after sweater over his head, Harry stared at Ron, half expecting him to have disappeared every time he lost sight of him, and yet he had to be real: he had just dived into the pool, he had saved Harry's life.**

"So that's why I got the full force of the Harry Potter silent stare." Ron grinned, "nice to know why he was making me feel like he'd just caught me with my hand in the biscuit tin."

"You are not the only one he's looked at in that way." Lucius chuckled, "of course, when he looked at me like that, I really did have my hand in the biscuit tin."

"And Harry wasn't the only one staring." Draco snorted, "we all were. I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me. Until that day, I did not realise how childish my own father could be."

"Yes, when the mood strikes him, your father can be truly childish." Narcissa said, "and when he is, no one would believe that he's actually forty-one, not four."

"It does take boys fifty years or more to grow up." Andromeda giggled.

"Too true." Narcissa nodded, trying not to look at the pout Lucius was wearing.

"**It was y-you?" Harry said at last, his teeth chattering, his voice weaker than usual due to his near-strangulation.**

"**Well, yeah," said Ron, looking slightly confused.**

"**Y-you cast that doe?"**

"**What? No, of course not! I thought it was you doing it!"**

"**My Patronus is a stag."**

"**Oh yeah. I thought it looked different. No antlers."**

"Stag Patroni do not randomly lose their antlers, nor do stag animagi." James snorted.

"Real stags do though." Minerva said, "they grow and shed their antlers every year, around mating season. The antlers appear before the season begins, then fall off once the season is over and they are not needed. The new pair starts growing after the old pair has fallen. The reason stag animagi don't lose their antlers, is because they can't. They're still mostly human, just with a different form."

**Harry put Hagrid's pouch back around his neck, pulled on a final sweater, stooped to pick up Hermione's wand, and faced Ron again.**

"**How come you're here?"**

**Apparently Ron had hoped that this point would come up later, if at all.**

"**Well, I've – you know – I've come back. If –" He cleared his throat. "You know. You still want me."**

"We are stronger as a trio." Hermione pointed out, "we work far better when all three of us are together."

"Ron, you should have realised, you are the strategist, and the one who helps you all relax, Hermione's the brain, the researcher, and Harry's the brawn." Luna said dreamily, "but you are the base of the triangle, the two sides cannot stay in position without you."

**There was a pause, in which the subject of Ron's departure seemed to rise like a wall between them. Yet he was here. He had returned. He had just saved Harry's life.**

**Ron looked down at his hands. He seemed momentarily surprised to see the things he was holding.**

"Only Ron could forget that he was holding something." Seamus sniggered.

"**Oh yeah, I got it out," he said, rather unnecessarily, holding up the sword for Harry's inspection. "That's why you jumped in, right?"**

"**Yeah," said Harry. "But I don't understand. How did you get here? How did you find us?"**

"That's a very good question." Moody growled, "there may be a weakness in the protections, and if there is, it will need to be shored up before you get any visits from the Dark Pillock and his Corpse Nibblers."

"**Long story," said Ron. "I've been looking for you for hours, it's a big forest, isn't it? And I was just thinking I'd have to go kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that deer coming and you following."**

"Why didn't you call out to Harry when you saw him?" Angelina asked curiously.

"I didn't know what his reaction would be." Ron replied, "I didn't want to call him and have him lose his temper completely."

"**You didn't see anyone else?"**

"**No," said Ron. "I –"**

**But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close together some yards away.**

"– **I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the pool at the time, because you'd gone in and you hadn't come up, so I wasn't going to make a detour to – hey!"**

"They probably were under a disillusionment charm." Remus said, "it's the only reason I can think of for them to not be seen properly."

"What about an invisibility cloak?" Justin asked.

"They are extremely rare." James said, "the Potter Cloak is one of only two that I know of, and anyway, if the person was using a cloak, then Ron wouldn't have been able to see them at all. A disillusionment charm doesn't hide people completely, it effectively turns them into human chameleons, but there is still a slight shimmer of distortion that can be seen in the right conditions."

**Harry was already hurrying to the place that Ron had indicated. The two oaks grew close together; there was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seen. The ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, and Harry could see no sign of footprints. He walked back to where Ron stood waiting, still holding the sword and the Horcrux.**

"**Anything there?" Ron asked.**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**So how did the sword get in that pool?"**

"**Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there."**

"I agree." Bill said, "I'd still like to know who it was though, to know whether they really were a friend, or whether they were neutral."

"Why don't you think they'd be a foe?" Charlie wondered.

"Common sense." Bill replied, "if they were a foe, then they wouldn't have put the sword in the pool, and they certainly wouldn't have allowed Harry anywhere near it without either trying to kill or capture him."

**They both looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied hilt glinting a little in the light from Hermione's wand.**

"**You reckon this is the real one?" asked Ron.**

"**One way to find out, isn't there?" said Harry.**

**The Horcrux was still swinging from Ron's hand. The locket was twitching slightly. **

"If it wasn't the real one, I doubt the locket would be so twitchy." Katie said.

**Harry knew that the thing inside it was agitated again. It had sensed the presence of the sword and had tried to kill Harry rather than let him possess it. Now was not the time for long discussions; now was the moment to destroy once and for all. Harry looked around, holding Hermione's wand high, and saw the place: a flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree.**

"**Come here." he said and he led the way, brushed snow from the rock's surface, and held out his hand for the Horcrux. When Ron offered the sword, however, Harry shook his head.**

"**No you should do it."**

"**Me?" said Ron, looking shocked. "Why?"**

"Because only a descendant of Gryffindor, who has proved to be a true Gryffindor, can use the sword to its full potential." Charlus smiled, "and you are both."

"**Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you."**

**He was not being kind or generous. As certainly as he had known that the doe was benign, he knew that Ron had to be the one to wield the sword. Dumbledore had at least taught Harry something about certain kinds of magic, of the incalculable power of certain acts.**

"There's that too." James grinned.

"**I'm going to open it," said Harry, "and you will stab it. Straight away okay? Because whatever's in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the Diary tried to kill me."**

"**How are you going to open it?" asked Ron. He looked terrified**

"**I'm going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue," said Harry. **

"I'm just glad you have something to use to destroy it." Seamus said, "it would not have been good if you had opened it before you had the sword."

**The answer came so readily to his lips that thought that he had always known it deep down: Perhaps it had taken his recent encounter with Nagini to make him realize it. He looked at the serpentine S, inlaid with glittering green stones: it was easy to visualize it as a minuscule snake, curled upon the cold rock.**

"**No!" said Ron. "Don't open it! I'm serious!"**

"Ron, you can do it." Daphne smiled gently, "you have to face your demons at some point."

"**Why not?" asked Harry. "Let's get rid of the damn thing, it's been months –"**

"**I can't, Harry, I'm serious - you do it –"**

"**But why?"**

"**Because that thing's bad for me!" said Ron, backing away from the locket on the rock. "I can't handle it! I'm not making excuses, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affects you and Hermione, it made me think stuff - stuff that I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse. I can't explain it, and then I'd take it off and I'd get my head straight again, and then I'd have to put the effing thing back on - I can't do it Harry!"**

"Yes you can, you're stronger than you think." James smiled.

"Indeed." Abraxas nodded, "you were the one to ignore the risk to yourself and save your friend."

"Who was it who told a so-called mass murderer that if he wanted to kill Harry, he would have to go through us too, when he was thirteen and had a broken leg?" Hermione asked with a grin.

"Yeah yeah." Ron said, grinning sheepishly.

"I'd like to hear that story." James grinned.

"Well, it was at the end of third year." Hermione said, "Sirius had escaped at the beginning of the year after seeing a picture of the Weasleys with Pettigrew sitting in his rat form, on Ron's shoulder. I think he was hiding in the shrieking shack once he'd completed his journey to Hogwarts."

"At Halloween, he went a bit bananas and tried to get into Gryffindor tower, but failed, and then later in the year, after the Fat Lady's portrait was replaced with Sir Cadogan, convinced Crookshanks to steal the list of passwords that irritating knight was going to use, off Neville's bedside table, but that still didn't help him get Pettigrew, who'd scarpered." Ron continued, "then when poor Buckbeak was due to be executed, Sirius managed to catch up with the rat, and accidentally dragged me into the Shrieking Shack, because I was holding the disgusting rodent."

"Hermione and I followed, because we didn't think we had time to go and find a teacher, and when we found Ron, he was lying on a bed in one of the rooms with a broken leg." Harry finished, "he was the one who told us that Sirius was a dog animagus, and he thought it was trap to get to me."

"Of course, the moment Harry caught sight of Sirius, he went a little bonkers, and attempted to beat Sirius up." Ron grinned, "it wasn't terribly helpful, but Hermione and I grabbed him in time, and I just told Sirius that if he wanted to kill Harry, he would have to kill us too."

"Merlin." James murmured.

**He had backed away, the sword dragging at his side, shaking his head.**

"**You can do it," said Harry, "you can! You've just got the sword, I know it's supposed to be you who uses it. Please just get rid of it Ron."**

**The sound of his name seemed to act like a stimulant. Ron swallowed, then still breathing hard through his long nose, moved back toward the rock.**

"I don't have a long nose." Ron mumbled.

"Yes you do." Daphne giggled, "but I like it."

"**Tell me when," he croaked.**

"**On three," said Harry, looking back down at the locket and narrowing his eyes, concentrating on the letter S, imagining a serpent, while the contents of the locket rattled like a trapped cockroach. It would have been easy to pity it, except that the cut around Harry's neck still burned.**

"**One … two … three … _open._"**

**The last word came as a hiss and a snarl and the golden doors of the locket swung wide open with a little click.**

"I really am glad that that night, and how Harry said it, is burned into my memory." Ron murmured to Daphne, who nodded with a small smile.

**Behind both of the glass windows within blinked a living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle's eyes had been before he turned them scarlet and slit-pupilled.**

"**Stab," said Harry, holding the locket steady on the rock.**

**Ron raised the sword in his shaking hands: the point dangled over the frantically swivelling eyes, and Harry gripped the locket tightly, bracing himself, already imagining blood pouring from the empty windows.**

**Then a voice hissed from out the Horcrux.**

"**_I have seen your heart, and it is mine_."**

"Don't listen to it, don't let it make you believe its lies." Ginny begged, interrupting herself.

"**Don't listen to it!" Harry said harshly. "Stab it!"**

"**_I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible …_"**

"**Stab!" shouted Harry, his voice echoed off the surrounding trees, the sword point trembled, and Ron gazed down into Riddle's eyes.**

"**_Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter …_**

"That's not true." Mrs Weasley gasped, "I love all my children equally."

"Then prove it." Hermione said, finally saying what she had wanted to say since she first found out what the locket had shown Ron. "Don't keep harping on at the twins because of their joke shop, don't point to Bill, Charlie and Percy and tell Ron and the twins that they should be more like their older brothers. If you really do love all of them equally, then let them follow their dreams, and don't treat them like children who can't make their own decisions."

"Let's move on, and hopefully by the end of the book, she will be able to see that for herself." Mr Weasley sighed, slightly hurt that his youngest son would not feel as loved as he truly was.

**_Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend … second best, always, eternally overshadowed …_"**

Ginny was shaking, she couldn't help but remember how she had felt when she had found the diary and wrote in it for the first time. She had thought that she had come to terms with what had happened, but reading this was painful for her, and everyone who saw her, could tell that she didn't want to read about her brother going through the same thing.

"Do you want someone else to read?" Ted asked gently.

"Please." Ginny begged, faintly, while Luna grabbed onto her to try and comfort her.

Ted smiled as he took the book from Ginny's trembling hands and continued where she had left off.

"**Ron, stab it now!" Harry bellowed: he could feel the locket quivering in the grip and was scared of what was coming. Ron raised the sword still higher, and as he did so, Riddle's eyes gleamed scarlet.**

**Out of the locket's two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of Harry and Hermione, weirdly distorted.**

"Oh that's not good." Andromeda whispered, switching places with her husband so she could help Luna comfort her niece. Ted wasn't particularly comfortable sitting next to Lucius, because he couldn't quite believe that the blond didn't want to kill him for being a Muggle-born, but he knew that no one would dare attempt anything while there were so many people around.

**Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron and the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot.**

"**Ron!" he shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort's voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerized, into its face.**

"**_Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence... We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption –_"**

"**_Presumption!"_ echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione: **

"Oh that's bad." Regulus murmured, "it's trying to save itself by showing him what Hermione would look like if she was perfect in every way, with no true humanity in her features."

"But it's not real, it couldn't be." Cygnus nodded, "humans aren't perfect, it's what makes us human."

**She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified, yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his side. "_Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?"_**

"You are a hero in your own right." Luna said in a tone that was lacking a little of her normal dreaminess.

"You were the one who sacrificed himself during the chess game in first year." Harry added, "if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to continue. I could say more about what you have done since then, but it would take too much time. I will just say this; what you have achieved, should be lauded just as much as the fact that I struck the final blow against Voldemort."

"**Ron, stab it, STAB IT!" Harry yelled, but Ron did not move. His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling like flames, their eyes shining red, their voices lifted in an evil duet.**

"**_Your mother confessed,"_ sneered Riddle-Harry, while Riddle-Hermione jeered, "_that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange …"_**

"I would never say anything like that." Mrs Weasley snarled, angry with herself for being the root of Ron's insecurities.

"**_Who wouldn't prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him,"_ crooned Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: their lips met.**

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, before turning to face Ron with identical expressions of disgust on their faces. "And what made you think that we would do something like that?" Hermione asked.

"I'm sorry but the idea of me snogging Hermione is like the thought of you snogging Bill, Ron." Harry said, "in other words, it would never happen, not in a million years."

**On the ground in front of them, Ron's face filled with anguish. he raised the sword high, his arms shaking.**

"**Do it, Ron!" Harry yelled.**

**Ron looked toward him, and Harry thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes.**

"**Ron -?"**

**The sword flashed, plunged: Harry threw himself out of the way, there as a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out scream. **

"Well at least it won't torture him any more." Percy said, breathing a huge sigh of relief as his heart-rate slowed back down to normal. He could never have imagined that his little brother would feel as though he wasn't as good as Harry or his older brothers, but he did know that their mother had put himself, Bill and Charlie on a pedestal because they hadn't been troublemakers. He knew that he himself had felt a little overshadowed by his big brothers, but he hadn't realised that it would be so much worse for Ron, having five brothers, all older, who were all good at something.

**Harry whirled around, slipping in the snow, wand held ready to defend himself, but there was nothing to fight.**

**The monstrous versions of himself and Hermione were gone: there was only Ron, standing there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains of the locket on the flat rock.**

**Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing what to say or do. Ron was breathing heavily. His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue: they were also wet.**

**Harry stooped, pretending he had not seen, and picked up the broken Horcrux. **

"Thanks for pretending." Ron muttered, feeling strangely better after having that ordeal read out.

**Ron had pierced the glass in both windows: Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightly. The thing that had lived in the Horcrux had vanished; torturing Ron had been its final act. The sword clanged as Ron dropped it. He had sunk to his knees, his head in his arms. He was shaking, but not, Harry realized, from cold. **

"Merlin, you really are an over-observant git." Ron mumbled, wishing Harry had not noticed his tears.

**Harry crammed the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulder. He took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off.**

"**After you left," he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron's face was hidden, "she cried for a week. **

**Probably longer, only she didn't want me to see. There were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other. With you gone …"**

**He could not finish; it was now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost them.**

"You never know what you have until it's gone." Susan said, "that's the way life is."

"**She's like my sister," he went on. "I love her like a sister and I reckon that she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that. I thought you knew."**

"I wish I had known." Ron sighed, "I wish I had realised that I thought of Hermione as a sister too, because if I had, then I doubt I would have felt so betrayed when I thought she had chosen you instead of me."

**Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. Harry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowning. He hoisted it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed.**

"Er, why were you so fascinated with my eyes?" Ron asked.

"They are the windows to the soul." Luna smiled dreamily.

"**I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was a – a –"**

"Prat? Git? Idiot?" Ginny suggested weakly.

"All those, and more." Ron sighed.

**He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him.**

"**You've sort of made up for it tonight," said Harry. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."**

"**That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled.**

"I do keep saying that stuff like that always sounds cooler than it was." Harry grinned.

"**Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was," said Harry. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."**

"No need to repeat yourself." Daphne giggled.

**Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron's jacket.**

"**And now," said Harry as they broke apart, "all we've got to do is find that tent again."**

**But it was not difficult. Though the walk through the dark forest with the doe had seemed lengthy, with Ron by his side, the journey back seemed to take a surprisingly short time. Harry could not wait to wake Hermione, and it was with quickening excitement that he entered the tent, Ron lagging a little behind him.**

"Of course he would be, Hermione isn't going to be as pleased as Harry was." Dean sniggered, "I would be terrified of her reaction too."

**It was gloriously warm after the pool and the forest, the only illumination the bluebell flames still shimmering in a bowl on the floor. Hermione was fast asleep, curled up under her blankets, and did not move until Harry had said her name several times.**

"She's obviously a fairly deep sleeper." Padma grinned.

"Like Remus." James snorted.

"**_Hermione!_"**

**She stirred, then sat up quickly, pushing her hair out of her face.**

"**What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?"**

"**It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine, I'm great. There's someone here."**

"**What do you mean? Who -?"**

**She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and dripping onto the threadbare carpet. Harry backed into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and attempted to blend in with the canvas.**

"I bet that didn't work, you're the wrong colour." Seamus laughed.

"I didn't want to be in the way when Hermione blew." Harry snorted.

**Hermione slid out of her bunk and moved like a sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale face. She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak hopeful smile and half raised his arms.**

**Hermione launched herself forward and **

"Oh dear." Ted smiled, "I would not have expected Hermione to react like this."

Lucius peered over Ted's shoulder, and couldn't help but snort. He knew that Hermione hadn't forgiven Ron as quickly and easily as she said she had, but he hadn't expected her to do what she actually did.

**started punching every inch of him that she could reach.**

"I do like that reaction." Seamus sniggered.

"I'm just glad it's not me she's hitting." Draco laughed.

"I think we all are." Lucius smiled, "I'm even more glad that she isn't hormonal, and therefore, we don't have to worry about her blowing up when we're helpful."

"I'm not that bad." Hermione pouted.

"You shouted at me when I held a door open for you, when you were pregnant the first time." Lucius grinned.

"And remember the time you were trying to figure out how to extract Klorel from Skaare?" Harry added, "we offered to help, but you locked us out, and then burst into tears when we weren't there to help."

"Damn." Hermione mumbled.

"Who are Klorel and Skara?" Flitwick asked, unsure of how to pronounce the two names.

"Skaare was a friend of ours." Lucius replied, "he lived on a planet called Abydos until he was captured by the Goa'uld, and taken as a host. Klorel was the Goa'uld that possessed him, his father was Apophis, the Egyptian Serpent God of the night and Death."

"Merlin." Narcissa whispered.

"**Ouch – ow – gerroff! What the –? Hermione – OW!"**

"**You - complete - _arse_ - Ronald - Weasley!"**

**She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.**

"Maybe it would have been better to shield somewhere else." Abraxas suggested facetiously.

"Hermione's not vindictive enough to kick Ron, or anyone, in the nuts." Daphne said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Caruso sniggered, "Rodolphus told me he saw her kick Rabastan in the nuts during the final battle."

"Oh dear." Charlus muttered.

"**You – crawl – back – here – after – weeks – and – weeks – oh, _where's my wand?_"**

"Oh Merlin, she's finished the physical bit, now she's moving on to the hexing." Seamus grinned, "this should be good."

**She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of Harry's hands and he reacted instinctively.**

"**_Protego!_"**

**The invisible shield erupted between Ron and Hermione. The force of it knocked her backward onto the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she leapt up again.**

"**Hermione!" said Harry. "Calm –"**

"I wouldn't tell an angry woman to calm down." Ernie said, "they'll hit you where it hurts if you do."

"**I will not calm down!" she screamed. Never before had he seen her lose control like this; she looked quite demented. **

"Oh dear." Lily whispered.

"I never want to see that again." Ron said.

"**Give me back my wand! _Give it back to me!_"**

"I wouldn't." Padma said, "we all know what Hermione can be like with a wand in her hands. You're safer when she's wandless."

"Maybe not." Snape frowned, "we did train the six in a little bit of wandless magic. Hermione was pretty good at wandless Stinging Hexes, and I'm sure she would have learned more over the course of the rest of this year."

"**Hermione, will you please –"**

"**Don't you tell me what do, Harry Potter!" she screeched. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!"**

**She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: it was like a malediction, and Harry could not blame Ron for retreating several steps.**

"Hermione's scary when she's angry." Dennis whispered.

"**I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back""**

"**I know," Ron said, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really –"**

"**Oh, you're sorry!"**

**She laughed a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry merely grimaced his helplessness.**

"I'm not surprised." Neville grinned, "no man wants to get in the way of a woman's temper, especially not a woman like Hermione."

"Why do you think I wasn't getting involved?" Harry snorted.

"**You came back after weeks - weeks - and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?"**

"**Well, what else can I say?" Ron shouted, and Harry was glad that Ron was fighting back.**

"**Oh, I don't know!" yelled Hermione with awful sarcasm. "Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds –"**

"Ouch, that's a low blow." Blaise winced.

"Definitely quite harsh, but I have heard worse from my female colleagues, and the goblins don't hold back when insulting someone." Bill agreed.

"**Hermione," interjected Harry, who considered this a low blow, "he just saved my –"**

"**I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been _dead _for all he knew –"**

"**I knew you weren't dead!" bellowed Ron, drowning her voice for the first time, and approaching as close as he could with the Shield Charm between them. "Harry's all over the _Prophet_, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumours and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead, you don't know what it's been like –"**

"**What it's been like for _you?_"**

"You might as well give up on the sympathy thing." Seamus sniggered, "it ain't gonna work."

"Did you really expect it to?" Lavender asked archly.

"Hope is a wonderful thing." Dean grinned, "we may not expect something to happen, but we can always hope that it will."

"You really are ridiculously optimistic." Parvati commented.

**Her voice was not so shrill only bats would be able to hear it soon, **

"Oh how nice." Hermione said sarcastically, glaring at Harry for that thought.

**but she had reached a level of indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, and Ron seized his opportunity.**

"**I wanted to come back the minute I'd Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere!" **

"What are Snatchers?" Mark asked

"They didn't exist during the first war." Charlus frowned, "so I really don't know."

"It will be explained in the book." Harry said, with a slight smile.

"**A gang of what?" asked Harry, as Hermione threw herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would unravel them for several years.**

"**Snatchers," said Ron. "They're everywhere - gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors, there's a reward from the Ministry for everyone captured. **

"That's horrible." Hannah gasped, "and people are actually willing to help them, by selling out their neighbours and friends?"

"Some refused, but they were tortured when their Muggle-born friends were captured." Draco grimaced, "most people were too afraid of the consequences if they didn't turn their neighbours and friends over if they were Muggle-born."

**I was on my own and I look like I might be school age; they got really excited, thought I was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get out of being dragged to the Ministry."**

"**What did you say to them?"**

"**Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of."**

"I wouldn't expect them to believe that, since he is apparently under the Imperius." Remus grimaced.

"**And they believed that?"**

"**They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell of him …"**

**Ron glanced at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might soften at this small instance of humour, but her expression remained stony above her tightly knotted limbs.**

"It wasn't particularly funny." Hermione said.

"**Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. **

"They sound slower than the gorillas." Pansy giggled, pointing at Crabbe and Goyle, who were sitting in their seats, looking as gormless as ever.

"No one is as slow as those two." Draco said flatly, "if they were going any slower, they'd be going backwards."

**It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me, and they'd taken my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated. **

"Getting away when you're outnumbered like that, impressive." Kingsley said.

**I didn't do it so well, Splinched myself again –" Ron held up his right hand to show two missing fingernails: Hermione raised her eyebrows coldly "– and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been … you were gone."**

"**Gosh, what a gripping story," Hermione said in the lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound. **

"Oh crap." Hermione moaned quietly.

"**You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there, Harry? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed both of us, and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second." **

"**What?" Ron said, gaping from her to Harry, but Hermione ignored him.**

"**Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?" **

"I really did sound like a lunatic then." Hermione whined, "Harry, you're supposed to be my brother-figure, the one who stops me when I start sounding completely bananas. Why didn't you shut me up?"

"I tried." Harry snorted, "you weren't listening, and there was no way I was taking that shield down so I could get your attention, not if I didn't want you attacking Ron again."

"**Hermione," said Harry quietly, "Ron just saved my life."**

**She appeared not to have heard him.**

"**One thing I would like to know, though," she said, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron's head. "How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see."**

"Ooh, that's cold." Dean grimaced.

"Colder than the Antarctic." Seamus agreed.

"It's not that cold in the Antarctic." Ron said, "or, it wasn't when we were there."

"We were in a cavern that had been created when the ice froze over the Outpost, and caves and caverns are warmer than outside, despite being made of ice." Hermione pointed out, "plus, we were using the Outpost computer, which created a bit of heat."

"True." Harry nodded, "we'll need to restock the Outpost with drones at some point once the book is over."

"We can do that once we get access to the shipyards." Lucius said, "and besides, with the Valkyrie and Warrior Soul in orbit, as well as the Thunderchild, we shouldn't have to worry too much about not having enough fire-power."

"Explanation please?" Narcissa asked tiredly.

"When the Ancients left Earth five million years ago, they left behind a small facility, which could be used to defend the planet in case of an attack." Draco said, "it was basically just a cavern holding a control system for launching weapons, which were held in another cavern, below the first one. There is an Ancient teleportation system as well as a stasis pod alongside the control console, so the Ancients could get there from a ship in orbit, or one could stay there for a long period of time, if they needed to, but there isn't much else."

"Interesting." Andromeda muttered.

**Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans pocket.**

"**This."**

**She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing them.**

"**The Deluminator?" she asked, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce.**

"I don't understand." Remus said, looking confused, which did not really suit him.

"I did say that it didn't just turn lights on and off." Albus smiled mysteriously.

"**It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," said Ron. "I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard … I heard you."**

**He was looking at Hermione.**

"**You heard me on the radio?" she asked incredulously.**

"**No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this."**

"I think I understand." Padma said, "that's incredible."

"What's incredible?" Lisa asked curiously.

"He enchanted the thing to help guide Ron back to Harry and Hermione." Padma whispered in awe, "I think … he might have known that Ron would leave, and not be able to find his way back."

"Or he did it so they could get back together if they were attacked and got split up." Terry shrugged.

"There is that." Padma nodded, "it really is incredible."

"**And what exactly did I say?" asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between scepticism and curiosity.**

"**My name. 'Ron.' And you said … something about a wand …"**

**Hermione turned a fiery shade of scarlet. Harry remembered: it had been the first time Ron's name had been said aloud by either of them since the day he had left; Hermione had mentioned it when talking about repairing Harry's wand.**

"Ah, I understand." Lisa whispered, "the reason he didn't use it to go back just after leaving. They didn't say his name, so it wouldn't have helped him."

"Precisely my dear." Albus nodded, "I enchanted the Deluminator to guide young Mr Weasley back to his friends only if they said his name while subconsciously wanting him back."

"Absolutely incredible." Anthony murmured.

"**So I took it out," Ron went on, looking at the Deluminator, "and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window."**

**Ron raised his empty hand and pointed in front of him, his eyes focused on something neither Harry nor Hermione could see.**

"**It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know?"**

"**Yeah," said Harry and Hermione together automatically.**

"**I knew this was it," said Ron. "I grabbed my stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out into the garden.**

"Did you leave a note for the people you were staying with?" Bill asked curiously.

"I didn't think about that." Ron grinned sheepishly.

"Oh dear." Mrs Weasley fretted, knowing that whoever Ron had stayed with would be worried when they found out that he was gone.

"**The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed and then it … well, it went inside me."**

"**Sorry?" said Harry, sure he had not heard correctly.**

"**It sort of floated toward me," said Ron, illustrating the movement with his free index finger, "right to my chest, and then – it just went straight through. It was here," he touched a point close to his heart, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me, I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere …"**

"**We were there," said Harry. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!"**

"**Yeah, well, that would've been me," said Ron.**

"At least that's one mystery solved." Lily sighed, "but there are still plenty to go."

"Yeah, like the identity of the person who put the sword in that pool and conjured the doe." James agreed.

"Plus the headmaster's reasoning behind leaving Harry an old Snitch." Dorea added, "as well as the locations of the remaining Horcruxes."

"And that strange symbol." Parvati giggled, "both what it means, and why it was engraved on a tombstone in the graveyard."

"Yes." Lily grimaced, "I just hope there won't be too many more mysteries appearing."

"**Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you'd have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent."**

"**No, actually," said Hermione. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because as Harry says, we'd heard somebody blundering around."**

"I would be a bit offended, if I didn't know that I had been blundering around in the dark, trying not to run into trees or trip over anything." Ron grinned.

"**Well, I stayed on that hill all day," said Ron. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. I still couldn't see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end - and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously."**

"Yes, as if that wouldn't confuse her." Neville sniggered.

"**You saw the what?" said Hermione sharply.**

**They explained what had happened and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolded, Hermione frowned form one to the other of them, concentrating so hard she forgot to keep her limbs locked together.**

"**But it must have been a Patronus!" she said. "Couldn't you see who was casting it? Didn't you see anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can't believe this! Then what happened?"**

"Keep calm, Hermione, you'll get your answers as soon as you let Harry and Ron speak." Draco grinned.

**Ron explained how he had watched Harry jump into the pool, and had waited for him to resurface; how he had realized that something was wrong, dived in, and saved Harry, then returned for the sword. He got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and Harry cut in.**

"– **and Ron stabbed it with the sword."**

"**And … and it went? Just like that?" she whispered.**

"**Well, it – it screamed," said Harry with half a glance at Ron. "Here."**

"Why didn't you tell her about what it said?" Smith asked with a sneer.

"Would you want to talk about something like that not long after it happened?" Ron retorted, sneering right back at the blond Hufflepuff, who was really beginning to irritate him, despite not talking very often.

**He threw the locket into her lap; gingerly she picked it up and examined its punctured windows.**

**Deciding that it was at last safe to do so, Harry removed the Shield Charm with a wave of Hermione's wand and turned to Ron.**

"**Did you just say now that you got away from the snatchers with a spare wand?"**

"**What?" said Ron, who had been watching Hermione examining the locket. "Oh – oh yeah."**

**He tugged open a buckle on his rucksack and pulled a short dark wand out of his pocket. "Here, I figured it's always handy to have a backup."**

"You're damn right, never go anywhere without at least three wands." Moody growled, both eyes darting around, taking in everything he could see.

"**You were right," said Harry, holding out his hand. "Mine's broken."**

"**You're kidding?" Ron said, but at that moment Hermione got to her feet, and he looked apprehensive again.**

**Hermione put the vanquished Horcrux into the beaded bag, then climbed back into her bed and settled down without another word.**

**Ron passed Harry the new wand.**

"**About the best you could hope for, I think," murmured Harry.**

"**Yeah," said Ron. "Could've been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?"**

"What birds?" Dean asked with a grin.

"Hermione conjured a flock of birds and set them after me." Ron grimaced, "it won't happen this time around, but it was a little later in the year, after she saw me snogging someone."

"The whole bleeding house saw you." Harry snorted, "you were thrashing around like eels in the common room."

"Who were you with?" Lavender asked, knowing she didn't have much chance with the redhead, but she still couldn't help but wonder.

"He was with you." Hermione replied, mock-glaring at her room-mate.

"Wicked." Lavender giggled, leaning into Parvati to begin a long gossip-session.

"**I still haven't ruled it out," came Hermione's muffled voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pyjamas out of his rucksack.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Ted grinned, "who wants it now?"

"I think it's time we went to bed." Albus said, looking at his watch, "we can begin again tomorrow, and choose the next reader then."

"That sounds like a good idea." Abraxas nodded, looking at his own watch, to see that the time was nearly half-past ten at night.

"Off to bed, everyone, chop chop." Albus called over the noise of several hundred students standing up and chatting amongst themselves.


	26. Chapter 26

**End of Day Two**

The students, apart from those sitting at the middle table, all headed to their common rooms, while the staff proceeded slowly to their quarters, all tiredly looking forward to climbing into bed. Andromeda and Ted split off from the group who had been sitting at the middle table, heading back to their home, so they could check on Petunia, while Ginny and Luna, headed to their common rooms, following the rest of the student body, leaving Harry, Hermione, Draco, Ron and Daphne to lead the rest of the Weasleys, Narcissa, the group from the past and the others who had had their souls sent back, up to the Room of Requirement, where they would be sleeping.

As soon as Harry's group arrived at the Room, most of them headed into their bedrooms to get ready for bed. Harry, Hermione, Draco, Lucius, Caruso and Cygnus, however, didn't. They sat down in a small circle of seats that had appeared, to talk about how they were going to free Bellatrix and Rodolphus from Voldemort's control.

"We need to get them away from him before doing anything about their free will." Caruso said, "I dread to think how they would react if we didn't and they were still in his stronghold."

"Rodolphus is actually not there, he's back in his cell in Azkaban, after he was caught in the Department of Mysteries." Lucius sighed, "and if we don't get him out before freeing his mind, he will lose his sanity."

"So first thing we do is bring them here." Hermione said, "but how?"

"Sceadu could bring one of them while I go and get the other." Harry shrugged.

"Good idea." Cygnus nodded, "I suggest you get Bellatrix from Voldemort's stronghold while Sceadu gets Rodolphus."

"When should we do it though?" Draco asked, "we don't want to be missing during the reading tomorrow, and I don't think we should wait too long."

"We can get them now, it should only take about five to ten minutes for Sceadu to bring Rodolphus here, and no more than an hour for me to get Bellatrix, especially since we have some idea of where they are." Harry replied, "that way we can have them free of Voldemort's control by tomorrow, and then present any evidence we have, to the Ministry, as soon as the book has been finished."

"What evidence have we got?" Hermione queried, "I wouldn't have thought there would be much physical evidence, and I'm not sure how the Ministry would take a Veritaserum testimony without physical evidence."

"We've got the marriage contract, which should have traces of the Imperius it was laced with, as well as our memories of when it was written." Caruso sighed, "I also believe we might have Bellatrix and Rodolphus' memories of the day Druella and my wife ordered them to follow her to Voldemort and take the Mark. That might help, and I'm sure that Veritaserum testimonies, from Bellatrix, Rodolphus, myself, and Cygnus would be taken into account."

"Well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Cygnus said gently, "let's get them here and free of Voldemort's control, before thinking about getting legal freedom for them."

The rest nodded, so Harry called his shadow phoenix and gave the bird instructions, before turning into his own phoenix form and flashing out.

While Sceadu flew around Azkaban, looking for the cell holding Rodolphus, Harry was fluttering around Nott Manor, where Voldemort and a few of his Death Eaters were hiding. He was searching for an open window, big enough to fit through, so he could get to Bellatrix, whom he knew, from what she had said in the previous time-line about the months before the whole army moved to Malfoy Manor, was sleeping in one of the third floor rooms in the West wing.

After fifteen minutes of not finding any open windows, Harry was beginning to wonder whether he would need to flash inside the house, which would run the risk of being noticed by one of the Death Eaters, but then he saw one of the windows on the third floor was open.

He quickly fluttered up to it and determined that he would be able to squeeze through without too much trouble, before taking a quick peek inside, just to check that there was no one in the room who could possibly be disturbed by his entrance, when he saw, to his amazement, that he was hovering outside Bellatrix's room.

This was something he had not expected, but he was not about to look a gift-horse in the mouth, and quickly squeezed his feathery body through the window, trying not to make too much noise as one or two feathers were bent out of position. As soon as he was through, he flew to the door and returned to human form, making sure that the door was locked before turning to face Bellatrix, who had woken up and was gaping at him.

"Who are you?" Bellatrix asked, quickly pointing her wand in his direction, and preparing to fight.

"That does not matter at the moment." Harry replied, making sure his voice was disguised, "what does matter is the fact that I need you to come with me, quietly."

"Why should I?" Bellatrix asked belligerently.

"Because if you don't come willingly I will use force." Harry shrugged, getting his own wand out and keeping it low, "I'm not here to kill you, which I could have done without entering the room, but I will knock you out if I have to."

"And why does a little boy want to take me away from my Master?" Bellatrix asked. After all, she still couldn't see him properly and what she could see made her think he was no more than a teenager.

"You'll see if you come with me." Harry grinned, clicking his fingers to conjure some light.

"Oh, it's Itty Bitty Potter." Bellatrix cooed, her eyes gleaming with madness, yet there was also a small part of her that was crying out for him to help her, "come to play with me again?"

Harry rolled his eyes, looking utterly unimpressed, and before she could blink or say another word, he turned into a kangaroo and used his new, powerful legs to kick her in the head, knocking her out. He quickly turned from a kangaroo back into a phoenix and grabbed the unconscious woman before she could start to stir, and flashed out, returning to Hogwarts with his cargo.

Harry and Bellatrix appeared in the Room of Requirement twenty-five minutes after he had left, and the first thing he saw was Lucius holding Rodolphus back while Cygnus and Caruso tried to keep him calm.

"What the hell?" Harry asked as soon as he put Bellatrix down and turned back, silently stunning both freshly rescued Death Eaters.

"Sceadu dropped him, and the first person he saw was Hermione." Lucius replied, placing Rodolphus in a chair that had appeared, "and despite the fact that he was still weak from his exposure to the Dementors, he tried to attack her because he hasn't yet been freed of Voldemort's control."

"Why didn't you stun him?" Harry wondered.

"We were taken by surprise, and didn't think of it." Draco shrugged sheepishly.

"Right." Harry nodded in amused understanding while Caruso and Cygnus grabbed the two nanite orbs containing the souls of Bellatrix and Rodolphus, in preparation for the moment they were needed.

"Let's get them settled comfortably before letting their souls merge." Hermione suggested, glaring at Rodolphus, not for his attempt on her life, but for the fact that he had managed to squeeze her breasts while he was doing it. She wasn't happy that someone who wasn't Draco had felt her up.

"Good idea." Lucius nodded, helping Hermione get Bellatrix into another chair that had appeared next to the one Rodolphus was in.

"Harry, shouldn't we declare the contract ended before we merge their souls?" Draco asked, "or do you think the merging will release the Imperius?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't hurt to do both." Harry shrugged, making the Black family ring visible and taking an authoritative pose. "I, Harlequin James Riddle-Evans Gaunt Green Gryffindor Ravenclaw Slytherin Emrys Peverell Shelby Collins Whitmore Hawthorne Potter Black, Head of the Black Family, hereby declare that the marriage between Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange is null and void. So mote it be."

With the conclusion of Harry's statement, the magic that had saturated the air around him and the two unconscious people as he spoke, flashed and dissipated, indicating that the marriage contract had been broken, therefore Bellatrix and Rodolphus were no longer recognised as husband and wife.

"I've always wondered, ever since the first time you claimed your inheritance, why you have to say so many names." Hermione commented when she felt it was safe to speak again.

"Anyone who has a lot of names like that, only uses them when making declarations." Lucius sighed, "no one knows why, but someone discovered that a declaration like that doesn't work when the person making it doesn't say all their names, effectively declaring who they really are. It's a strange phenomenon, and a slightly irritating one, especially with that many names, but it has been around since the beginning of the oldest family lines, so we have to put up with it."

"It truly is irritating that someone has to say every single name that comes from an old family, even if they are neither the head of the family nor in line to become the head of the family." Harry grimaced, "I'm not the heir to the Whitmore and Hawthorne families, since I'm not descended from the inheriting lines, but I still have to use the names when making official declarations. And even though the Riddle family were non-magical, they were still a politically powerful family, so I have to use their name as well."

"What about the Evans family?" Hermione asked, "I didn't think you were related to them at all."

"I may not be a blood relative to the Evans family, but I still have to use the name because Matthew Evans, Petunia's father, considered my mother his own daughter." Harry shrugged, "they may not have been biologically related, but he was her father, legally."

"Strange." Hermione mumbled, "let's get on with merging their souls."

"Indeed." Cygnus nodded.

They made sure that both Bellatrix and Rodolphus were seated comfortably, and unlikely to fall on the floor, before stepping back and levitating the orbs into position above their heads. Caruso and Cygnus nodded to each other and wandlessly tossed reductos at the orbs, shattering them and leading to the blue glow that had appeared when Eileen's soul had merged with her body earlier.

Once the glow had died down, Harry ennervated both Bellatrix and Rodolphus, keeping well back just in case the two reacted badly, and winced as he saw Bellatrix massaging the bruise he had left on her jaw when he kicked her.

"Ooh." Rodolphus groaned, "anyone get the name of the Hippogriff that just trampled me?"

"No, but I think it trampled me too." Bellatrix moaned, "ow."

"Urgh." Rodolphus grimaced, peeling his eyes open and staring around at everyone, "whu?"

"Are you all right?" Caruso asked, summoning several vials of healing potions that he thought might be required.

"Well apart from a pounding headache and feeling caked in grime, I think so." Rodolphus nodded, regretting the movement almost immediately.

"How are you feeling Bella?" Cygnus asked gently.

"Similar, though I am slightly confused as to why I remember being kicked by something that looked remarkably like a kangaroo." Bellatrix frowned.

"Because you were kicked by a kangaroo." Harry grinned.

"Crap." Bellatrix mumbled, "I went and used that awful baby voice again didn't I?"

"Yes." Harry nodded, "now, we decided to wait before removing your marks, because we were unsure whether you wanted to …"

"I can't stand the sight of it any more." Bellatrix said, cutting him off before he could finish, "and I don't think I could easily pretend to be as mad, or as fanatical as he would expect, so if you were going to suggest that we keep the marks so we can keep an eye on Voldemort, I don't think I could."

"Fair enough." Harry smiled, asking the room for a knife and slicing his palm with the one it provided. The procedure for removing Bellatrix's mark was over in five minutes, much the same length of time it took Harry to remove the ones from Lucius and Severus' arms.

"Thanks." Bellatrix whispered.

"What about you Rodolphus?" Caruso asked.

"I'm not sure I could pretend to be a loyal Death Eater now, I wish I could, so I would feel useful, but I think that if I was ordered to participate in anything, I would throw up." Rodolphus sighed, "I don't think I'd be of any use trying to spy on Voldemort."

"Don't worry, we're not going to force you." Hermione said, "we may need a spy, but we don't want anyone to feel that they have to do it. And besides, there's plenty to do to help bring the Empire back, you won't be left out."

"I understand." Rodolphus nodded, holding his arm out so that Harry could remove his mark too.

"Now, if that's everything, I need a shower, and some fresh clothes." Bellatrix said, glancing at what she was wearing and grimacing at the state of it.

"We have some spare nightwear so you can shower and then go to bed." Hermione smiled, "do you want some Dreamless Sleep?"

"I think that might be a good idea." Bellatrix grimaced, "I may feel more like myself, not that horrible thing that I became, but I have a feeling that sleep might not come so easily."

"I agree." Rodolphus muttered, "I hate Dementors."

"They aren't the nicest of creatures." Lucius grinned, "but at least we are well away from them."

"That is true." Rodolphus nodded, "though I think I would want to be in close proximity to them rather than the Wraith."

"Indeed." Lucius shivered, "now, it's getting late, shall we head to bed, so we can start afresh tomorrow?"

"A very good idea." Draco yawned, stumbling slightly as he stood up and walked into the room he shared with Hermione.

"Good night." Bellatrix said, "hot shower here I come."

With calls of goodnight to everyone, Harry, Lucius, Cygnus, Caruso and Hermione headed to their own beds as well, so they could get a good night's sleep before reading again next day.


	27. Chapter 27

**Xenophilius Lovegood**

Next morning, Harry, Lucius, Bellatrix and Rodolphus were the first ones awake, so Harry and Lucius scanned the two former Death Eaters, just to see how they were doing after spending the better part of twenty-seven years under the Imperius.

"Well, you could both do with some decent meals, and maybe a few nutrition potions, but I don't think there's anything to worry about too much." Lucius said, once he had finished reading the results. "I do have to ask, though, would you want to be de-aged like you were last time around?"

"It's good to know that there isn't anything we really need to worry about." Bellatrix smiled, tightening the belt on the skirt she had borrowed off Hermione, so it wouldn't fall down. "And yes, at some point, it might be nice to be de-aged, again. This body still doesn't really feel like me, even though I experienced what it was like to actually grow old without being trapped in my own mind."

"What about you, Rodolphus?" Lucius asked.

"I don't mind, either way." Rodolphus shrugged, "if there is no absolutely urgent need for it, then I'll leave it as something to think about later."

"Your decision." Harry grinned.

"Now, does either of you feel up to reading today, or do you want to spend the day relaxing?" Lucius asked.

"I think I'd like to know how it ends." Bellatrix said, "I don't think I could relax without having something to do, and maybe facing my fears and hearing about that last year of the war would do me some good."

"I'll spend some time organising our defence for the Ministry." Rodolphus shrugged, "it needs to be done, and I'm not sure how everyone would cope with too many more former Death Eaters around. Depending on how I do, I may have time to join in later, but I would like to get our defence ready before I do anything else."

"Understandable." Lucius nodded as Hermione and Draco staggered out of their room, yawning deeply.

"S'way too early." Draco grumbled, slumping down in a seat and nearly falling back asleep.

"No falling asleep." Narcissa said sternly as she exited her room, before coming to a halt the moment she saw Bellatrix and Rodolphus. "Bella, is it really you?"

"Yeah." Bellatrix nodded nervously, remembering that the last time she had seen her sister in this time-line, had been when she argued with Snape about Draco's ability to complete his mission.

"Oh Bella, it's so good to see you back to yourself." Narcissa whispered, hugging her big sister for all she was worth.

That was the scene the rest of the people who had slept in the Room of Requirement found when they exited their bedrooms; Bellatrix and Narcissa hugging each other as hard as they could, while Draco dozed in a seat, Harry and Lucius sat talking quietly, Rodolphus sat at a desk he had asked the room for, scribbling something on some parchment, and Hermione was trying desperately to tame her hair.

"What?" James spluttered, staring between Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Harry curiously, "what the hell?"

"We freed them last night." Harry grinned, "no more Imperius-laced marriage contract, and no more mental games from Voldemort, for either of them."

"James, stay calm." Lily said quietly, "I know you may not like it, but our son doesn't have anything against Slytherins, nor does he seem to have anything against those who did not wish to become Death Eaters. I think that's a good thing, don't you?"

"Yeah, at least he's not as immature as I was at sixteen." James sighed, "I'm proud of what he's become, even though I wish we had been there for him."

"So do I, but we are here now, and we can help him if he needs us." Lily agreed, glancing at the time to make sure they were unlikely to be late.

"Let's go." Remus said, heading towards the exit, ready for his breakfast, and taking the fact that there were two more people than there had been, in his stride.

"Breakfast." Tonks called, following him, with her eyes glued to his back, "I want food, people."

"That does sound like an excellent idea." Ron grinned as his stomach rumbled loudly.

Everyone followed the three out of the room, heading down to the Great Hall, where they found most of the students and guests already trying some of the new foods that had been delivered the previous day, which the house-elves had prepared. There were a few who were not eating the Pegasus galaxy foods, instead sticking with foods they were used to, but there were more people being adventurous than not.

"Ooh, tava bean pudding." Bellatrix smiled, drooling slightly as she caught sight of some of the dishes on the tables. "My favourite."

"Don't worry, there should be enough for everyone." Hermione grinned, "Dee told us yesterday that she'd brought twelve thousand kilogrammes of tava beans."

"She also provided us with the same amount of condensed Athosian coffee." Draco smirked, pouring himself a mug of what he'd just mentioned while Harry called Dobby and asked him if he was willing to fetch any food or drink Rodolphus requested, so that the man didn't go hungry while preparing his defence for the Ministry.

"Well I won't be having any of that swill." Bellatrix snorted, "I don't know how you can drink that stuff."

The pair got into a rather childish argument, with Lucius, Hermione and Harry joining in, and they didn't stop until Albus cleared his throat, ready to begin the next chapter.

"Who would like to read?" The headmaster asked, glancing curiously at the purple clad table in the middle, where he could see Bellatrix sitting, joking around with Harry and his friends, as though she hadn't been wanting to kill them since they were born.

"I will." Neville smiled, summoning the book from where it had been left overnight. "**Xenophilius Lovegood**," he read, wondering why there was a chapter about Luna's father.

**Harry had not expected Hermione's anger to abate over night and was therefore unsurprised that she communicated mainly by dirty looks and pointed silences the next morning.**

"Despite the fact that it is not pleasant being faced with that kind of look from Hermione, it is nicer than being hit or hexed by her." Seamus sniggered.

**Ron responded by maintaining an unnaturally sombre demeanour in her presence as an outward sign of continuing remorse. **

"Good man, don't make her even angrier." Albus said.

"You would know." Minerva smirked, "you've had experience of angry women."

"Like yourself." Albus smiled, "don't think I don't remember the day you broke my nose for the third time after Lockhart was sent to St Mungo's."

"If you hadn't hired the idiotic fraud, your nose would not have been broken." Minerva snorted.

"Indeed." Albus nodded, "I learned that hiring people who have written a lot of books is not always a good idea."

"Especially if they haven't even done what they say they've done, and can't do any spells other than memory charms." Flitwick squeaked, "hiring Lockhart was one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard of."

"Please, can we try not mentioning the ponce with no memories?" Hermione whined, "I don't want to lose my appetite."

"A very good idea." Albus nodded, "please continue reading Mr Longbottom."

**In fact, when all three of them were together Harry felt like the only non-mourner at a poorly attended funeral. During those few moments he spent alone with Harry, however (collecting water and searching the undergrowth for mushrooms), Ron became shamelessly cheery. **

"**Someone helped us," he kept saying, "Someone sent that doe. Someone's on our side. One Horcrux down, mate!"**

"While he is right, I don't think it's a good idea for him to keep repeating himself." Hannah whispered.

**Bolstered by the destruction of the locket they set to debating the possible locations of the other Horcruxes and even though they had discussed the matter so often before, Harry felt optimistic, certain that more breakthroughs would succeed the first. **

"That optimism probably also has something to do with not having the locket weighing on your emotions." Regulus said.

**Hermione's sulkiness could not mar his buoyant spirits; the sudden upswing in their fortunes, the appearance of the mysterious doe, the recovery of Gryffindor's sword, and above all, Ron's return made Harry so happy that it was quite difficult to maintain a straight face. **

**Late in the afternoon he and Ron escaped Hermione's baleful presence **

"Yeah, yeah, I know I was a bit moody." Hermione grumbled, "but honestly, he shouldn't have expected me to forgive him easily."

**again and under the pretence of scouring the bare hedges for non-existent blackberries, they continued their ongoing exchange of news. Harry had finally managed to tell Ron the whole story of his and Hermione's various wanderings, right up to the full story of what had happened at Godric's Hollow; Ron was now filling Harry in on everything he had discovered about the wider Wizarding world during his weeks away.**

"Maybe it was a good thing he left." Bill sighed, "now they know more about what's been going on while they've been hiding under a rock."

"That is true, but I would think sticking together was a better idea." Percy mused.

"… **and how did you find out about the Taboo?" he asked Harry **

"He really did put a taboo on his name." Albus grimaced, knowing that that was going to make it difficult for him to get people saying it.

**after explaining the many desperate attempts of Muggle-borns to evade the Ministry.**

"**The what?"**

"**You and Hermione have stopped saying You-Know-Who's name!"**

"So if you say his name, he really will find you." Lily whimpered.

"Unfortunately." Harry grumbled, "but at least he won't have a chance this time around."

"**Oh, yeah, Well, it's just a bad habit we've slipped into," said Harry. "But I haven't got a problem calling him V –"**

"**NO!" roared Ron, causing Harry to jump into the hedge **

"Yeah, I didn't want to go deaf, and he yelled right in my ear." Harry snorted.

**and Hermione (nose buried in a book at the tent entrance) to scowl over at them. **

"Obviously it was quite loud." Tonks grinned, glad that there was still some amusement in the world.

"**Sorry," said Ron, wrenching Harry back out of the brambles, "but the name's been jinxed, Harry, that's how they track people! Using his name breaks protective enchantments, it causes some kind of magical disturbance - it's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road!" **

"That's not good." Ted grimaced, "only those who are willing to stand up to him use the name."

"And it'll be really difficult for them to not say it." Ginny sighed, "especially for Harry. It's second nature to him to say the name Voldemort."

"That's because I feel more comfortable saying it." Harry shrugged, "I don't know why, but I noticed, in first year, that I was more afraid when people used Voldemort's stupid hyphenated monikers instead of his name."

"That's just weird." Scrimgeour muttered, speaking for the first time in a long while.

"**Because we used his _name_?"**

"**Exactly! You've got to give them credit, it makes sense. It was only people who were serious about standing up to him, like Dumbledore, who even dared use it. Now they've put a Taboo on it, anyone who says it is trackable – quick-and-easy way to find Order members! They nearly got Kingsley –"**

"Merlin, I hope you were all right." Susan whispered.

"He said nearly, so I'm sure I managed to escape." Kingsley smiled.

"**You're kidding?"**

"**Yeah, a bunch of Death Eaters cornered him, Bill said but he fought his way out. He's on the run now just like us." Ron scratched his chin thoughtfully with the end of his wand. "You don't reckon Kingsley could have sent that doe?"**

"Had you forgotten that my Patronus is a lynx?" Kingsley asked with a grin.

"**His Patronus is a lynx, we saw it at the wedding, remember?"**

"**Oh yeah …"**

**They moved farther along the hedge, away from the tent and Hermione. **

"**Harry … you don't reckon it could've been Dumbledore?"**

"**Dumbledore what?"**

**Ron looked a little embarrassed, but said in a low voice, "Dumbledore … the doe? I mean," Ron was watching Harry out of the corners of his eyes, "he had the real sword last, didn't he?"**

"But I'm dying, I have less than a year left." Albus said softly, "it could not have been me."

**Harry did not laugh at Ron, because he understood too well the longing behind the question. The idea that Dumbledore had managed to come back to them, that he was watching over them, would have inexpressibly comforting. He shook his head. **

"**Dumbledore's dead," he said. "I saw it happen, I saw the body. He's definitely gone. Anyway his Patronus was a phoenix, not a doe"**

"**Patronuses can change, though can't they?" said Ron, "Tonks's changed didn't it?"**

"OK, does the world really need to know that my Patronus changed after this twit said no like a million times?" Tonks asked exasperatedly, pointing at Remus.

"I still think I'm too old and too dangerous." Remus sighed.

"Moony, would like to be hexed by a load of angry women?" Harry asked lightly, looking around the hall at all the women who were glaring at the werewolf.

"Not particularly." Remus replied.

"Good, then stop with the pity-party." Harry snorted.

"**Yeah, but if Dumbledore was alive, why wouldn't he show himself? Why wouldn't he just hand us the sword?"**

"**Search me," said Ron. "Same reason he didn't give it to you while he was alive? Same reason he left you an old Snitch and Hermione a book of kid's stories?"**

"**Which is what?" asked Harry, turning to look Ron full in the face desperate for the answer.**

"I think we'd all like to know that." Blaise said.

"**I dunno," said Ron. "Sometimes I've thought, when I've been a bit hacked off, he was having a laugh or – or he just wanted to make it more difficult, But I don't think so, not any more. He knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn't he? He – well," Ron's ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, "he must've known I'd run out on you."**

"**No," Harry corrected him. "He must've known you'd always want to come back."**

"Indeed I did." Albus nodded, "I knew that no matter what, Ronald would want to return to his friends, whether their separation was by choice or not."

**Ron looked grateful, but still awkward. Partly to change the subject, Harry said, "Speaking of Dumbledore, have you heard what Skeeter wrote about him?"**

"**Oh yeah," said Ron at once, "people are talking about it quite a lot. 'Course, if things were different it'd be huge news, Dumbledore being pals with Grindelwald, **

"We were more than friends." Albus whimpered.

**but now it's just something to laugh about for people who didn't like Dumbledore, and a bit of a slap in the face for everyone who thought he was such a good bloke. I don't know that it's such a big deal, though. He was really young when they –"**

"**Our age," said Harry, just as he had retorted to Hermione, and something in his face seemed to decide Ron against pursuing the subject. **

**A large spider sat in the middle of a frosted web in the brambles. Harry took aim at it with the wand Ron had given him the previous night, which Hermione had since condescended to examine, and had decided was made of blackthorn. **

"I don't think just knowing what the wood was, would help." Susan frowned, "Ollivander always says that the wand chooses the wizard, and that one didn't choose you, so that might be the problem."

"Plus there might be something about the core that doesn't work well with Harry's magic or something." Hannah added.

"**_Engorgio_."**

**The spider gave a little shiver, bouncing slightly in the web. Harry tried again. This time the spider grew slightly larger.**

"**Stop that," said Ron sharply, "I'm sorry I said Dumbledore was young, okay?"**

**Harry had forgotten Ron's hatred of spiders. **

"You aren't the only one who doesn't like those things." Lucius murmured, suppressing a shudder at the thought of the eight-legged creepy-crawlies.

"**Sorry – _Reducio_."**

**The spider did not shrink. Harry looked down at the blackthorn wand. Every minor spell he had cast with it so far that day had seemed less powerful than those he had produced with his phoenix wand. The new one felt intrusively unfamiliar, like having somebody else's hand sewn to the end of his arm.**

"That's disturbing." James grimaced.

"**You just need to practice," said Hermione, who had approached them noiselessly from behind and had stood watching anxiously as Harry tried to enlarge and reduce the spider. "It's all a matter of confidence Harry."**

**He knew why she wanted it to be all right; she still felt guilty about breaking his wand. He bit back the retort that sprung to his lips, that she could take the blackthorn wand if she thought it made no difference, and he would have hers instead. **

**Keen for them all to be friends again, however, he agreed; but when Ron gave Hermione a tentative smile, she stalked off and vanished behind her book once more. **

"Is it just me, or is stubbornness an essential trait for being a member of the golden trio?" Dean asked with a grin.

"No." Hermione giggled, "the three of us just happen to be extremely stubborn."

**All three of them returned to the tent when darkness fell, and Harry took first watch. Sitting in the entrance, he tried to make the blackthorn wand levitate small stones at his feet; but his magic still seemed clumsier and less powerful than it had done before. **

**Hermione was lying on her bunk reading, while Ron, after many nervous glances up at her, had taken a small wooden wireless out of his rucksack and started to try to tune it. **

"Oh that has to be annoying, if that tap-tap-tap goes on for long enough, it'll probably drive Hermione insane." Ginny giggled.

"And insane Hermione is not something I want to see." Ron snorted.

"**There's this one program," he told Harry in a low voice, "that tells the news like it really is. All the others are on You-Know-Who's side and are following the Ministry line, but this one …**

"That's brave of them." Minerva commented.

**you wait till you hear it, it's great. Only they can't do it every night, they have to keep changing locations in case they're raided and you need a password to tune in … trouble is, I missed the last one …"**

**He drummed lightly on the top of the radio with his wand muttering random words under his breath. He threw Hermione many covert glances, plainly fearing an angry outburst, but for all the notice she took of him he might not have been there.**

"Wow, I don't think I've ever met anyone who could completely ignore someone for more than a few minutes." Andromeda remarked, "especially if the person they're ignoring is talking."

**For ten minutes or so Ron tapped and muttered, Hermione turned the pages of her book, and Harry continued to practice with the blackthorn wand.**

"Merlin, is that what you three did every night?" Dean asked.

"When we weren't eating, sleeping or discussing where we'd look next." Harry nodded.

"Wow, I bet you were bored." James commented.

"A bit, but we got used to the monotony." Harry shrugged.

**Finally Hermione climbed down from her bunk. Ron ceased his tapping at once.**

"**If it's annoying you, I'll stop!" he told Hermione nervously.**

**Hermione did not deign to respond, but approached Harry.**

"Blimey, how long until you forgive him?" Seamus wondered.

"A while." Hermione giggled.

"**We need to talk," she said.**

**He looked at the book still clutched in her hand. It was _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_.**

"**What?" he said apprehensively. It flew through his mind that there was a chapter on him in there; he was not sure he felt up to hearing Rita's version of his relationship with Dumbledore.**

"Why did you believe everything else you read from that book, when you know that the chapter about you is full of lies?" Lily asked exasperatedly.

"It probably wasn't full of lies, there were small nuggets of truth in the other chapters, mixed in with the lies, so even if it was mostly wrong, Skeeter might well have got bits right." Harry sighed.

"Alfred did complain about the fact that many of the rumours she spread were semi-accurate." Charlus grimaced.

"At least he didn't have to sleep in the same room as her." Bellatrix mumbled, sinking into her seat when she noticed how many people were still glaring at her every time they looked at her.

"What is your problem?" Harry asked the hall, slightly annoyed by the way everyone looked at Bellatrix.

"She's a Death Eater." Smith sneered hatefully, "why do we have to sit in the same room as a Death Eater?"

"We did mention, during the first chapter, that she did not wish to become a Death Eater." Harry growled, "we also said that we would free her of Voldemort's control, which we did last night. We broke the marriage contract, and I removed her mark as well, allowing her to regain her free will."

"She never wanted to do any of the things she did, so if you want someone to blame, blame Voldemort for tying her free will to himself, blame our mother for putting her under the Imperius. Just don't blame my sister." Narcissa whispered, wrapping Bellatrix in a one-armed hug, while many of the students huddled together to discuss what had been said.

**Hermione's answer however, was completely unexpected.**

"**I want to go and see Xenophilius Lovegood."**

**He stared at her.**

"I think I would too." Luna admitted, though she still appeared to not be paying much attention.

"**Sorry?"**

"**Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father. I want to go and talk to him!"**

"**Er – why?"**

**She took a deep breath, as though bracing herself, and said, "It's that mark, the mark in _Beedle the Bard_. Look at this!"**

**She thrust _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_ under Harry's unwilling eyes and he saw a photograph of the original letter that Dumbledore had written Grindelwald, with Dumbledore's familiar thin, slanting handwriting. He hated seeing absolute proof that Dumbledore really had written those words, that they had not been Rita's invention.**

"Unfortunately, while Miss Skeeter does have a habit of inventing stories about me, that letter is real." Albus sighed, "I truly wish that I had not written it."

"**The signature," said Hermione. "Look at the signature, Harry!"**

**He obeyed. For a moment he had no idea what she was talking about, but, looking more closely with the aid of his lit wand, he saw that Dumbledore had replaced the A of Albus with a tiny version of the same triangular mark inscribed upon _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_.**

"**Er – what are you –?" said Ron tentatively, but Hermione quelled him with a look and turned back to Harry.**

"Well, now we have proof that stubborn arses _can_ be trained." Ginny giggled.

"It took me seven years to get him to obey my looks, and he still occasionally ignores them." Hermione snorted.

"**It keeps cropping up, doesn't it?" she said. "I know Viktor said it was Grindelwald's mark, but it was definitely on that old grave in Godric's Hollow, and the dates on the headstone were long before Grindelwald came along! And now this! Well, we can't ask Dumbledore or Grindelwald what it means – I don't even know whether Grindelwald's still alive –**

"As far as I know, Gellert was still alive at the end of the first war." Albus sighed, "he may have survived, but I would expect him to be very frail now."

**but we can ask Mr Lovegood. He was wearing the symbol at the wedding. I'm sure this is important, Harry!"**

**Harry did not answer immediately. He looked into her intense, eager face and then out into the surrounding darkness, thinking. After a long pause he said, "Hermione, we don't need another Godric's Hollow. We talked ourselves into going there, and –"**

"Hermione's going to win this, so I don't see why you're even bothering to argue." Seamus sniggered.

"He's making sure she knows that he doesn't think it's a good idea, and if it all goes belly-up, like most of their plans, then he can say, 'told you so'." Dean grinned.

"He doesn't get to say that very often." Neville snorted, "usually she's the one who says 'told you so'."

"**But it keeps appearing, Harry! Dumbledore left me The Tales of Beedle the Bard, how do you know we're not supposed to find out about the sign?"**

"**Here we go again!" Harry felt slightly exasperated. "We keep trying to convince ourselves Dumbledore left us secret signs and clues –"**

"**The Deluminator turned out to be pretty useful," piped up Ron. "I think Hermione's right, I think we ought to go and see Lovegood."**

**Harry threw him a dark look. He was quite sure that Ron's support of Hermione had little to do with a desire to know the meaning of the triangular rune.**

"I'm not surprised he wants to get back on her good side." Seamus laughed, "it is not the nicest thing when Hermione's annoyed or angry."

"**It won't be like Godric's Hollow," Ron added, "Lovegood's on your side, Harry, The Quibbler's been for you all along, it keeps telling everyone they've got to help you!"**

"**I'm sure this is important!" said Hermione earnestly.**

"**But don't you think if it was, Dumbledore would have told me about it before he died?"**

"**Maybe … maybe it's something you need to find out for yourself," said Hermione with a faint air of clutching at straws.**

"**Yeah," said Ron sycophantically, "that makes sense."**

"**No, it doesn't," snapped Hermione,**

"You really do like arguing." Lily giggled, "you've just disagreed with your own statement."

"**but I still think we ought to talk to Mr Lovegood. A symbol that links Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Godric's Hollow? Harry, I'm sure we ought to know about this!"**

"**I think we should vote on it," said Ron. "Those in favour of going to see Lovegood –"**

**His hand flew into the air before Hermione's. Her lips quivered suspiciously as she raised her own.**

"Painfully obvious." Hermione smiled.

"**Outvoted, Harry, sorry," said Ron, clapping him on the back.**

"**Fine," said Harry, half amused, half irritated. "Only, once we've seen Lovegood, let's try and look for some more Horcruxes, shall we? Where do the Lovegood's live, anyway? Do either of you know?"**

"Ottery St Catchpole." Mr Weasley smiled, "they live in the hills near us. I'm not entirely certain where."

"They live on the hill by the stream that runs into the pond by our house." Mrs Weasley said, "I remember when we went to help after Octavia's experiment went wrong, the day she died."

"I'm glad someone was there to help my son-in-law." Abraxas sighed, "I just wish someone had told me that my daughter was dead so that I could say goodbye to her."

"No one knew where you were living." Mr Weasley grimaced, "and when we asked Xeno, he said she'd told him that you weren't around. We unfortunately assumed that that meant that you were dead."

"Maybe I should have sent her a letter or something after I faked my death." Abraxas sighed, "hindsight is always twenty-twenty."

"**Yeah, they're not far from my place," said Ron. "I dunno exactly where, but Mum and Dad always point toward the hills whenever they mention them. Shouldn't be hard to find."**

**When Hermione had returned to her bunk, Harry lowered his voice.**

"**You only agreed to try and get back in her good books."**

"**All's fair in love and war," said Ron brightly, "and this is a bit of both. Cheer up, it's the Christmas holidays, Luna'll be home!"**

Harry and Hermione shot Ron and Draco warning glances, having seen both wince and open their mouths to contradict that statement. They didn't want anyone to know, until it was revealed in the book, where Luna had actually been.

**They had an excellent view of the village of Ottery St. Catchopole from the breezy hillside to which they Disapparated next morning. From their high vantage point the village looked like a collection of toy houses in the great slanting shafts of sunlight stretching to earth in the breaks between clouds. They stood for a minute or two looking toward the Burrow, their hands shadowing their eyes, but all they could make out were the high hedges and trees of the orchard, which afforded the crooked little house protection from Muggle eyes.**

"**It's weird, being this near, but not going to visit," said Ron.**

"**Well, it's not like you haven't just seen them. You were there for Christmas," said Hermione coldly.**

"I wouldn't have thought so." Charlie grimaced, "you should know that we Weasleys don't really take kindly to each other abandoning our friends and family."

"**I wasn't at the Burrow!" said Ron with an incredulous laugh. "Do you think I was going to go back there and tell them all I'd walked out on you? Yeah, Fred and George would've been great about it. And Ginny, she'd have been really understanding."**

"As understanding as a Blast-Ended Skrewt and Norberta combined." Ginny smirked.

"**But where have you been, then?" asked Hermione, surprised.**

"**Bill and Fleur's new place. Shell cottage. Bill's always been decent to me. He – he wasn't impressed when he heard what I'd done, but he didn't go on about it. He knew I was really sorry. None of the rest of the family know I was there. Bill told Mum he and Fleur weren't going home for Christmas because they wanted to spend it alone. You know, first holiday after they were married. I don't think Fleur minded. You know how much she hates Celestina Warbeck."**

"I'm beginning to like Fleur." Lily grinned, "I can't stand that screechy-wailing that Warbeck thinks is singing, either."

Harry, Hermione and the Weasley males winced when they heard that, knowing that Mrs Weasley was one of Celestina Warbeck's biggest fans.

"No taste." Mrs Weasley grumbled huffily.

"They aren't the only ones who don't like Celestina Warbeck." Dorea sniffed, "I don't like her music either."

"Muggle music is so much better." Abraxas grinned, "there's more variety."

"A lot more." Lucius nodded, "and not just in the style of music, but also in the artists producing it."

"We could try and organise a mini-concert or similar to demonstrate." Hermione mused, "maybe including a few songs from other countries."

"That might be a nice idea." Harry nodded.

**Ron turned his back on the Burrow.**

"**Let's try up here," he said, leading the way over the top of the hill.**

**They walked for a few hours, Harry, at Hermione's insistence, hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak. The cluster of low hills appeared to be uninhabited apart from one small cottage, which seemed deserted.**

"**Do you think it's theirs, and they've gone away for Christmas?" said Hermione, peering through the window at a neat little kitchen with geraniums on the windowsill. Ron snorted.**

"**Listen, I've got a feeling you'd be able to tell who lived there if you looked through the Lovegoods' window. **

"You wouldn't even have to peer in the window." Luna smiled dreamily, "our house is rather distinctive."

**Let's try the next lot of hills."**

**So they Disapparated a few miles farther north.**

"**Aha!" shouted Ron, as the wind whipped their hair and clothes. Ron was pointing upward, toward the top of the hill on which they had appeared, where a most strange-looking house rose vertically against the sky, a great black cylinder with a ghostly moon hanging behind it in the afternoon sky. "That's got to be Luna's house, who else would live in a place like that? It looks like a giant rook!"**

"You live in a chess piece?" Terry asked curiously.

"Yes." Luna replied, smiling dreamily at the ceiling.

"**It's nothing like a bird," said Hermione, frowning at the tower.**

"**I was talking about a chess rook," said Ron. "A castle to you."**

**Ron's legs were the longest and he reached the top of the hill first. When Harry and Hermione caught up with him, panting and clutching stitches in their sides, they found him grinning broadly.**

"**It's theirs," said Ron. "Look."**

**Three hand-painted signs had been tacked to a broke-down gate. The first read '_T__HE__ Q__UIBBLER__. E__DITOR__, X. L__OVEGOOD' _the second, '_P__ICK__ Y__OUR __O__WN __M__ISTLETOE'_the third, '_K__EEP __O__FF THE__ D__IRIGIBLE__ P__LUMS'._**

"Interesting." Anthony muttered.

**The gate creaked as they opened it. The zigzagging path leading to the front door was overgrown with a variety of odd plants, including a bush covered in orange radish-like fruit Luna sometimes wore as earrings. Harry thought he recognized a Snargaluff and gave the wizened stump a wide berth. Two aged crab apple trees, bent with the wind, stripped of leaves but still heavy with berry-sized red fruits and bushy crowns of white beaded mistletoe, stood sentinel on either side of the front door. A little owl with a slightly flattened hawk-like head peered down at them from one of the branches.**

"He's hiding from the Wrackspurts." Luna whispered, frowning slightly, "there are a lot more of them than there should be."

"**You'd better take off the Invisibility Cloak, Harry," said Hermione. "It's you Mr Lovegood wants to help, not us."**

**He did as she suggested, handing her the Cloak to stow in the beaded bag. She then rapped three times on the thick black door, which was studded with iron nails and bore a knocker shaped like an eagle.**

"That's a nice door-knocker." Lily commented with a smile.

**Barely ten seconds passed, then the door was flung open and there stood Xenophilius Lovegood, barefoot and wearing what appeared to be a stained nightshirt. His long, white, candyfloss hair was dirty and unkempt. Xenophilius had been positively dapper at Bill and Fleur's wedding by comparison. **

"What happened to him?" Minerva wondered.

"**What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" he cried in a high-pitched, querulous voice, looking first at Hermione, then at Ron, and finally at Harry, upon which his mouth fell open in a perfect, comical 'O'.**

"**Hello, Mr Lovegood," said Harry, holding out his hand, "I'm Harry, Harry Potter."**

**Xenophilius did not take Harry's hand, although the eye that was not pointing inward at his nose slid straight to the scar on Harry's forehead. **

"He does seem to be behaving a little oddly." James murmured.

"He's always been a bit odd, but that sounds a bit too odd, even for him." Remus frowned.

"**Would it be OK if we came in?" asked Harry. "There's something we'd like to ask you."**

"**I … I'm not sure that's advisable," whispered Xenophilius, He swallowed and cast a quick look around the garden. "Rather a shock … my word … I … I'm afraid I don't really think I ought to –"**

"Daddy's behaving very oddly." Luna muttered, slightly less dreamily than before, "he must be infested with Wrackspurts."

"**It wont take long" said Harry, slightly disappointed by this less-than-warm welcome.**

"**I – oh, all right then. Come in, quickly. _Quickly!_"**

**They were barely over the threshold when Xenophilius slammed the door shut behind them, They were standing in the most peculiar kitchen Harry had ever seen. The room was perfectly circular, so that he felt like being inside a giant pepper pot. Everything was curved to fit the walls: the stove, the sink, and the cupboards - and all of it had been painted with flowers, insects, and birds in bright primary colours. Harry thought he recognized Luna's style: the effect in such and enclosed space, was slightly overwhelming.**

"It's the complete opposite of Grimmauld Place." Regulus grinned.

"Walburga would have hated it." Orion smirked.

**In the middle of the floor, a wrought-iron spiral staircase lead to the upper levels. There was a great deal of clattering and banging coming from overhead: Harry wondered what Luna could be doing. **

"That's not me." Luna whispered, "that's the printing press for the _Quibbler_."

"**You'd better come up." said Xenophilius, still looking extremely uncomfortable, and he led the way. **

**The room above seemed to be a combination of living room and workplace, and as such, was even more cluttered than the kitchen. Though much smaller and entirely round, the room somewhat resembled the Room of Requirement on the unforgettable occasion that it had transformed itself into a gigantic labyrinth comprised of centuries of hidden objects. **

"That sounds messy." Draco said, remembering the few times he'd been in the Room of Requirement in that particular configuration.

"Not as messy as your lab was after you took apart that Jumper to study." Lucius snorted.

**There were piles upon piles of books and papers on every surface. Delicately made models of creatures Harry did not recognize, all flapping wings or snapping jaws, hung from the ceiling. **

**Luna was not there: the thing that was making such a racket was a wooden object covered in magically turning cogs and wheels. It looked like the bizarre offspring of a workbench and a set of shelves, but after a moment Harry deduced that it was an old-fashioned printing press, due to the fact that it was churning out _Quibblers_.**

"**Excuse me," said Xenophilius, and he strode over to the machine, seized a grubby tablecloth from beneath an immense number of books and papers, which all tumbled onto the floor, and threw it over the press, somewhat muffling the loud bangs and clatters. He then faced Harry.**

"That really is messy." Draco said, "my so-called mess was organised, every part was laid out, so if someone wanted to look at a particular part, I could grab it or point it out easily."

"**Why have you come here?"**

**Before Harry could speak, however, Hermione let out a small cry of shock.**

"**Mr Lovegood – what's that?"**

**She was pointing at an enormous, grey spiral horn, not unlike that of a unicorn, which had been mounted on the wall, protruding several feet into the room. **

"Oh dear Merlin, it's an Erumpent horn." Kingsley grimaced, "it's not exactly illegal, but very dangerous to own one. Be careful, it might explode, which is what makes the things so dangerous."

"**It is the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," said Xenophilius.**

"**No it isn't!" said Hermione.**

"Oh no." Susan groaned, "Hermione, don't irritate the man. If he wants to believe that it isn't what it is, then let him, don't argue."

"**Hermione," muttered Harry, embarrassed, "now's not the moment –"**

"**But Harry, it's an Erumpent horn! It's a Class B Tradeable Material and it's an extraordinarily dangerous thing to have in a house!"**

"**How'd you know it's an Erumpent horn?" asked Ron, edging away from the horn as fast as he could, given the extreme clutter of the room.**

"**There's a description in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!_ Mr Lovegood, you need to get rid of it straight away, don't you know it can explode at the slightest touch?"**

"Indeed." Scrimgeour nodded with a grimace, having the vague suspicion that not only was it going to explode at some point, but also that Xenophilius had turned against Harry and his friends.

"**The Crumple Horned Snorkack," said Xenophilius very clearly, a mulish look upon his face, "is a shy and highly magical creature, and it's horn –"**

"**Mr Lovegood. I recognize the grooved markings around the base, that's an Erumpent horn and it's incredibly dangerous – I don't know where you got it –"**

"**I bought it," said Xenophilius dogmatically. "Two weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew my interest in the exquisite Snorkack. A Christmas surprise for my Luna. Now," he said, turning to Harry, "why exactly have you come here, Mr Potter?"**

"Let's go round again." Fred grinned.

"**We need some help," said Harry, before Hermione could start again.**

"Yeah, it won't make him eager to help if you irritate him by being stubborn." James laughed.

"**Ah," said Xenophilius, "Help, Hmm."**

**His good eye moved again to Harry's scar. He seemed simultaneously terrified and mesmerized.**

"There is something seriously wrong with this situation." Susan said, "he's not exactly acting like someone who wants to help."

"**Yes. The thing is … helping Harry Potter … rather dangerous …"**

"**Aren't you the one who keeps telling everyone it's their first duty to help Harry?" said Ron. "In that magazine of yours?"**

**Xenophilius glanced behind him at the concealed printing press, still banging and clattering beneath the tablecloth.**

"**Er - yes, I have expressed that view. however –"**

"**That's for everyone else to do, not you personally?" said Ron.**

**Xenophilius did not answer. He kept swallowing, his eyes darting between the three of them. Harry had the impression that he was undergoing some painful internal struggle.**

"I agree with the red-headed Puff." Lily said, not remembering whether she had been told who Susan was.

"That's Amelia Bones' niece, Susan." Lucius smiled.

"Thank you." Lily nodded, elated that she was getting to know the real Lucius without both of them having to keep looking over their shoulders for trouble.

"**Where's Luna?" asked Hermione. "Let's see what she thinks."**

**Xenophilius gulped. He seemed to be steeling himself. Finally he said in a shaky voice difficult to hear over the noise of the printing press, "Luna is down at the stream, fishing for Freshwater Plimpies. She … she will like to see you. I'll go and call her and then - yes, very well. I shall try to help you."**

**He disappeared down the spiral staircase and they heard the front open and close. They looked at each other.**

"**Cowardly old wart," said Ron. "Luna's got ten times his guts."**

"That might be because her mother was a Gryffindor, and Xeno was a Ravenclaw." Remus shrugged.

"There's also the fact that anyone who is friends with Harry finds that they have a lot more courage than they thought they did." Seamus grinned.

"**He's probably worried about what'll happen to them if the Death Eaters find out I was here." said Harry.**

"**Well, I agree with Ron," said Hermione, "Awful old hypocrite, telling everyone else to help you and trying to worm out of it himself. And for heaven's sake keep away from that horn."**

"Yes, please do keep away from the explosive device." Lily nodded.

**Harry crossed to the window on the far side of the room. He could see a stream, a thin, glittering ribbon lying far below them at the base of the hill. They were very high up; a bird fluttered past the window as he stared in the direction of the Burrow, now invisible beyond another line of hills. Ginny was over there somewhere. They were closer to each other today than they had been since Bill and Fleur's wedding, but she could have no idea he was gazing toward her now, thinking of her. He suppose he ought to be glad of it; anyone he came into contact with was in danger, Xenophilius's attitude proved that. **

**He turned away from the windows and his gaze fell upon another peculiar object standing upon the cluttered, curved slide board; **

"That house is full of peculiar objects." Mr Weasley grinned.

**a stone bust of a beautiful but austere-looking witch wearing a most bizarre-looking headdress. **

"That's odd." Remus frowned, "who is she?"

"You'll see." Harry smirked.

**Two objects that resembled golden ear trumpets curved out from the sides. A tiny pair of glittering blue wing was stuck to a leather strap that ran over the top of her head, while one of the orange radishes had been stuck to a second strap around her forehead.**

"Interesting." Terry said, looking utterly bemused.

"**Look at this," said Harry.**

"**Fetching," said Ron. "Surprised he didn't hear that to the wedding."**

**They heard the front door close, and a moment later Xenophilius climbed back up the spiral staircase into the room, his thin legs now encased in wellington boots, bearing a tray of ill-assorted teacups and a steaming teapot.**

"**Ah, you have spotted my pet invention," he said, shoving the tray into Hermione's arms and joining Harry at the statue's side. "Modelled, fittingly enough, upon the head of the beautiful Rowena Ravenclaw, _Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure!_"**

"Rowena Ravenclaw never wore anything like that." The Grey Lady said in a most unfriendly tone.

"There is no way to know." Luna pointed out dreamily, ignoring the tone the ghost had used, "there isn't anyone around today who knows what she would have worn."

"You seem to have forgotten that I was around then." The Baron snorted, "Lady Ravenclaw babysat me when I was an infant, and I agree that she would never have worn an item as bizarre as that one appears to be."

"Let's continue, so we may discover the truth." Albus suggested.

**He indicated the objects like ear trumpets.**

"**These are the Wrackspurt siphons – to remove all sources of distraction from the thinker's immediate area. Here," he pointed out the tiny wings, "a Billywig propeller, to induce an elevated frame of mind. Finally," he pointed to the orange radish, "the Dirigible Plum, so as to enhance the ability to accept the extraordinary."**

"He has got that so wrong." The Grey Lady sighed quietly, looking as though she didn't want to listen to any more, but was unwilling to leave.

**Xenophilius strode back to the tea tray, which Hermione had managed to balance precariously on one of the cluttered side tables.**

"**May I offer you all an infusion of Gurdyroots?" said Xenophilius. "We make it ourselves." As he started to pour out the drink, which was as deeply purple as beetroot juice, he added, "Luna is down beyond Bottom Bridge, she is most excited that you are here She ought not to be too long, she has caught nearly enough Plimpies to make soup for all of us. Do sit down and help yourselves to sugar.**

"So Luna's not even in the house." Lily murmured, "and I do not believe that she is at the stream, so where is she?"

"I don't know, but I agree." James said, "if she was at the stream, she would probably want to see them, the moment she found out they were there."

"Exactly." Lily nodded, "plus, Xeno's attitude is wrong for someone whose daughter is fairly near the house."

"**Now," he remove a tottering pile of papers from an armchair and sat down, his Wellingtoned legs crossed, "how may I help you, Mr Potter?"**

"**Well," said Harry, glancing at Hermione, who nodded encouragingly, "it's about that symbol you were wearing around your neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding, Mr Lovegood. We wondered what it meant."**

**Xenophilius raised his eyebrows.**

"**Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?"**

"That was the end of the chapter." Neville said, glad that he had had a chapter that wasn't too hard on the emotions. "Who wants to read next?"

"I shall." Burbage smiled, "I may be dead in the book, but this is really rather interesting."


	28. Chapter 28

**The Tale of the Three Brothers**

"**The Tale of the Three Brothers**," Burbage read with a confused frown.

"Why are we reading about a fairytale?" Ernie wondered.

"It may be important." Bellatrix mumbled, not wanting to draw too much more attention to herself, but still feeling like she should contribute. "I know that one of the objects mentioned in the story really does exist, so maybe that will appear later on."

**Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione. Neither of them seemed to have understood what Xenophilius had said either.**

"Not many do." Albus sighed, "there are not many who believe that the Hallows actually exist, and those that do, can be quite obsessed with trying to get others to see things their way."

"**The Deathly Hallows?"**

"**That's right," said Xenophilius. "You haven't heard of them? I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckle-headed young man at your brother's wedding," he nodded at Ron,**

"A lot of males can be described as being, 'knuckle-headed'." Andromeda said dryly, casting glances at her older sister, almost as if she couldn't believe that Bellatrix was really there and almost back to how she had been before she was forced into Voldemort's service.

"**who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-known Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows – at least not in that crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers, in the hope that they might help one with the Quest."**

**He stirred several lumps of sugar into his Gurdyroot infusion and drank some.**

"**I'm sorry," said Harry, "I still don't really understand."**

**To be polite, he took a sip from his cup too, and almost gagged: the stuff was quite disgusting, as though someone had liquidized bogey-flavoured Every Flavour Beans.**

"That sounds utterly revolting." Padma cringed.

"It is an acquired taste." Luna shrugged, seemingly not bothered by the fact that hardly anyone wanted to try it.

"**Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows," said Xenophilius, smacking his lips in apparent appreciation of the Gurdyroot infusion.**

"**But what _are_ the Deathly Hallows?" asked Hermione.**

**Xenophilius set aside his empty teacup.**

"**I assume that you are familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?"**

**Harry said, "No," but Ron and Hermione both said, "Yes."**

"If you could remember more of your first year, you would definitely be familiar with that story." James said, "you wouldn't go to sleep without having one of us reading it to you."

"That's not all that surprising." Charlus smiled, "it was your favourite as well, and it is one of the stories that has been passed down from father to son in the Potter family, for centuries. The tradition started with the third Edward, whose mother told him that one of the people in the story was her grandfather. That story is part of our history, our family heritage."

"Wow." Justin, and a lot of the students who actually liked Harry, whistled.

**Xenophilius nodded gravely.**

"**Well, well, Mr Potter, the whole thing starts with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' … I have a copy somewhere …"**

**He glanced vaguely around the room, at the piles of parchment and books, **

"How on earth would he find anything in that mess?" Remus wondered.

"I don't know." Harry sniggered.

"Daddy has a strange sense of organisation." Luna smiled dreamily, "he can usually find anything quite easily."

**but Hermione said, "I've got a copy, Mr Lovegood, I've got it right here."**

**And she pulled out _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ from the small, beaded bag.**

"**The original?" inquired Xenophilius sharply, and when she nodded, he said, "Well then, why don't you read it out aloud? Much the best way to make sure we all understand."**

"He's stalling for some reason." Lily frowned suspiciously, before turning to glance at Luna, wondering if she was right in thinking that Luna had been captured, but she decided against mentioning it, just in case she was wrong.

"**Er … all right," said Hermione nervously. She opened the book, and Harry saw that the symbol they were investigating headed the top of the page as she gave a little cough, and began to read.**

"**_'There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight –'_"**

"It's supposed to be set at midnight." Bill grumbled.

"No it isn't." James grinned, "that's the original copy, written by Beedle himself."

"But since he wasn't around at the time of the events in that story, then he wouldn't know the truth, would he?" Bill pointed out.

"Not necessarily." Charlus smirked, "Beedle the Bard may have been born in fourteen-fifty-three, long after the people in the story died, that does not mean that he didn't speak to their descendants. I happen to know that Beedle married the eight-greats-grand-daughter of one of the three brothers, and that her family had asked him to write the story down, not just from what Alexa, his wife, had told him she had been told as a young child, but from conversations with the portrait of her ancestor."

"Oh." Bill mumbled, slightly embarrassed at the fact that he was wrong.

"**Midnight, our mum always told us," said Ron, who had stretched out, arms behind his head, to listen. Hermione shot him a look of annoyance.**

"**Sorry, I just think it's a bit spookier if it's midnight!" said Ron.**

"**Yeah, because we really need a bit more fear in our lives," said Harry before he could stop himself. **

"I was just thinking that." Lily blinked, "I'm glad I didn't say it."

**Xenophilius did not seem to be paying much attention, but was staring out of the window at the sky. "Go on, Hermione."**

"**_In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure._**

"'**_And Death spoke to them –'_"**

"That doesn't make sense, death is a state of being, not an entity." Colin frowned.

"There is the possibility that death is an entity." Lucius sighed, "this is not the only story I know of that mentions people talking to death, but there is no empirical evidence to prove that an entity called death really exists."

"**Sorry," interjected Harry, "but Death spoke to them?"**

"**It's a fairy tale, Harry!"**

"**Right, sorry. Go on."**

"'**_And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of the three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him._**

"'**_So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother._**

"'**_Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead._**

"'**_And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death._**

"Of course he wouldn't trust Death." Regulus snorted, "I know I wouldn't."

**_So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.'_"**

"I can see how this could be considered a fairytale." Narcissa said, remembering when she was a little girl and had had Beedle's stories read to her. "I have never heard of a stone that could bring back the dead, and Invisibility Cloaks are extremely rare, so those aren't really feasible, but I do know that the wand exists, where I don't know."

"**Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry interrupted again.**

"**So he can sneak up on people," said Ron. "Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking …**

"That does sound like it would get boring." Remus grinned.

**sorry, Hermione."**

"'**_Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so talking __with wonder of the adventure they had had and admiring Death's gifts._**

"'**_In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination._**

"'**_The first brother travelled on for a week more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible._**

"He sounds like he was an idiot." Minerva said, shaking her head.

"I do know that there are very few people who would be able to refrain from boasting if they had a wand that they thought was unbeatable." Flitwick smiled, "if someone had a wand that was believed to be the most powerful wand in existence, they would find it difficult to keep quiet about it."

"'**_That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat._**

"'**_And so Death took the first brother for his own._**

"'**_Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him._**

"'**_Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as to truly join her._**

"That's the problem with something like that. The dead do not belong in this world, unless they are afraid of dying, in which case they will become ghosts, but if they have accepted their death, then they will be truly unhappy to return." Caruso whispered.

"'**_And so Death took the second brother from his own._**

"'**_But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.'_"**

"That was a nice ending." Dean grinned.

"Indeed." Albus nodded, "there is something about the third brother that gives me hope. Hope that we can all accept that death comes to us all, whether we want it to or not, and we can either fear it, or we can be wise enough to welcome it when it does come."

**Hermione closed the book. It was a moment or two before Xenophilius seemed to realize that she had stopped reading; then he withdrew his gaze from the window and said: "Well, there you are."**

"**Sorry?" said Hermione, sounding confused.**

"I didn't think Hermione knew _how_ to be confused." Ginny giggled.

"There's a first time for everything." Hermione retorted.

"**Those are the Deathly Hallows," said Xenophilius.**

**He picked up a quill from a packed table at his elbow, and pulled a torn piece of parchment from between more books.**

"**The Elder Wand," he said, and drew a straight vertical line upon the parchment. "The Resurrection Stone," he said, and added a circle on top of the line. "The Cloak of Invisibility," he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbols that so intrigued Hermione. "Together," he said, "the Deathly Hallows."**

"Now I understand how that symbol was designed." Remus whispered in awe, "it's ingenious in its simplicity."

"**But there's no mention of the words 'Deathly Hallows' in the story," said Hermione.**

"**Well, of course not," said Xenophilius, maddeningly smug.**

"I really wish you'd punched that smug expression right off his face, Hermione." Ron grinned.

"It wouldn't be the first time she'd lost control and punched someone." Harry sniggered.

"Ooh, this I gotta hear." Ginny giggled.

"It was in third year." Harry said, "and she went a little crazy. She punched Draco."

"Why?" Narcissa asked with a slight disapproving frown.

"He said something that irritated me." Hermione grimaced, "plus I was taking every single class available, on top of the extra training we were doing, and trying to make time to relax with Harry and Ron was not easy, so I just lost it."

"You weren't the only one who went a little odd that year." Draco grinned, "nor were you the only one using a time-turner to redo days. We all had little meltdowns, but some of us were able to either hide them better or found ways to relieve the stress."

"We did have a few big arguments that year, and made up afterwards, but Hermione had it worse than the rest of us, and she found it more difficult to relax." Harry nodded.

"So how did you deal with the stress?" Andromeda wondered.

"I don't know what Ron, Daphne and Pansy did, but Draco and I sparred, either with magic or with anything that we could use as a weapon." Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, we just practised our hand-to-hand combat and duelling skills." Draco agreed, "that was quite fun, though I'm not sure the one who was supervising us enjoyed it as much as we did."

"No I did not." Snape snorted, "I began to regret teaching you two how to break elbows and knees with only your hands."

"Oh dear." Lily whispered.

"**That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters, however, recognize that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death."**

**There was a short silence in which Xenophilius glanced out of the window. Already the sun was low in the sky.**

"**Luna ought to have enough Plimpies soon," he said quietly.**

"**When you say 'master of Death' –" said Ron.**

"I don't think it means what he thinks it means." Sprout frowned, "I don't actually know what he thinks it means, but I believe it means that whoever is Master of Death has accepted that everything dies, and is not afraid to die."

"The Master of Death does not live in fear of the end." Harry said, his words echoing around the silent hall.

Everyone wondered why Harry would say something like that, why he would sound as though his voice was the tool by which someone else was speaking, but they knew they would not get the answers they sought until later in the book. Some did suspect that Harry knew far more about the Hallows than they did, which made them curious as to what he knew about death itself.

"**Master," said Xenophilius, waving an airy hand. "Conqueror. Vanquisher. Whichever term you prefer."**

"**But then … do you mean …" said Hermione slowly, and Harry could tell that she was trying to keep any trace of scepticism out of her voice, **

"That didn't really work." Ron smirked.

"**that you believe these objects – these Hallows – really exist?"**

**Xenophilius raised his eyebrows again.**

"**Well, of course."**

"**But," said Hermione, and Harry could hear her restraint starting to crack, "Mr Lovegood, how can you _possibly_ believe –?"**

"Please remember that this is the man who believes that people will get new talents if they are bitten by garden gnomes." Ginny said, "I don't think you'll be able to convince him that he's wrong."

"**Luna has told me all about you, young lady," said Xenophilius. "You are, I gather, not unintelligent, but painfully limited. Narrow. Close-minded."**

"Ouch, that's not the nicest thing to say, to anyone." Seamus grimaced.

"Especially someone who reveres logic as much as Hermione does." Dean added with a wince.

"**Perhaps you ought to try on the hat, Hermione," said Ron, nodding toward the ludicrous headdress. His voice shook with the strain of not laughing.**

"Ron, be glad I'm too far away to hit you." Hermione growled.

"**Mr Lovegood," Hermione began again, "We all know that there are such things as Invisibility Cloaks. They are rare, but they exist. But –"**

"**Ah, but the Third Hallow is a _true_ Cloak of Invisibility, Miss Granger! I mean to say, it is not a travelling cloak imbued with a Disillusionment Charm, or carrying a Bedazzling Hex, or else woven from Demiguise hair, which will hide one initially but fade with the years until it turns opaque. We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like t_hat_, Miss Granger?"**

"Yes." Charlus said, "the Potter Cloak. When my father gave it to me on my fifteenth birthday, he told me that he'd never had to repair it. I thought he was mad when he said that, but I didn't have to repair it either, and it was still as good when I gave it to James at the beginning of his first year, as it had been when I first got it."

**Hermione opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again, looking more confused than ever. She, Harry and Ron glanced at one another, and Harry knew that they were all thinking the same thing. It so happened that a cloak exactly like the one Xenophilius had just described was in the room with them at that very moment.**

"So you really are descended from the youngest brother." Ernie whispered in awe.

"Yes." James nodded, "we know because every old family keeps meticulous records, to make sure that future generations can see where they came from. Our family tree spans centuries, but it only covers those who are born into the family, and a couple of generations of the families of those who marry into the family. It would be far too big if we were to try and keep track of all of the descendants and ancestors of the siblings of those who marry into the family, so we don't know what happened to the other two brothers, or whether they had any descendants or not."

"**Exactly," said Xenophilius, as if he had defeated them all in reasoned argument. "None of you have ever seen such a thing. The possessor would be immeasurably rich, would he not?"**

"No." James said, "we may be one of the richer families, but that has more to do with our investments than anything, and we would never use the cloak just to make money."

"Actually, while our investments were fairly successful, they weren't the only source of income for the family." Charlus smiled, "our ancestors were also fairly prolific producers of fine china."

"I think we have some Potter-made crockery." Caruso whispered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did." Charlus nodded, "the first Edward Potter made a lot of money designing and creating crockery. I think it started out as a hobby, but with the fact that anyone who bought what he'd made, generally paid somewhere in the region of a hundred galleons for each individual piece, he probably decided to turn it into his job. I do know that he made quite a few sculptures that he never sold, but what he did with them I really don't know."

"He left them in a vault in Gringotts." Harry grinned, "it's a shame, because they are such beautiful pieces, even the ones he didn't manage to finish."

"Wow." James murmured.

**He glanced out of the window again. The sky was now tinged with the faintest trace of pink.**

"**All right," said Hermione, disconcerted. "Say the Cloak existed … what about that stone, Mr Lovegood? The thing you call the Resurrection Stone?"**

"**What of it?"**

"**Well, how can that be real?"**

"She's right, but it can't be proved, one way or another." Lily sighed.

"The only way for anyone to know would be if they had the Stone." James said, "I'm sure that the middle brother would have taken it to a jewellers or something to get it set into something."

"Like a ring?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Something like that." James nodded, not noticing the knowing look in his son's eyes.

"**Prove that is not," said Xenophilius.**

**Hermione looked outraged.**

"**But that's – I'm sorry, but that's completely ridiculous! How can I _possibly_ prove it doesn't exist? Do you expect me to get hold of – of all the pebbles in the world and test them? I mean, you could claim that _anything's_ real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's _proved_ it doesn't exist!"**

"That is true too." Padma said, "but there are times when something might be real but nobody believes it is. Until a few days ago, I didn't believe in the existence of aliens, but I've heard the stories we've all been told during the last few days, and if aliens didn't really exist, those stories wouldn't make sense."

"**Yes, you could," said Xenophilius. "I am glad to see that you are opening your mind a little."**

"**So the Elder Wand," said Harry quickly, before Hermione could retort, "you think that exists too?"**

"The Wand exists, it may have had different names, but it has appeared plenty of times over the last seven hundred and forty-seven years." Albus sighed, "there's too much evidence for it not to exist."

"**Oh, well, in that case there is endless evidence," said Xenophilius. "The Elder Wand is the Hallow that is most easily traced, because of the way in which it passes from hand to hand."**

"**Which is what?" asked Harry.**

"**Which is that the possessor of the wand must capture it from its previous owner, if he is to be truly master of it," said Xenophilius. "Surely you have heard of the way the wand came to Egbert the Egregious, after his slaughter of Emeric the Evil? Of how Godelot died in his own cellar after his son, Hereward, took the wand from him? Of the dreadful Loxias, who took the wand from Barnabas Deverill, whom he had killed? The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding history."**

"So to get the wand, the previous owner has to be killed?" Regulus asked, raising an eyebrow in bewilderment.

"Not necessarily." Remus frowned, "any wand will change its allegiance when it is won, even if the one it originally chose is still alive. So if the owner of that wand is merely disarmed, then the wand will change allegiance."

"But we disarm each other all the time, in class when we're learning the disarming charm, and in competition duels, so wouldn't wands be changing their allegiance every day?" Justin wondered, looking puzzled.

"No." Remus said, "I don't know much about wand-lore, but I do know that wands have a slight consciousness, which recognises the situation, so they don't change allegiance when people are practising."

"You sound as though you think wands have feelings." Ernie said.

"Not quite that advanced, but there is something about them that makes me believe that they have a slight consciousness." Remus corrected, "why else would wandmakers say that the wand chooses the wizard?"

**Harry glanced at Hermione. She was frowning at Xenophilius, but she did not contradict him.**

"**So where do you think the Elder Wand is now?" asked Ron.**

"**Alas, who knows?" said Xenophilius, as he gazed out of the window.**

"That's disappointing." Susan whispered.

"**Who knows where the Elder Wand lies hidden? The trail goes cold with Arcus and Livius. Who can say which of them really defeated Loxias, and which took the wand? And who can say who may have defeated them? History, alas, does not tell us."**

**There was a pause. Finally Hermione asked stiffly, "Mr Lovegood, does the Peverell family have anything to do with the Deathly Hallows?"**

"Absolutely everything." Charlus grinned.

**Xenophilius looked taken aback as something shifted in Harry's memory, but he could not locate it. Peverell … he had heard that name before …**

"**But you have been misleading me, young woman!" said Xenophilius, now sitting up much straighter in his chair and goggling at Hermione. "I thought you were new to the Hallows Quest! Many of us Questers believe that the Peverells have everything – _everything!_ – to do with the Hallows!"**

"They do indeed." James smirked.

"**Who are the Peverells?" asked Ron.**

"**That was the name on the grave with the mark on it, in Godric's Hollow," said Hermione, still watching Xenophilius. "Ignotus Peverell."**

"**Exactly!" said Xenophilius, his forefinger raised pedantically. "The sign of the Death Hallows on Ignotus's grave is conclusive proof!"**

"**Of what?" asked Ron.**

"**Why, that the three brothers in the story were actually the three Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus! That they were the original owners of the Hallows!"**

"We know that they were the original owners, but the fact that Ignotus had the symbol engraved on his tombstone doesn't mean diddly-squat." Charlus snorted, "he could have had it engraved on the headstone even if he wasn't the youngest of the three brothers."

**With another glance at the window he got to his feet, picked up the tray, and headed for the spiral staircase.**

"**You will stay for dinner?" he called, as he vanished downstairs again. "Everybody always requests our recipe for Freshwater Plimpy soup."**

"I did not know that people could eat Plimpies." Justin muttered.

"I think the Lovegoods are the only ones who eat them regularly." Ernie sniggered.

"**Probably to show the Poisoning Department at St. Mungo's," said Ron under his breath.**

**Harry waited until they could hear Xenophilius moving about in the kitchen downstairs before speaking.**

"**What do you think?" he asked Hermione.**

"**Oh, Harry," she said wearily, "it's a pile of utter rubbish. This can't be what the sign really means. This must just be his weird take on it. What a waste of time."**

"Broaden your mind, see past the mundane." Seamus howled with laughter.

"Oi, no imitating Trelawney." Ron snorted, "we got enough of her daft ideas in Divination."

"**I s'pose this is the man who brought us Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," said Ron.**

"**You didn't believe it either?" Harry asked him.**

"**Nah, that story's just one of those things you tell kids to teach them lessons, isn't it? 'Don't go looking for trouble, don't go pick fights, don't go messing around with stuff that's best left alone! Just keep your head down, mind your own business, and you'll be okay. Come to think of it," Ron added, "maybe that story's why elder wands are supposed to be unlucky."**

"**What are you talking about?"**

"How can you have spent six or seven years in the magical world without knowing about wizarding superstitions?" James asked incredulously.

"Superstitions are a waste of time, I do not believe in them." Harry said flatly, "I have better things to do with my time than think about something so pointless."

"**One of those superstitions, isn't it? 'May-born witches will marry Muggles.' 'Jinx by twilight, undone by midnight.' 'Wand of elder, never prosper.' You must have heard them. My mum's full of them."**

"But they're not true." Hermione said, "there is no reason why those things should happen that way. Just because someone says something like that, does not mean that anyone has to listen to them."

"Reason, that's the one thing all superstitions lack." Harry sighed, "which is why I do not believe in them."

"**Harry and I were raised by Muggles," Hermione reminded him. "We were taught different superstitions."**

"I wasn't." Harry said, "the Dursleys were of the opinion that superstitious people were as backwards as the lunatics who still believed the Earth was flat and the conspiracy theorists who thought that the American government had faked the moon landings."

"Merlin." Ernie murmured.

"Some people are willing to believe anything." Albus said.

**She sighed deeply as a rather pungent smell drifted up from the kitchen. The one good thing about her exasperation with Xenophilius was that it seemed to have made her forget that she was annoyed at Ron. "I think you're right," she told him. "It's just a morality tale, it's obvious which gift is best, which one you'd choose –"**

**The three of them spoke at the same time: Hermione said, "the Cloak," Ron said, "the wand," and Harry said, "the stone."**

"How very odd." Orion mused.

**They looked at each other, half surprised, half amused.**

"**You're _supposed_ to say the Cloak," Ron told Hermione, "but you wouldn't need to be invisible if you had the wand. _An unbeatable wand_, Hermione, come on!"**

"It's not unbeatable, or no one would be able to take it from the owner." Padma said.

"**We've already got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry.**

"Very true, you do indeed." Abraxas grinned.

"**And it's helped us rather a lot, in case you hadn't noticed!" said Hermione. "Whereas the wand would be bound to attract trouble –"**

"– **only if you shouted about it," argued Ron. "Only if you were prat enough to go dancing around waving it over your head, and singing, 'I've got an unbeatable wand, come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.' As long as you kept your trap shut –"**

"I think it's already been said, but hardly anyone could keep their gob shut if they had a wand like that." Ginny giggled, "I know I couldn't. I'd end up standing on the roof shouting it out to the whole world."

"**Yes, but _could_ you keep your trap shut?" said Hermione, looking sceptical. "You know the only true thing he said to us was that there have been stories about extra-powerful wands for hundreds of years."**

"**There have?" asked Harry.**

**Hermione looked exasperated: the expression was so endearingly familiar that Harry and Ron grinned at each other.**

"I gather you've seen that look a lot." Narcissa smiled.

"Yes, she wears that look almost every day." Draco grinned.

"**The Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, they crop up under different names through the centuries, usually in the possession of some Dark wizard who's boasting about them.**

"So what wand is Voldemort looking for then?" Seamus asked, slightly annoyed that the book hadn't actually mentioned that yet.

"You'll see." Harry smirked, wondering why no one seemed to have figured it out.

**Professor Binns mentioned some of them, but – oh it's all nonsense. Wands are only as powerful as the wizards who use them. Some wizards just like to boast that theirs are bigger and better than other people's."**

"**But how do you know," said Harry, "that those wands – the Deathstick, and the Wand of Destiny – aren't the same wand, surfacing over the centuries under different names?"**

"**What if they're all really the Elder Wand, made by Death?" said Ron. **

"I doubt that the Hallows were made by Death." Remus said, "I think it's more likely that the Peverell brothers made them, and claimed that they were made by Death."

**Harry laughed: the strange idea that had occurred to him was after all, ridiculous. His wand, he reminded himself, had been of holly, not elder, and it had been made by Ollivander, whatever it had done that night Voldemort had pursued him across the skies. And if it had been unbeatable, how could it have been broken?**

Albus fidgeted with his wand, noticed only by Minerva and Flitwick, who both looked at him curiously, wondering why that paragraph would make him uncomfortable, but they knew they wouldn't get a straight answer out of him so turned back to Burbage, who had continued reading.

"**So why would you take the stone?" Ron asked him. **

"**Well, if you could bring people back, we could have Sirius … Mad-Eye … Dumbledore … my parents …"**

"I can understand your desire." Remus whispered, "there was a time when I would have killed for a stone like that, but even I know, you shouldn't think about the past too much, live for the present and the future. I hope, for your sake, if not for anyone else's, that you never find that stone."

"Remus, I know that now." Harry said quietly, "do remember how old I was when I had my soul sent back."

**Neither Ron nor Hermione smiled.**

"**But according to Beedle the Bard, they wouldn't want to come back, would they?" said Harry, thinking about the tale they had just heard. "I don't suppose there have been loads of other stories about a stone that can raise the dead, have there?" he asked Hermione. **

"**No," she replied sadly. "I don't think anyone except Mr Lovegood could kid themselves that's possible. **

"There may not be many people who believe in the Deathly Hallows, not compared to the number of people in the world, but there are probably around a thousand, and every one of them believes that the Hallows are real." Albus said, "Mr Lovegood may seem to be one of the fiercest believers, but there are more ardent believers out there."

**Beedle probably took the idea from the Philosopher's Stone; you know, instead of a stone to make you immortal, a stone to reverse death."**

**The smell from the kitchen was getting stronger. It was something like burning underpants. **

"Do I want to know how you know what burning underwear smells like?" Lily asked, trying not to laugh.

"Peeves." Harry sniggered, "he had decided that he would not allow anyone to walk through a particular door on the way to the Gryffindor common room without setting their underwear on fire."

"So you set your boxers alight." James grinned.

"No, I found a way around, so I didn't have to, but Neville did." Harry smirked, "Ron and I were talking in our dorm and Neville appeared, surrounded by the rather distinctive smell of burned underwear."

"Oh dear." Charlus grinned.

"When was that?" Minerva asked sternly.

"Just after our first Apparition lesson." Harry replied.

"Ah, we will have to make sure to keep an eye on Peeves then." Minerva nodded.

**Harry wondered whether it would be possible to eat enough of whatever Xenophilius was cooking to spare his feelings.**

"**What about the Cloak, though?" said Ron slowly. "Don't you realize, he's right? I've got so used to Harry's Cloak and how good it is, I never stopped to think. I've never heard of one like Harry's. It's infallible. We've never been spotted under it –"**

"**Of course not - we're invisible when we're under it, Ron!"**

"**But all the stuff he said about other cloaks, and they're not exactly ten a Knut, you know, is true! It's never occurred to me before but I've heard stuff about charms wearing off cloaks when they get old, or them being ripped apart by spells so they've got holes, Harry's was owned by his dad, so it's not exactly new, is it, but it's just … perfect!"**

"Indeed." Charlus nodded, "Edward Potter the third, whose mother was Catherine Peverell, was given the Cloak just after he graduated, in thirteen-oh-two, and it is still as good at keeping the wearer invisible as it was then."

"**Yes, all right, but Ron, the _stone_ …"**

**As they argued in whispers, Harry moved around the room, only half listening. **

"Oh thank Merlin, I don't know how you coped with their arguments for seven years." Ginny said, "just spending a week with them was enough to drive me up the wall."

"Oh dear." Narcissa muttered.

**Reaching the spiral stair, he raised his eyes absently to the next level and was distracted at once. His own face was looking back at him from the ceiling of the room above. **

**After a moment's bewilderment, he realized that it was not a mirror, but a painting. Curious, he began to climb the stairs. **

"**Harry, what are you doing? I don't think you should look around when he's not here!"**

"Oh don't worry Hermione, he's allowed to look in my room." Luna smiled, "I have nothing to hide."

"Which must be why you hardly ever wear clothes during the summer holidays." Ginny giggled.

"Nudity is nothing to be ashamed of." Luna shrugged, "humans shouldn't hide themselves when they could walk around as nature intended."

**But Harry had already reached the next level. **

**Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. **

"Wow, that's so sweet." Parvati cooed.

"I didn't know you'd created something like that." Ginny said.

"Why wouldn't I paint pictures of my only friends on my ceiling?" Luna whispered.

Luna's heartbroken whisper sliced into the hearts of the Ravenclaws who had teased her so much during the five years she had been at Hogwarts. They couldn't believe that they had forgotten the deputy headmistress' speech at the beginning of their first year, when she had told them that the houses were supposed to be like families for the students, looking out for each other, not teasing one member for having beliefs that differed from their own. Many of the fifth year Ravenclaws sunk down in theirs seats, trying to make themselves as small as possible so as not to draw the attention of anyone who was likely to want to hex them.

**They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same. Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be a fine golden chains wove around the pictures linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word repeated a thousand times in golden ink: _friends … friends … friends … _**

"That's so sweet." Lily said, wiping a few tears from the corners of her eyes.

**Harry felt a great rush of affection for Luna. He looked around the room. There was a large photograph beside the bed, of a young Luna and a woman who looked very like her. They were hugging. Luna looked rather better-groomed in this picture than Harry had ever seen her in life. The picture was dusty. This struck Harry as slightly odd. He stared around. **

"If I was there, that picture wouldn't be dusty." Luna murmured to herself, getting worried, "so where am I, and why did Daddy lie?"

**Something was wrong. The pale blue carpet was also thick with dust. There were no clothes in the wardrobe, whose doors stood ajar. The bed had a cold, unfriendly look, as though it had not been slept in for weeks. A single cobweb stretched over the nearest window across the blood-red sky. **

"Oh Merlin, Luna really isn't there." Lily gasped, "I think, and I hope I'm wrong, that she's been captured, and Xeno has capitulated to whatever demands have been made of him."

"**What's wrong?" Hermione asked as Harry descended the staircase, but before he could respond, Xenophilius reached the top of the stairs from the kitchen, now holding a tray laden with bowls. **

"**Mr Lovegood," said Harry. "Where's Luna?"**

"**Excuse me?"**

"**Where's Luna?"**

**Xenophilius halted on the top step. **

"**I – I've already told you. She is down at the Bottom Bridge fishing for Plimpies."**

"**So why have you only laid that tray for four?"**

"That's a major clue." James grimaced, "they've threatened him, or something he cares about."

**Xenophilius tried to speak, but no sound came out. The only noise was the continued chugging of the printing press, and a slight rattle from the tray as Xenophilius's hands shook. **

"**I don't think Luna's been here for weeks." said Harry. "Her clothes are gone, her bed hasn't been slept in. Where is she? And why do you keep looking out of the window?"**

"Don't stay to question him, just get out of there, you can find out what happened to Luna later." Susan whispered, panicking.

**Xenophilius dropped the tray: the bowls bounced and smashed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew their wands: Xenophilius froze his hand about to enter his pocket. At that moment the printing press gave a huge bang and numerous _Quibblers_ came streaming across the floor from underneath the tablecloth; the press fell silent at last. **

**Hermione stooped down and picked up one of the magazines, her wand still pointing at Mr Lovegood. **

"**Harry, look at this."**

**He strode over to her as quickly as he could through all the clutter. The front of the _Quibbler_ carried his own picture, emblazoned with the words _Undesirable Number One_ and captioned with the reward money. **

"Oh bugger." Remus groaned.

"Oh Daddy." Luna moaned, knowing what he was doing, and absolutely hating it.

"**_The Quibbler_'s going for a new angle, then?" Harry asked coldly, his mind working very fast. "Is that what you were doing when you went into the garden, Mr Lovegood? Sending an owl to the Ministry?"**

**Xenophilius licked his lips.**

"**They took my Luna," he whispered, "Because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her. But they might give her back to me if I – if I –"**

"Don't do it Daddy." Luna implored, bursting into tears at her father's betrayal of the only friends she had.

"I can understand where he's coming from." James sighed, "everyone has a line that they will never cross, a choice that they have to make, and this is his. Any parent would do anything in their power to keep their children safe, it might not be the best thing to do, but your father is only thinking about your safety, nothing else matters to him as much as that. You said it yourself, you're all he's got left."

"I wouldn't want him to save me by betraying my only friends." Luna screamed angrily, though she was still crying, "he should know me well enough to know that my life would be pointless if he succeeded. I would rather be tortured to death than lose my friends, who mean everything to me. He doesn't understand that if I had to, I would walk through hell and back to help my friends, like any member of Dumbledore's Army. If he truly wanted to save me, he should tell the trio where I am, and leave it to them, without interfering."

Everyone stared at Luna, wondering whether they would be able to be as brave as her if they were in the same situation. Only people like Harry's dorm-mates, could imagine that they would be that brace, knowing what lengths Harry would go to to get them free.

"**Hand over Harry?" Hermione finished for him.**

"**No deal." said Ron flatly. "Get out of the way, we're leaving."**

**Xenophilius looked ghastly, a century old, his lips drawn back into a dreadful leer. **

"**They will be here any moment. I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."**

**He spread his arms in front of the staircase, and Harry had a sudden vision of his mother doing the same thing in front of his crib. **

"It's not the same." Luna and Lily whispered. Luna still had tears of frustration and heartbreak streaming down her cheeks.

"My father isn't trying to save me, to help _me_, he's doing it to protect himself." Luna continued in a small voice.

"**Don't make us hurt you," Harry said. "Get out of the way, Mr Lovegood."**

"**HARRY!" Hermione screamed. **

**Figures on broomsticks were flying past the windows. As the three of them looked away from him, Xenophilius drew his wand. Harry realized their mistake just in time. He launched himself sideways, shoving Ron and Hermione out of harm's way**

"Good reflexes." Moody growled approvingly, continuing to stare around the hall at anyone he thought might be behaving suspiciously, as he had done since the beginning of the first chapter.

**as Xenophilius's Stunning Spell soared across the room and hit the Erumpent horn.**

"That's not good." Remus muttered.

**There was a colossal explosion. **

"I'm not surprised." Cygnus said dryly.

**The sound of it seemed to blow the room apart: fragments of wood and paper and rubble flew in all directions, along with an impenetrable cloud of thick white dust. Harry flew through the air, then crashed to the floor, unable to see as debris rained upon him, his arms over his head. He heard Hermione's scream, Ron's yell, and a series of sickening metallic thuds which told him that Xenophilius had been blasted off his feet and fallen backwards down the spiral stairs. **

Luna winced, knowing that she still loved her father, but she couldn't believe what he had done, just to get her away from the Death Eaters. She couldn't decide whether to sympathise with him for the pain of falling down the stairs after blowing their house up, or think that he deserved whatever pain he was in.

**Half buried in rubble, Harry tried to raise himself: he could barely breathe or see for dust. Half of the ceiling had fall in and the end of Luna's bead was hanging through the hole. The bust of Rowena Ravenclaw lay beside him with half its face missing, fragments of torn parchment were floating through the air and most of the printing press lay on its side, blocking the top of the staircase to the kitchen. Then another white shape moved close by, and Hermione, coated in dust like a second statue, pressed her finger to his lips. **

**The door downstairs crashed open. **

"**Didn't I tell you there was no need to hurry, Travers?" said a rough voice. "Didn't I tell you this nutter was just raving as usual?"**

"Crap, they're Inner Circle Death Eaters." James grimaced, "not good."

**There was a bang and a scream of pain from Xenophilius. **

"**No … no … upstairs … Potter!"**

"**I told you last week Lovegood, we weren't coming back for anything less than some solid information! Remember last week? When you wanted to swap your daughter for that stupid bleeding headdress? And the week before –" another bang, another squeal "– when you thought we'd give her back if you offered us proof there are Crumple –" _bang_ "– Headed –" _bang_ "– Snorkacks?"**

"**No – no – I beg of you!" sobbed Xenophilius. "It really is Potter, Really!"**

"**And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!" roared the Death Eater, and there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of agony from Xenophilius.**

"I hope they don't kill him." Minerva said, "I may not be very impressed with his actions, but he doesn't deserve to be killed."

"**The place looks like it's about to fall in, Selwyn," said a cool second voice, echoing up the mangled staircase. "The stairs are completely blocked. Could try clearing it? Might bring the place down."**

"**You lying piece of filth." shouted the wizard named Selwyn. "You have never seen Potter in your life, have you? Thought you'd lure us here to kill us, did you? And you think you'll get your girl back like this?"**

"**I swear … I swear … Potter's upstairs!"**

"**_Homenum revelio_." said the voice at the foot of the stairs. **

**Harry heard Hermione gasp, and he had the odd sensation something was swooping low over him, immersing his body in its shadow.**

Lily closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing. She was determined not to panic too much, because she knew that her son had somehow got out of that mess, but she really couldn't work out how, and that was terrifying her more than she would ever be willing to admit.

"**There's someone up there all right, Selwyn," said the second man sharply. **

"**It's Potter, I tell you, it's Potter!" sobbed Xenophilius. "Please … please … give me Luna, just let me have Luna …"**

"**You can have your little girl, Lovegood," said Selwyn, "if you get up those stairs and bring me down Harry Potter. But if this is a plot, if it's a trick, if you've got an accomplice waiting up there to ambush us, we'll see if we can spare a bit of your daughter for you to bury."**

"Those bastards." Dorea snarled, her anger at the fact that the Death Eaters were threatening a young girl's father like that, overwhelming her fear for her grandson's life.

**Xenophilius gave a wail of fear and despair. There were scurryings and scrapings: Xenophilius was trying to get through the debris on the stairs.**

"**Come on," Harry whispered, "we've got to get out of here."**

"Please, hurry." Charlus whispered, not feeling able to speak any louder for fear of letting his terror take over completely. He really did not want to read about his grandson's death, and even though he knew, in his mind, that Harry had survived, he didn't quite know how that could be possible.

**He started to dig himself out under cover of all the noise Xenophilius was making on the staircase. Ron was buried the deepest: Harry and Hermione climbed, as quietly as they could, over all the wreckage to where he lay, trying to prise a heavy chest of drawers off his legs. While Xenophilius banging and scraping drew nearer and nearer, Hermione managed to free Ron with the use of a Hover Charm. **

"**All right." breathed Hermione, as the broken printing press blocking the top of the stairs begin to tremble. Xenophilius was feet away from them. She was still white with dust. "Do you trust me Harry?"**

"That was a ridiculously stupid question." Draco snorted, "we trust you with our lives, Hermione. You have stood by us for years, and I think it would be pretty difficult for you to lose our trust."

**Harry nodded.**

"**Okay then." Hermione whispered. "give me the invisibility Cloak. Ron, you're going to put it on."**

"**Me? But Harry –"**

"**_Please, Ron!_ Harry, hold on tight to my hand, Ron grab my shoulder."**

"I still don't get why Ron has to hide under the cloak." Colin whined.

"Because the Death Eaters think he's stuck at home with Spattergroit, and if he wasn't hidden, then they would know that there was something funky going on at the Burrow, and go after the entire Weasley family." Orion sighed, "hiding him under the cloak is just as much for his family's protection as it is for his."

**Harry held out his left hand. Ron vanished beneath the Cloak. The printing press blocking the stairs was vibrating. Xenophilius was trying to shift it using a Hover Charm. Harry did not know what Hermione was waiting for.**

"**Hold tight" she whispered. "Hold tight … any second …" **

**Xenophilius's paper-white face appeared over the top of the sideboard.**

"**_Obliviate!_" cried Hermione, pointing her wand first into his face then at the floor beneath them: "_Deprimo!_"**

"That's brilliant plan, and hopefully Xeno won't be punished." Sprout whispered.

"It's only a brilliant plan because it was Hermione's." Ron and Harry sniggered, "if it was either one of us coming up with it, it would be considered the stupidest plan ever."

**She had blasted a hole in the sitting room floor. They fell like boulders. Harry still holding onto her hand for dear life, there was a scream from below, and he glimpsed two men trying to get out of the way as vast quantities of rubble and broken furniture rained all around them from the shattered ceiling. Hermione twisted in mid-air and thundering of the collapsing house rang in Harry's ears as she dragged him once more into darkness.**

"That's the end of the chapter." Burbage said, breathing a sigh of relief. She may have found the book exciting, but that chapter was a bit too exciting for her taste.

"I'll go next, if nobody minds." Lucius smiled.

"By all means, we won't stop someone reading if they want to." Albus said, gently floating the book to where Lucius was sitting.


	29. Chapter 29

**The Deathly Hallows**

"**The Deathly Hallows**," Lucius read, once he had opened the book to the right page and taken a quick gulp of pumpkin juice.

**Harry fell, panting, onto grass and scrambled up at once. They seemed to have landed in the corner of a field at dusk; Hermione was already running in a circle around them, waving her wand.**

"**_Protego Totalum … Salvio Hexia …_"**

"**That treacherous old bleeder." Ron panted, emerging from beneath the Invisibility Cloak and throwing it to Harry.**

"Nice way with words." James sniggered, glancing at Luna to see how she was coping with what her father had done.

"I'm OK, I'm disappointed in my father, but you don't have to worry about me." Luna said, regaining some of her old dreaminess, "I won't do something crazy, or even scold my father for what he did, because he won't know what I'm talking about, so it wouldn't be as satisfying."

"**Hermione you're a genius, a total genius, I can't believe we got out of that."**

"**_Cave Inimicum … _Didn't I _say_ it was an Erumpent horn, didn't I tell him? And now his house has been blown apart!"**

"**Serves him right," said Ron, examining his torn jeans and the cuts to his legs, "What'd you reckon they'll do to him?"**

"They'll probably imprison him." Minerva sighed.

"What about _The Quibbler_?" Lavender wondered.

"That won't be printed again until they release him, unless someone else decides to take over." Minerva replied.

"_The Quibbler_ is Daddy's paper, he won't let anyone else print it." Luna shrugged, "if he's unable, then there won't be any more produced."

"**Oh I hope they don't kill him!" groaned Hermione, "That's why I wanted the Death Eaters to get a glimpse of Harry before we left, so they knew Xenophilius hadn't been lying!"**

"**Why hide me though?" asked Ron.**

"**You're supposed to be in bed with spattergroit, Ron! They've kidnapped Luna because her father supported Harry! What would happen to your family if they knew you're with him?"**

"But it would take them years to round up the entire Weasley family." Bill said dryly.

"Yes, well, we are one of the most fertile families around." Charlie sniggered.

"**But what about _your_ mum and dad?"**

"**They're in Australia," said Hermione, "They should be all right. They don't know anything."**

"**You're a genius," Ron repeated, looking awed.**

"Indeed she is, she isn't known as the smartest witch of her age for nothing." Draco grinned.

"**Yeah, you are, Hermione," agreed Harry fervently. "I don't know what we'd do without you."**

**She beamed, but became solemn at once.**

"**What about Luna?"**

"**Well, if they're telling the truth and she's still alive –" began Ron.**

"**Don't say that, don't say it!" squealed Hermione. "She must be alive, she must!"**

"**Then she'll be in Azkaban, I expect," said Ron.**

"Merlin, I hope not." Dorea said, "no one deserves that."

"She wasn't, fortunately." Hermione sighed.

"So where …?" Charlus wondered.

"You'll see." Harry replied, "it will be mentioned, either in the next chapter, or the chapter after that."

"**Whether she survives the place, though … loads don't …"**

"**She will," said Harry. He could not bear to contemplate the alternative. "She's tough, Luna, much tougher than you'd think. She's probably teaching all the inmates about Wrackspurts and Nargles."**

"I can definitely imagine that." Neville said in amusement.

"**I hope you're right," said Hermione. She passed a hand over her eyes. "I'd feel so sorry for Xenophilius if –"**

"– **if he hadn't just tried to sell us to the Death Eaters, yeah," said Ron.**

**They put up the tent and retreated inside it, where Ron made them tea. After their narrow escape, the chilly, musty old place felt like home, safe, familiar, and friendly.**

"Oh wow, I never thought I'd hear you three think something like that about that tent." George snorted.

"**Oh, why did we go there?" groaned Hermione after a few minutes' silence. "Harry, you were right, it was Godric's Hollow all over again, a complete waste of time! The Deathly Hallows … such rubbish … although actually," a sudden thought seemed to have struck her, "he might have made it all up, mightn't he? He probably doesn't believe in the Deathly Hallows at all, he just wanted to keep us talking until the Death Eaters arrived!"**

"Daddy can't lie to save his life." Luna said, "he truly believes in the Hallows."

"**I don't think so," said Ron. "It's a damn sight harder making stuff up when you're under stress than you'd think.**

"Yep, lying to Minnie is easiest when you aren't scared out of your wits." Harry said, not actually realising he'd said that out loud.

"I beg your pardon?" Minerva snapped, "and don't call me Minnie, ever again."

"Oops." Harry mumbled sheepishly.

"Yeah, despite being mentally sixty-six, and having faced the Wraith and Goa'uld on countless occasions, she still has the power to make us feel really small." Ron grinned.

"She even has the power to make the Goa'uld feel small." Hermione giggled, "remember what she was like when Morrigan called her an impudent child."

"I think that was the first time I heard Morrigan actually insult someone, to their face." Draco said.

"You weren't posing as Yu-huang Shiang Ti's Lo'taur during the summit meeting of the System Lords." Harry snorted, "she was quite vocal during that, insulting people left right and centre."

"I really wish I had been there." Draco grinned, "it would have got me out of listening to Aldwin's lecture."

"If you would be so kind as to explain, we would be grateful." Albus smiled, "who is Yu-huang Shiang Ti, and who is Aldwin?"

"Yu-huang Shiang Ti is one of the Goa'uld System Lords, in fact, he's one of the oldest, but we don't know much about when he came to Earth." Harry said, "we do know though, that he was known as both Yu the Great, founder of the Xia dynasty, four thousand years ago, as well as the Jade Emperor, a deity of Taoism, which developed in about the fourth century BC."

"He's not a typical Goa'uld, being far more pragmatic than most of the others that we know of, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't believe in the superiority of the Goa'uld as a race." Draco continued, "he is, in fact, one of the more reasonable System Lords, since he was willing to ally himself with the SGC, and us, against the other System Lords, and he never broke his word, not deliberately."

"I think the only time he came anywhere near to betraying us, was when he made a mistake." Harry said, "of course, at that point he was senile."

"As for Aldwin, he's a member of the resistance against the Goa'uld." Hermione smiled, moving on and answering Albus' second question, "they're known as the Tok'Ra, and while they are biologically and physiologically similar to the Goa'uld, they are philosophically completely different. Both the Goa'uld and the Tok'Ra require human hosts to survive, but instead of taking a host by force, like the Goa'uld, the Tok'Ra will only take a willing host."

"They have different methods for taking a host as well." Harry grinned, "the Goa'uld enter the host's body through the back of the neck, while the Tok'Ra enter through the mouth. From what a friend of ours told us, being blended with a Tok'Ra symbiote is a rather incredible experience. The Tok'Ra symbiote shares control with the host, so one minute, the host will be talking and sharing their opinion, and the next the symbiote will take over and share their opinion. Unfortunately, the Goa'uld completely suppress their hosts, never allowing them to do or say what they want."

"The other big difference is the fact that the Goa'uld have technology which will keep them alive, even with fatal injuries." Hermione continued, "they don't let their hosts die naturally, and will only take a new one when the old one is too far gone for the parasite to heal without access to the technology. Yu-huang Shiang Ti's host is over two thousand years old, and the only reason he is still alive is the Goa'uld sarcophagus, which will heal any injury. The Tok'Ra on the other hand, refuse to use that technology, preferring instead to take a new host, when the old one is dying."

"Incredible." Minerva whispered, "let's continue."

**I found that out when the Snatchers caught me. It was much easier pretending to be Stan, because I knew a bit about him, than inventing a whole new person. Old Lovegood was under loads of pressure, trying to make sure we stayed put. I reckon he told us the truth, or what he thinks is the truth, just to keep us talking."**

"**Well, I don't suppose it matters," sighed Hermione. "Even if he was being honest, I never heard such a lot of nonsense in all my life."**

"**Hang on, though," said Ron. "The Chamber of Secrets was supposed to be a myth, wasn't it?"**

"That is true, but very different." Flitwick said, "the Chamber wasn't mentioned in any children's storybook, like the Hallows, but was mentioned in _Hogwarts: A History_, which is considered to be one of the foremost factual reference texts about the school and the Founders themselves."

"**But the Deathly Hallows _can't_ exist, Ron!"**

"**You keep saying that, but one of them can," said Ron. "Harry's Invisibility Cloak –"**

"**The Tale of the Three Brothers' is a story," said Hermione firmly. "A story about how humans are frightened of death. If surviving was as simple as hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, we'd have everything we need already!"**

"They're bickering, again." Fred grinned, "things are back to normal."

"**I don't know. We could do with an unbeatable wand," said Harry, turning the blackthorn wand he so disliked over in his fingers.**

"**There's no such thing, Harry!"**

"I wouldn't be so sure." Terry said shrewdly, "if the Deathstick and Wand of Destiny are just the Elder Wand under different names, then I wouldn't be surprised to know that it was extremely powerful, and damn near unbeatable, even if people do succeed at getting it through murder and stealing. It may well be unbeatable in a straight duel, unless the one who doesn't have it is more talented than the wielder. Raw power doesn't guarantee a victory, sometimes what people do with that power is the most important thing."

"**You said there have been loads of wands – the Deathstick and whatever they were called –"**

"**All right, even if you want to kid yourself the Elder Wand's real, what about the Resurrection Stone?" Her fingers sketched quotation marks around the name, and her tone dripped sarcasm. "No magic can raise the dead, and that's that!"**

"Not exactly true." Anthony said, "there are mentions of resurrections in some of the DADA books in the library, and anyway, the story didn't say that the girl had been brought back completely, it said that she was only part-there, as if she was almost a ghost."

"**When my wand connected with You-Know-Who's, it made my mum and dad appear … and Cedric …"**

"But they weren't real." Remus sighed, "that was just the effect of the Priori Incantatem, which only occurs when brother wands are forced to battle each other."

"**But they weren't really back from the dead, were they?" said Hermione. "Those kind of -of pale imitations aren't the same as truly bringing someone back to life."**

"**But she, the girl in the tale, didn't really come back, did she? The story says that once people are dead, they belong with the dead. But the second brother still got to see her and talk to her, didn't he? He even lived with her for a while …"**

"That sounds remarkably similar to what you said the shades looked like in the graveyard." Albus said, "so I would think that the Resurrection Stone would have the same kind of effect."

"So you're saying that the Stone could be a way for those who have lost loved ones to say goodbye if they didn't get the chance before?" Susan asked.

"It could indeed." Albus nodded, "and, I may be wrong, but I think that might have been what it was made for."

**He saw concern and something less easily definable in Hermione's expression. Then, as she glanced at Ron, Harry realized that it was fear: he had scared her with his talk of living with dead people.**

"Of course you bloody well did." Hermione snorted.

"**So that Peverell bloke who's buried in Godric's Hollow," he said hastily, trying to sound robustly sane, "you don't know anything about him, then?"**

"**No," she replied, looking relieved at the change of subject. "I looked him up after I saw the mark on his grave; if he'd been anyone famous or done anything important, I'm sure he'd be in one of our books. The only place I've managed to find the name 'Peverell' is _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_. I borrowed it from Kreacher," she explained as Ron raised his eyebrows. **

"Another case of Hermione's sticky fingers." Ron sniggered.

"**It lists the pure-blood families that are now extinct in the male line. Apparently the Peverells were one of the earliest families to vanish."**

"'**Extinct in the male line'?" repeated Ron.**

"It means the name died out." Lily said.

Harry, Ron and Lucius snorted, trying desperately not to burst out laughing at that, because Hermione was giving them her fiercest glare.

"What?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"**It means the name died out," said Hermione, **

"Oh." Lily mumbled, blushing slightly at having said the same thing as Hermione.

"**centuries ago, in the case of the Peverells. They could still have descendants, though, they'd just be called something different."**

"Like Potter." Charlus grinned.

**And then it came to Harry in one shining piece, the memory that had stirred at the sound of the name Peverell: a filthy old man brandishing an ugly ring in the face of a Ministry official, and he cried aloud, "Marvolo Gaunt!"**

"I'm confused." Tonks said.

"You aren't the only one." Remus smiled.

"**Sorry," said Ron and Hermione together.**

"**_Marvolo Gaunt_! You-Know-Who's grandfather! In the Pensieve! With Dumbledore! Marvolo Gaunt said he was descended from the Peverells!"**

"He was." Albus nodded, "I'm not sure how his family is connected, but he was a descendant of Cadmus Peverell."

"That means we're related to him." Charlus said.

"All the pureblood families are related in some way." Abraxas sniggered, "we're probably related to him too."

"I thought the old families kept records, and knew who they were related to." Justin frowned.

"We do, but I never really bothered to examine our family tree in depth." Abraxas snorted, "it just wasn't terribly interesting when I was younger, and after I left the magical world, I couldn't just walk into Malfoy Manor to have a look, if I didn't want to reveal the fact that I had faked my death."

**Ron and Hermione looked bewildered.**

"**The ring, the ring that became the Horcrux, Marvolo Gaunt said it had the Peverell coat of arms on it! I saw him waving it in the bloke from the Ministry's face, he nearly shoved it up his nose!"**

"**The Peverell coat of arms?" said Hermione sharply. "Could you see what it looked like?"**

"**Not really," said Harry, trying to remember. "There was nothing fancy on there, as far as I could see; maybe a few scratches. I only ever saw it really close up after it had been cracked open."**

"The Peverells were one of those families that preferred simplicity in everything, so just having the sign of the Hallows as their coat of arms with no embellishments is something they would have done." Orion nodded.

"They were also, apparently, a rather frugal family, despite having quite a lot of money." Cygnus agreed.

**Harry saw Hermione's comprehension in the sudden widening of her eyes. Ron was looking from one to the other, astonished.**

"**Blimey … you reckon it was this sign again? The sign of the Hallows?"**

"If it really was the sign of the Hallows, then that would mean … something important I bet." James said.

"Yes, but what?" Remus asked, gazing at his best friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know." James grumbled.

"**Why not?" said Harry excitedly, "Marvolo Gaunt was an ignorant old git who lived like a pig, all he cared about was his ancestry. If that ring had been passed down through the centuries, he might not have known what it really was. There were no books in that house, and trust me, he wasn't the type to read fairy tales to his kids. He'd have loved to think the scratches on the stone were a coat of arms, because as far as he was concerned, having pure blood made you practically royal."**

"His opinion would have been inflated by the fact that they were descendants of Slytherin." Minerva muttered.

"**Yes … and that's all very interesting," said Hermione cautiously, "but Harry, if you're thinking what I think you're think –"**

"**Well, why not? _Why not?_" said Harry, abandoning caution. "It was a stone, wasn't it?" He looked at Ron for support. "What if it was the Resurrection Stone?"**

**Ron's mouth fell open.**

"**Blimey – but would it still work if Dumbledore broke –?"**

"**Work? _Work?_ Ron, it never worked! _There's no such thing as a Resurrection Stone!_"**

"Hermione, you really need to understand that there are things that cannot be explained with logic." Lily said gently, "logic and magic are not always compatible. There are phenomena that cannot be explained with logic alone."

"To suggest that the Resurrection Stone cannot exist, is to ignore the fact that magic can do almost anything." James added.

"I know that now, but back then, I couldn't stand thinking illogically." Hermione sighed, "it made me feel … itchy, I don't know why."

**Hermione leapt to her feet, looking exasperated and angry. "Harry you're trying to fit everything into the Hallows story –"**

"He doesn't have to try and fit it in, it all fits." Charlus said, "whether you want it to or not."

"**_Fit everything in?_" he repeated. "Hermione, it fits of its own accord! I know the sign of the Deathly Hallows was on that stone! Gaunt said he was descended from the Peverells!"**

"**A minute ago you told us you never saw the mark on the stone properly!"**

"True, however, I do believe that Harry understands more, having actually seen the memories." Regulus said, "there is a saying, seeing is believing, and as far as I know, you didn't see the memories professor Dumbledore showed Harry, so I think you'd need to see them to understand where he's coming from."

"I've also noticed that Harry seems to be better at putting the pieces together to solve the puzzle and using his intuition, which might help." Caruso added.

"**Where'd you reckon the ring is now?" Ron asked Harry. "What did Dumbledore do with it after he broke it open?"**

**But Harry's imagination was racing ahead, far beyond Ron and Hermione's …**

_**Three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death … master … conqueror … vanquisher … the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death …**_

**And he saw himself, possessor of the Hallows, facing Voldemort, whose Horcruxes were no match … _Neither can live while the other survives_ … was this the answer? Hallows versus Horcruxes? Was there a way after all, to ensure that he was the one who triumphed? If he were the master of the Deathly Hallows, would he be safe?**

"The Hallows might help, but not in the way you seem to think they will." Lily said, frowning as she pondered.

"**Harry?"**

**But he scarcely heard Hermione:he had pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and was running it through his fingers, the cloth supple as water, light as air. He had never seen anything to equal it in his nearly seven years in the Wizarding world. The Cloak was exactly what Xenophilius had described: _a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it …_**

**And then, with a gasp, he remembered –**

"**Dumbledore had my Cloak the night my parents died!"**

"Is that why you gave it to him?" Seamus wondered, "because it belonged to Ignotus Peverell?"

"I think so." James said, "I lent it to him the day after our wedding anniversary, and I had a hangover, so I can't really remember much."

**His voice shook and he could feel the colour in his face, but he did not care.**

"**My mum told Sirius that Dumbledore borrowed the Cloak! This is why! He wanted to examine it, because he thought it was the third Hallow! Ignotus Peverell is buried in Godric's Hollow …" Harry was walking blindly around the tent, feeling as though great new vistas of truth were opening all around him. "He's my ancestor. I'm descended from the third brother! It all makes sense!"**

"I'm glad the cloak's history did not die with us." Charlus whispered.

**He felt armed in certainty, in his belief in the Hallows, as if the mere idea of possessing them was giving him protection, and he felt joyous as he turned back to the other two.**

"**Harry," said Hermione again, but he was busy undoing the pouch around his neck, his fingers shaking hard.**

"**Read it," he told her, pushing his mother's letter into her hand. "Read it! Dumbledore had the Cloak, Hermione! Why else would he want it? He didn't need a Cloak, he could perform a Disillusionment Charm so powerful that he made himself completely invisible without one!"**

"How on earth do you know that?" Dorea asked curiously, "I'm sure it's not something that comes up in daily conversation."

"I don't think Harry and I have had what people would ever call, daily conversation." Albus smiled, "we seem to have too many other things to discuss."

**Something fell to the floor and rolled, glittering, under a chair: he had dislodged the Snitch when he pulled out the letter. He stooped to pick it up, and then the newly tapped spring of fabulous discoveries threw him another gift, and shock and wonder erupted inside him so that he shouted out.**

"**IT'S IN HERE! He left me the ring – it's in the Snitch!"**

"Harry, you do know that you are sounding as though you've just sky-dived right over the edge of sanity?" Dean sniggered.

"Yeah." Harry snorted, "I got a little over-excited that day."

"Only a little, he says." Ron laughed.

"We should have known by then, that when Harry sounds like he should be locked in a room with rubber walls, he's usually right." Hermione giggled.

"**You - you reckon?"**

**He could not understand why Ron looked taken aback. It was so obvious, so clear to Harry: everything fit, everything … his Cloak was the third Hallow, and when he discovered how to open the Snitch he would have the second, and then all he needed to do was find the first Hallow, the Elder Wand, and then –**

"Yeah, you're right, it really does all fit, almost perfectly." James said, "of course, you don't know that the ring that Voldemort turned into a Horcrux really was the Resurrection Stone, instead of just an ordinary ring, but it is likely that it really was."

**But it was as though a curtain fell on a lit stage: all his excitement, all his hope and happiness were extinguished at a stroke, and he stood alone in the darkness, and the glorious spell was broken.**

"**That's what he's after."**

**The change in his voice made Ron and Hermione look even more scared.**

"**You-Know-Who's after the Elder Wand."**

"Crud." Dean sighed.

"No wonder Harry went from happy to depressed so quickly." Bill grinned.

**He turned his back on their strained, incredulous faces. He knew it was the truth. It all made sense, Voldemort was not seeking a new wand; he was seeking an old wand, a very old wand indeed. Harry walked to the entrance of the tent, forgetting about Ron and Hermione as he looked out into the night, thinking …**

**Voldemort had been raised in a Muggle orphanage. Nobody could have told him _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ when he was a child, any more than Harry had heard them. Hardly any wizards believed in the Deathly Hallows. Was it likely that Voldemort knew about them?**

"Unlikely." Remus said, "he's probably only interested in the wand."

"There is the possibility that he did find mentions of the Hallows in various texts dealing with his ancestry, but because they are associated with Death, which he is terrified of, he wouldn't have been all that interested." Albus sighed.

**Harry gazed into the darkness … if Voldemort had known about the Deathly Hallows, surely he would have sought them, done anything to possess them: three objects that made the possessor master of Death? If he had known about the Deathly Hallows, he might not have needed Horcruxes in the first place. Didn't the simple fact that he had taken a Hallow, and turned it into a Horcrux, demonstrate that he did not know this last great Wizarding secret?**

"Maybe, but he was extremely happy when he found out just how rare his ability to speak to snakes really is." Albus said, "so he may have sought out as much knowledge as he could, no matter how obscure. However, I do not think he truly believes in the existence of the Hallows, even when he had one in his hand. As I said a little earlier, Voldemort is terrified of dying, it is the one thing he fears above all else, which is why he created Horcruxes."

"But why is he so afraid?" Ernie wondered.

"I'm not sure." Albus sighed, "I do know that he believed that the fact that his mother was dead, meant she was weak. He thought that if she had been a witch, she wouldn't have died, but apart from that, I am unsure as to the reason he is scared of dying."

**Which meant that Voldemort sought the Elder Wand without realizing its full power, without understanding that it was one of three … for the wand was the Hallow that could not be hidden, whose existence was best known … _the bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding history…_**

**Harry watched the cloudy sky, curves of smoke-grey and silver sliding over the face of the white moon. He felt light-headed with amazement at his discoveries.**

**He turned back into the tent. It was a shock to see Ron and Hermione standing exactly where he had left them, Hermione still holding Lily's letter, Ron at her side looking slightly anxious. Didn't they realize how far they had travelled in the last few minutes?**

"I doubt it." Susan giggled, "if we hadn't heard Harry's thoughts on the matter, I wouldn't realise it either."

"Definitely." Hannah nodded.

"**This is it?" Harry said, trying to bring them inside the glow of his own astonished certainty, "This explains everything. The Deathly Hallows are real and I've got one – maybe two –"**

**He held up the Snitch.**

"– **and You-Know-Who's chasing the third, but he doesn't realize … he just thinks it's a powerful wand –"**

"**Harry," said Hermione, moving across to him and handing him back Lily's letter, "I'm sorry, but I think you've got this wrong, all wrong."**

"No, he hasn't." James said, "the Hallows do exist, they are important, why I don't know, but they would not have been mentioned if they weren't part of the story in some way."

"**But don't you see? It all fits –"**

"**Not, it doesn't," she said. "It _doesn't_. Harry, you're just getting carried away. Please," she said as she started to speak, "please just answer me this. If the Deathly Hallows really existed, and Dumbledore knew about them, knew that the person who possessed all of them would be master of Death - Harry, why wouldn't he have told you? Why?"**

"Because I couldn't." Albus sighed, "I could only give hints, small clues. I don't know why, but no one who believes in the Hallows can actually tell someone who has never heard of them. I don't even know why we are able to speak of them so clearly right now, unless there is some enchantment on the hall to allow this discussion."

"So, you did want Harry to know about them?" Lily asked.

"Oh yes." Albus nodded, "I believe I would have hoped that it would take him a bit longer to figure it out, however, I do believe that the Hallows will be able to provide some small help in ending the war. That is my reason for leaving Hermione my copy of the Tales."

**He had his answer ready.**

"**But you said it, Hermione! You've got to find out about them for yourself! It's a Quest!"**

"**But I only said that to try and persuade you to come to the Lovegoods'!" cried Hermione in exasperation. "I didn't really believe it!"**

**Harry took no notice.**

"**Dumbledore usually let me find out stuff for myself. He let me try my strength, take risks. This feels like the kind of thing he'd do."**

"I hope not." Lily growled.

"Indeed. If we had been alive, we would never have allowed it." Dorea nodded, glaring at the headmaster angrily.

"Unfortunately, I knew what the prophecy could mean, and I didn't want Harry thrown into a situation when he didn't have enough confidence in his abilities. I knew that Harry would need that confidence, and excelling only in a classroom would not help him." Albus sighed.

"So you knew that the Philosopher's Stone was in danger at the end of his first year?" Minerva asked, keeping her tone just below a shriek.

"Yes, but I felt that Harry deserved the chance to test himself against Voldemort in a semi-controlled situation." Albus replied sadly.

"And what about the Chamber, when Harry had to save Ginny?" Mrs Weasley asked, glaring at the headmaster, just like all the other mothers in the hall.

"That was unexpected." Albus sighed, "I did not know what the creature in the Chamber was, nor did I know where it was. After Myrtle died, I tried to ask her how, but she would never tell me, even going so far as to refuse to talk to any of the other ghosts, and all I could do, was pray."

"So you didn't deliberately force Harry into that position?" Remus queried, looking for clarification.

"No." Albus said, "the end of his first year was enough to convince me that Harry was capable, I hoped that he wouldn't be put into that kind of situation again, but if the last few years have taught me anything, it's that planning for a peaceful year is a waste of time, especially with Voldemort around and obsessed with seeing Harry dead."

"Understandable." Remus sighed, knowing that that was the end of the conversation, and that if anyone wanted to continue, they should do so at a later date.

"**Harry, this isn't a game, this isn't practice! This is the real thing, and Dumbledore left you very clear instructions: find and destroy the Horcruxes! That symbol doesn't mean anything, forget the Deathly Hallows, we can't afford to get sidetracked –"**

"That is a good point, however, since professor Dumbledore wanted Harry to know about the Hallows, I think he wanted you to find them as well." Padma mused.

**Harry was barely listening to her. He was turning the Snitch over and over in his hands, half expecting it to break open, to reveal the Resurrection Stone, to prove to Hermione that he was right, that the Deathly Hallows were real.**

**She appealed to Ron.**

"**You don't believe in this, do you?"**

**Harry looked up, Ron hesitated.**

"No wonder, he didn't want to be stuck in the middle." Seamus sniggered.

"Of course not." Andromeda snorted, "being stuck in the middle when friends argue, is highly unpleasant. It's even worse being stuck in the middle when siblings argue."

"**I dunno … I mean … bits of it sort of fit together," said Ron awkwardly, "But when you look at the whole thing …" He took a deep breath. "I think we're supposed to get rid of Horcruxes, Harry. That's what Dumbledore told us to do. Maybe … maybe we should forget about this Hallows business."**

"**Thank you, Ron," said Hermione. "I'll take first watch."**

**And she strode past Harry and sat down in the tent entrance bringing the action to a fierce full stop.**

"So that's the end of the argument?" Justin asked.

"For now." Ron grinned.

"Yeah, I think I lost the plot a bit. I couldn't let it go, I knew that I was right about the Hallows, and couldn't understand how Hermione could disregard the fact that the pieces fit perfectly." Harry added.

**But Harry hardly slept that night. The idea of the Deathly Hallows had taken possession of him, and he could not rest while agitating thoughts whirled through his mind: the wand, the stone, and the Cloak, if he could just possess them all …**

**_I open at the close_ … But what was the close? **

"Oh Merlin." James gasped in horror, "I think I've figured it out, and I really wish I hadn't."

"What does it mean?" Charlus asked quietly.

"I can't …" James whispered, unable to even contemplate what he had worked out.

**Why couldn't he have the stone now? If only he had the stone, he could ask Dumbledore these questions in person … **

"That would be nice, but since the professor couldn't explain until this book arrived, then I doubt he would have been able to explain after his death." Lily sighed.

**and Harry murmured words to the Snitch in the darkness, trying everything, even Parseltongue, but the golden ball would not open…**

**And the wand, the Elder Wand, where was that hidden? Where was Voldemort searching now? Harry wished his scar would burn and show him Voldemort's thoughts, because for the first time ever, he and Voldemort were united in wanting the very same thing … Hermione would not like that idea, of course …**

"I don't think anyone would like that idea." Bellatrix said with a slight smile.

**But then, she did not believe … Xenophilius had been right, in a way … _Limited. Narrow. Close-minded. _**

Hermione growled at Harry, who gave her an innocent smile, saying, "you know it was true."

"Sadly." Hermione grumbled.

**The truth was that she was scared of the idea of the Deathly Hallows, especially of the Resurrection Stone … and Harry pressed his mouth again to the Snitch, kissing it, nearly swallowing it, but the cold medal did not yield …**

**It was nearly dawn when he remembered Luna, **

"Oh Merlin, she's your friend." Lily said.

"But I'm also apparently not in Azkaban, so even if I do want to be rescued, they can take their time." Luna shrugged, "besides, I'm sure I'm not exactly an important prisoner, so won't be tortured too much."

**alone in a cell in Azkaban, surrounded by Dementors, and he suddenly felt ashamed of himself. He had forgotten all about her in his feverish contemplation of the Hallows. If only they could rescue her, but Dementors in those numbers would be virtually unassailable. **

**Now he came to think about it, he had not tried casting a Patronus with the blackthorn wand … he must try that in the morning …**

**If only there was a way of getting a better wand …**

"And he's gone back to thinking about the Hallows." Lavender sighed.

**And desire for the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, unbeatable, invincible, swallowed him once more …**

**They packed up the tent next morning and moved on through a dreary shower of rain. The downpour pursued them to the coast, where they pitched the tent that night, and persisted through the whole week, through sodden landscapes that Harry found bleak and depressing. **

"They were bleak and depressing even without the rain." Ron snorted, "the rock was mostly grey."

"It was slate." Harry sniggered, "we were camping in disused slate quarries, which may well be rather scenic in summer, but it was winter when we were there."

**He could think only of the Deathly Hallows. It was as though a flame had been lit inside him that nothing, not Hermione's flat disbelief nor Ron's persistent doubts, could extinguish. And yet the fiercer the longing for the Hallows burned inside him, the less joyful it made him. He blamed Ron and Hermione: their determined indifference was as bad as the relentless rain for dampening his spirits, but neither could erode his certainty, which remained absolute. Harry's belief in and longing for the Hallows consumed him so much that he felt isolated from the other two and their obsession with the Horcruxes.**

"Oh dear, that's not good." Mrs Weasley whimpered.

"He's become as obsessed with the Hallows as I once was." Albus whispered sadly.

"**Obsession?" said Hermione in a low fierce voice, when Harry was careless enough to use the word one evening, after Hermione had told him off for his lack of interest in locating more Horcruxes. "We're not the ones with an obsession, Harry! We're the ones trying to do what Dumbledore wanted us to do!"**

**But he was impervious to the veiled criticism. Dumbledore had left the sign of the Hallows for Hermione to decipher, and he had also, Harry remained convinced of it, left the Resurrection Stone hidden in the golden Snitch. _Neither can live while the other survives … master of Death …_ why didn't Ron and Hermione understand?**

"Because you sounded clinically insane." Hermione said, "I didn't know then, that when you sounded like that, you were right."

"Even after I proved him right when he asked if I'd been branded with that rather disgusting tattoo of a skull being fucked by a snake?" Draco asked.

"I did not, for one second, believe that Voldemort would be desperate enough to willingly recruit a sixteen-year-old." Hermione snorted.

"He did it before." Regulus shrugged, "back in seventy-seven, when he dragged me into his ranks."

"True, but things were different then, his army was stronger then, and he could afford to start recruiting younger, so that his ranks stayed strong, even when he was losing a few every time they fought the Aurors." Hermione pointed out, "now, his army is a lot weaker, especially after the end of our fifth year."

"Indeed." Lucius nodded, "the inner circle was down to about sixteen before the battle of the DoM, and losing eleven in one go that night at the Ministry, was not good for him."

"That might be why he crucioed me until I was coughing up blood from screaming." Bellatrix said.

"As far as I can work out, Wormtail, Gibbon and Goyle Sr, are the only members of the Inner Circle left after that night and the fact that we have now shown our true colours." Lucius grinned, "which should be good, Wormtail's a coward, and Gibbon and Goyle Sr aren't exactly intelligent."

"The Carrows, Yaxley, Travers, Rowle and Stephen Parkinson were promoted after that battle." Bellatrix sighed, "but it shouldn't be too bad, Yaxley and Parkinson are the only ones with anything resembling a brain."

"Indeed." Snape nodded, "Travers, Rowle and the Carrows are morons."

"'**_The last enemy shall be destroyed is death,_'" Harry quoted calmly.**

"**I thought it was You-Know-Who we were supposed to be fighting?" Hermione retorted, and Harry gave up on her.**

"Harry, is it just me, or does Hermione seem a lot more annoying from your perspective?" Ginny asked curiously.

"You should know what siblings are like." Harry grinned.

"Of course, someone always sees their siblings as more obnoxious than others do." Ginny nodded.

**Even the mystery of the silver doe, which the other two insisted on discussing, seemed less important to Harry now, a vaguely interesting sideshow. The only other thing that mattered to him was that his scar had begun to prickle again, although he did all he could to hide this fact from the other two. **

"We weren't blind." Hermione snorted.

**He sought solitude whenever it happened, but was disappointed by what he saw. The visions he and Voldemort were sharing had changed in quality; they had become blurred, shifting as though they were moving in and out of focus. Harry was just able to make out the indistinct features of an object that looked like a skull, and something like a mountain that was more shadow than substance. Used to images sharp as reality, Harry was disconcerted by the change. He was worried that the connection between himself and Voldemort had been damaged, a connection that he both feared and, whatever he had told Hermione, prized. Somehow Harry connected these unsatisfying, vague images with the destruction of his wand, as if it was the blackthorn wand's fault that he could no longer see into Voldemort's mind as well as before.**

"Either Voldemort has started using Occlumency again, because he doesn't want you to see anything, or he hasn't found anything of interest." Remus said, "I can't see how the wand you use could possibly affect the connection."

"Maybe the connection was affected by the destruction of the locket Horcrux." Flitwick suggested, "I don't know how destroying a piece of his soul would affect the rest of it."

"That is a good question." Albus said, "but there's also the fact that after the destruction of the ring, locket and diary, he would only have an eighth of his soul left."

"That's not a lot." Lily commented, "I'm sure the fact that the pieces that are left are so small, will have some effect on his connections to them."

"Indeed." Albus nodded, "however, I do not know how much of an effect that will have, or even what kind of effect."

**As the weeks crept on, Harry could not help but notice, even through his new self-absorption, that Ron seemed to be taking charge. Perhaps because he was determined to make up for having walked out on them, perhaps because Harry's descent into listlessness galvanized his dormant leadership qualities, Ron was the one now encouraging and exhorting the other two into action.**

"**Three Horcruxes left," he kept saying. "We need a plan of action, come on! Where haven't we looked? Let's go through it again. The orphanage …"**

"We already know that he didn't hide one there." Susan said.

**Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, the Riddle House, Borgin and Burkes, Albania, every place that they knew Tom Riddle had ever lived or worked, visited or murdered, **

"But not all of those places were all that special to him." Minerva said.

"Indeed not." Abraxas nodded, "I know that he thought of Hogwarts as home, which is why he chose to use Founders' artefacts, and because he didn't want anything to tie him to his Muggle father, he would not have hidden a Horcrux at the Riddle house."

"Borgin and Burkes would have been too risky, and Albania, well, he did hide out there after being stripped of his body, but I doubt he would have hidden one there either." Caruso added, "he definitely would have wanted to keep them in this country."

"Would he have hidden one somewhere in Diagon Alley?" Charlus wondered.

"Maybe." Cygnus frowned, "and unfortunately, the only place there that I can think of, is Gringotts."

"Oh well, we won't get anywhere by discussing it." Orion said, "we'll just have to let the book tell us."

**Ron and Hermione raked over them again, Harry joining in only to stop Hermione pestering him. He would have been happy to sit alone in silence, trying to read Voldemort's thoughts, to find out more about the Elder Wand, but Ron insisted on journeying to ever more unlikely places simply, Harry was aware, to keep them moving.**

"**You never know," was Ron's constant refrain. "Upper Flagley is a Wizarding village, he might've wanted to live there. Let's go and have a poke around."**

"I've never heard of Upper Flagley, and I doubt that Voldemort would hide a piece of his soul somewhere that isn't exactly famous." Justin said.

"Indeed not, Voldemort was more interested in places that had some kind of glamour." Albus nodded.

**These frequent forays into Wizarding territory brought them within occasional sight of Snatchers.**

"**Some of them are supposed to be as bad as Death Eaters," said Ron. "The lot that got me were a bit pathetic, but Bill reckons some of them are really dangerous. They said on _Potterwatch_ –"**

"On what?" Dorea asked with a laugh.

"**On what?" said Harry. **

"**_Potterwatch_, didn't I tell you that's what it was called? The program I keep trying to get on the radio, the only one that tells the truth about what's going on! Nearly all of the programs are following You-Know-Who's line, all except _Potterwatch._ I really want you to hear it, but it's tricky tuning in …"**

**Ron spent evening after evening using his wand to beat out various rhythms on top of the wireless while the dials whirled. Occasionally they would catch snatches of advice on how to treat dragon-pox, and once a few bars of 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love.' While he tapped, Ron continued to try to hit on the correct password, muttering strings of random words under his breath.**

"Oh dear." Harry mumbled to Lucius, looking at Hermione worriedly, "if this is sometime in late February or early March, then the next couple of chapters will be tough on Hermione and Bella."

"**They're normally something to do with the Order," he told them. "Bill had a real knack for guessing them. I'm bound to get one in the end …"**

**But not until March did luck favour Ron at last. Harry was sitting in the tent entrance, on guard duty, staring idly at a clump of grape hyacinths that had forced their way through the chilly ground, when Ron shouted excitedly from inside the tent.**

"**I've got it, I've got it! Password was 'Albus'! **

"Interesting choice." Albus smiled.

"As Ron said, the passwords all had something to do with the Order." Hermione grinned, "I'm sure our names were used as well, and Neville's."

"Intriguing." Minerva muttered.

**Get in here, Harry."**

**Roused for the first time in days from his contemplation of the Deathly Hallows, Harry hurried back inside the tent to find Ron and Hermione kneeling on the floor beside the little radio. Hermione, who had been polishing the sword of Gryffindor just for something to do, **

"Wow, I didn't imagine that it would be that boring." Lily whistled.

**was sitting open-mouthed, staring at the tiny speaker, from which a most familiar voice was issuing.**

"… **apologize for our temporary absence from the airwaves, which was due to a number of house calls in our area by those charming Death Eaters."**

"**But that's Lee Jordan!" said Hermione.**

"Brilliant." Most of the Gryffindors cheered for the former Quidditch commentator, though the first years didn't, not really knowing who he was.

"**I know!" beamed Ron. "Cool, eh?"**

"…**now found ourselves another secure location," Lee was saying, "and I'm pleased to tell you that two of our regular contributors have joined me here this evening. Evening, boys!"**

"**Hi."**

"**Evening, River."**

"'**River' that's Lee," Ron explained. "They've all got code names, but you can usually tell –"**

"**Shh!" said Hermione.**

"**But before we hear from Royal and Romulus," Lee went on, **

"Well, I think I know who Romulus is." Remus grinned.

"How?" Ernie asked.

"It's all to do with the legend of how Rome was built." Remus replied.

"What legend?" Lavender asked.

"There were two brothers, twins, who were abandoned beside the river Tiber when they were born. The legend says that they were saved when they were carried to safety by the river, and suckled by Lupa, a she-wolf, before being raised by a shepherd and his wife." Remus explained, "after discovering that they were the sons of the true king of Alba Longa, who had been over-thrown by his brother, they restored their father to the throne and decided to build their own city. According to the story, one wanted to build the city on the Palatine Hill, while the other preferred the Aventine Hill, so they agreed to use augury to find out which site was best, but when thy argued over the results, one killed the other, and built the city himself, calling it Rome. Those two brothers were Romulus and Remus."

"Oh, so you think Romulus is your codename." Susan realised.

"It does make sense." Remus shrugged.

"**let's take a moment to report those deaths that the _Wizarding Wireless Network News_ and the _Daily Prophet_ don't think important enough to mention. It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murders of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell."**

"NO." Andromeda cried, practically throwing herself onto her husband, as if she was trying to prove to herself that he was still alive.

Bellatrix, who had already known of Ted's death, was crying silently, wishing that there was something she could have done to stop the tragedy, while Narcissa looked at Andromeda sadly, not really knowing what she could do to comfort her sister.

Tonks, who had joined her mother in hugging Ted, heard Bellatrix sniffling and was about to let her anger get the better of her, but looking at her Aunt, she realised that blaming the woman for something that was out of her control, was not the right thing to do. The Metamorphmagus knew that Bellatrix wasn't the one who killed Ted, but she didn't know who had, so she grieved and waited until she knew who she could blame.

Everyone else, especially those who did not support Voldemort or the pureblood supremacists, bowed their heads as a sign of respect, with a few of the girls, Lavender and Parvati in particular, crying heavily. Even the female teachers were dabbing at their eyes and blowing their noses, upset that good and honourable men like Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell could be killed, purely because their parents weren't magical.

**Harry felt a sick, swooping in his belly. He, Ron, and Hermione gazed at one another in horror.**

"**A goblin by the name of Gornuk was also killed. **

"Wasn't I with them?" Dean asked nervously.

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

"What happened to me, and what about Griphook?" Dean wondered, terrified that he was going to hear about his own death.

"You were captured." Harry replied quietly, "you'll find out, either in the next chapter or the one after that."

**It is believed that Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a second goblin, both believed to have been travelling with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk, may have escaped. If Dean is listening, or if anyone has any knowledge of his whereabouts, his parents and sisters are desperate for news.**

"**Meanwhile, in Gaddley, a Muggle family of five has been found dead in their home. Muggle authorities are attributing their deaths to a gas leak, but members of the Order of the Phoenix inform me that it was the Killing Curse - more evidence, as if it were needed, of the fact that Muggle slaughter is becoming little more than a recreational sport under the new regime.**

"Disgusting." Pansy spat, horrified that her own father would be party to such disgusting acts.

"**Finally, we regret to inform our listeners that the remains of Bathilda Bagshot have been discovered in Godric's Hollow. The evidence is that she died several months ago. The Order of the Phoenix informs us that her body showed unmistakable signs of injuries inflicted by Dark Magic.**

"Extremely Dark." Millicent grimaced.

"Indeed." Orion sighed, "in fact, the magic used is so vile that it should really be called Black Magic."

"Where did that name for it originate?" Susan wondered.

"Possibly, our ancestors." Cygnus winced, "but we're not sure. I do know that our ancestors were deeply involved in creating and using truly vile magic, but I don't know whether they came up with the name for it."

"**Listeners, I'd like to invite you now to join us in a minute's silence in memory of Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Bathilda Bagshot, Gornuk, and the unnamed, but no less regretted, Muggles murdered by the Death Eaters."**

Lucius paused, to allow everyone to pay their respects, even though none of the people who had died, were actually dead. Even so, it would have been disrespectful to ignore their sacrifice, and after a minute, during which the only sounds were the sniffles and whimpers of Andromeda and her daughter, Lucius resumed reading, sounding as though he had a slight head-cold.

**Silence fell, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not speak. Half of Harry yearned to hear more, half of him was afraid of what might come next. It was the first time he had felt fully connected to the outside world for a long time.**

"**Thank you," said Lee's voice. "And now we can return to regular contributor Royal, for an update on how the new Wizarding order is affecting the Muggle world."**

"**Thanks, River," said an unmistakable voice, deep, measured, reassuring.**

"There's only one person that could be." Hannah smiled, looking at Kingsley, like everyone else in the hall. The big black Auror was blushing at all the attention, but he couldn't help smiling at the fact that he was still fighting, even if he was in hiding.

"**Kingsley!" burst out Ron.**

"**We know!" said Hermione, hushing him.**

"**Muggles remain ignorant of the source of their suffering as they continue to sustain heavy casualties," said Kingsley. "However, we continue to hear truly inspirational stories of wizards and witches risking their own safety to protect Muggle friends and neighbours, often without the Muggles' knowledge. I'd like to appeal to all our listeners to emulate their example, perhaps by casting a protective charm over any Muggle dwellings in your street. Many lives could be saved if such simple measures are taken."**

"Indeed." Abraxas sighed, "even if every person only saved one life, that would make a huge difference."

"**And what would you say, Royal, to those listeners who reply that in these dangerous times, it should be 'Wizards first'?" asked Lee.**

"I'd say that Muggles are just like us, even if they can't do magic." Lily snarled.

"**I'd say that it's one short step from 'wizards first' to 'pure-bloods first,' and then to 'Death Eaters,'" replied Kingsley. "We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."**

"He said it better." Susan giggled.

"**Excellently put, Royal, and you've got my vote for Minister of Magic if we ever get out of this mess," said Lee. "And now, over to Romulus for our popular feature 'Pals of Potter.'"**

"**Thanks, River," said another very familiar voice. Ron started to speak, but Hermione forestalled him in a whisper.**

"**_We know it's Lupin!_"**

"So you did go back to your wife with your tail between your legs, begging for forgiveness." James grinned.

"I'm not really all that surprised." Remus smiled, "Harry showed me what a prat I was being."

"**Romulus, do you maintain, as you have every time you've appeared on our program, that Harry Potter is still alive?"**

"**I do," said Lupin firmly. "There is no doubt at all in my mind that his death would be proclaimed as widely as possible by the Death Eaters if it had happened, because it would strike a deadly blow at the morale of those resisting the new regime. 'The Boy Who Lived' remains a symbol of everything for which we are fighting: the triumph of good, the power of innocence, the need to keep resisting."**

**A mixture of gratitude and shame welled up in Harry. Had Lupin forgiven him, then, for the terrible things he had said when they had last met?**

"I'm sure I did." Remus said, "especially once I'd calmed down. Besides, I do know when to admit that I'm wrong."

"**And what would you say to Harry if you knew he was listening, Romulus?"**

"**I'd tell him we're all with him in spirit," said Lupin, then hesitated slightly, "And I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right."**

"Why did I have to go and say stupid thing like that?" Remus groaned, "it'll just make him even more obsessive."

**Harry looked at Hermione, whose eyes were full of tears.**

"**Nearly always right," she repeated.**

"At least your slip-up convinced Hermione that she just needed a little faith." Lily smiled.

"**Oh, didn't I tell you?" said Ron in surprise. "Bill told me Lupin's living with Tonks again! And apparently she's getting pretty big too …"**

"If she was eight months pregnant, which I suspect she was, then yes, she would be." Narcissa said, "pregnant people do, unfortunately, get quite big in the latter stages, and they feel like beached whales or similar."

"Yep, and their hormones make them a little unstable." Harry sniggered, "I believe that Tonks threw frying pans at Remus whenever he was late, even if it was only about five minutes after he was due back."

"That's unpleasant." Narcissa muttered, "but I was just as unstable, though I preferred to express my hormonal instability with my wand, aiming stinging hexes at Lucius' feet."

"Hermione did the same thing." Draco commented, "but she also had a habit of cackling while she was hexing me. Of course, she also threw a few tripping hexes at me, mainly while I was fetching the foods she craved, and when I tripped, she'd burst into tears."

"I don't think I was that extreme." Narcissa said, "but I did cry a few times."

"…**and our usual update on those friends of Harry Potter's who are suffering for their allegiance?" Lee was saying.**

"**Well, as regular listeners will know, several of the more outspoken supporters of Harry Potter have now been imprisoned, including Xenophilius Lovegood, erstwhile editor of _The Quibbler_," said Lupin.**

"At least he's still alive." Luna murmured, still unsure of how to feel about her father, after what he'd done to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"**At least he's still alive!" muttered Ron.**

"**We have also heard within the last few hours that Rubeus Hagrid –" all three of them gasped, and so nearly missed the rest of the sentence "– well-known gamekeeper at Hogwarts School, has narrowly escaped arrest within the grounds of Hogwarts, where he is rumoured to have hosted a 'Support Harry Potter' party in his house. **

"Oh dear." Lily said, "didn't anyone try and warn him?"

"As far as we know, Neville, Luna and Ginny did, but because Hagrid is like a child in a man's body, he didn't listen." Hermione replied.

"But who was stupid enough to give him the idea in the first place?" James sniggered.

"That was, apparently, Lavender." Harry snorted.

"I'm sure I was only joking." Lavender said, shrugging embarrassedly.

**However, Hagrid was not taken into custody, and is, we believe, on the run."**

"**I suppose it helps, when escaping from Death Eaters, if you've got a sixteen-foot-high half brother?" asked Lee.**

"**It would tend to give you an edge," agreed Lupin gravely. **

"No wonder I like Grawp." Hermione giggled.

"Even when he called you Hermy?" Harry asked mischievously.

"Well, I wasn't so keen on that, but it was better than Viktor calling me Herm-own-ninny, of all things." Hermione sighed.

"**May I just add that while we here at _Potterwatch_ applaud Hagrid's spirit, we would urge even the most devoted of Harry's supporters against following Hagrid's lead. 'Support Harry Potter' parties are unwise in the present climate."**

"Yeah, while they would raise the morale of Harry's supporters, the Death Eaters would definitely be able to find out who they were and capture them." Hannah nodded.

"**Indeed they are, Romulus," said Lee, "so we suggest that you continue to show your devotion to the man with the lightning scar by listening to _Potterwatch!_ And now let's move to news concerning the wizard who is proving just as elusive as Harry Potter. We like to refer to him as the Chief Death Eater, and here to give his views on some of the more insane rumours circulating about him, I'd like to introduce a new correspondent. Rodent?"**

"**'_Rodent_'?" said yet another familiar voice, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione cried out together: "Fred!"**

"WAHOO." Fred cheered.

"**No – is it George?"**

"YEHAW." George yelled.

"**It's Fred, I think," said Ron,**

"Which is it?" The twins asked eagerly.

"Fred." Hermione replied, "George's codename was 'Ratchet'."

"So why the hell did I get the codename, Rodent?" Fred asked.

"We don't know." Harry shrugged, "we weren't involved in that, and even after the war, we didn't bother asking."

"Oh." Fred grumbled disappointedly.

**leaning in closer, as whichever twin it was said, "I'm not being 'Rodent,' no way, I told you I wanted to be 'Rapier'!"**

"**Oh, all right then, 'Rapier,' could you please give us your take on the various stories we've been hearing about the Chief Death Eater?"**

"**Yes, River, I can," said Fred. "As our listeners will know, unless they've taken refuge at the bottom of a garden pond or somewhere similar, **

"Basically meaning the trio, and anyone else who's on the run in the middle of nowhere." Seamus grinned.

**You-Know-Who's strategy of remaining in the shadows is creating a nice little climate of panic. Mind you, if all the alleged sightings of him are genuine, we must have a good nineteen You-Know-Whos running around the place."**

"**Which suits him, of course," said Kingsley. "The air of mystery is creating more terror than actually showing himself."**

"Unfortunately, that would be good for him, but not so good for the rest of the world." Ted said, finally getting his wife to stop crying over his death. He knew that she loved him and probably wouldn't want to live without him, but the simple fact that they had the book and could change things, meant that he wouldn't be killed this time round.

"**Agreed," said Fred. "So, people, let's try and calm down a bit. Things are bad enough without inventing stuff as well. For instance, this new idea that You-Know-Who can kill people with a single glance from his eyes. That's a _Basilisk_, listeners. **

"Only if the basilisk didn't close that second set of eyelids." Susan said.

"How did you find out about basilisks having a second set of eyelids anyway?" Lily asked.

"I am a shape-shifter, and after the war was over, I had time to do some experimentation, to find out the limits to what was possible." Harry shrugged, "I shifted into the form of a basilisk, and spent a few hours experiencing everything basilisks experience. It was interesting to learn about their way of life."

"Wow." James whistled, "I hope you didn't kill anyone while in that form."

"No." Harry said, "when I tested the efficacy of various doses of venom, I used rocks and boulders that had been transfigured."

**One simple test: check whether the thing that's glaring at you has got legs. If it has, it's safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is You-Know-Who, that's still likely to be the last thing you ever do."**

"Well that was a pathetic joke." James groaned.

"This time from Fred." George sighed.

"At least I didn't say I was holey, or saintlike." Fred sniggered.

**For the first time in weeks and weeks, Harry was laughing: he could feel the weight of tension leaving him.**

"**And the rumours that he keeps being sighted abroad?" asked Lee.**

"**Well, who wouldn't want a nice little holiday after all the hard work he's been putting in?" asked Fred. "Point is, people, don't get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking he's out of the country. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to, **

Snape glared at Fred, though he knew that the fact that he was having to pretend to be a loyal Death Eater made him a good target for humour at that point, but he still wished that people wouldn't joke about the fact that the potion he used to protect his hair from potion fumes, made it look greasy.

James was going to praise Fred for what he had said, but decided against when he caught sight of Harry, who was glaring at him, almost daring him to say something.

**so don't count on him being a long way away if you're planning to take any risks. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but safety first!"**

"That was a weird thing to hear." Ron grinned. "Especially coming from one of the twins."

"We do know when to be serious." Fred said, "we're not stupid enough to ignore the danger, nor would we ever tell others to ignore it."

"**Thank you very much for those wise words, Rapier," said Lee. "Listeners, that brings us to the end of another _Potterwatch_. We don't know when it will be possible to broadcast again, but you can be sure we shall be back. Keep twiddling those dials: the next password will be 'Mad-Eye'. Keep each other safe: keep faith. Good night."**

"You two are brilliant." James smiled. "I wish you had been in our year."

"If they had been, I'm not sure the school would have survived." Harry grinned, "and I'm even less sure that the professors would have lasted all seven years with their sanity in tact."

**The radio's dial twirled and the lights behind the tuning panel went out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still beaming. Hearing familiar, friendly voices was an extraordinary tonic; Harry had become so used to their isolation he had nearly forgotten that other people were resisting Voldemort. It was like waking from a long sleep.**

"**Good, eh?" said Ron happily.**

"**Brilliant," said Harry.**

"**It's so brave of them," sighed Hermione admiringly. "If they were found …"**

"**Well, they keep on the move, don't they?" said Ron. "Like us."**

"**But did you hear what Fred said?" asked Harry excitedly; now the broadcast was over, his thoughts turned around toward his all consuming obsession. "He's abroad! He's still looking for the Wand, I knew it!"**

"Except he's looking in the wrong place." Albus whispered, knowing exactly where the wand would have been.

"**Harry –"**

"**Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol –"**

"**HARRY, NO!"**

"–**demort's after the Elder Wand!"**

"Damn." James grimaced, "I knew that someone was likely to say it."

"It was inevitable." Lily whispered, "I can understand why though. They realised that there were others still fighting, and they felt more connected. That realisation made him slip into old habits."

"**The name's Taboo!" Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet as a loud crack sounded outside the tent. "I told you, Harry, I told you, we can't say it any more – we've got to put the protection back around us – quickly – it's how they find –"**

**But Ron stopped talking, and Harry knew why. The Sneakoscope on the table had lit up and begun to spin; they could hear voices coming nearer and nearer: rough, excited voices. Ron pulled the Deluminator out of his pocket and clicked it: their lamps went out.**

"**Come out of there with your hands up!" came a rasping voice through the darkness. "We know you're in there! You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!"**

"That was the end of the chapter." Lucius said softly, not wanting to draw the ire of anyone in the hall, but needing to let people know that someone would have to read the next chapter if they wanted to find out what happened.

"I'll read next." Tracy said, "I haven't read yet, and I'm probably not as close to the events, so it won't be as difficult for everyone to hear."

"An excellent suggestion my dear." Albus smiled, though his eyes had lost their twinkle, so everyone could see that he was worried.


	30. Chapter 30

**Malfoy Manor**

"**Malfoy Manor**," Tracy read, closing her eyes as she tried not to imagine what this chapter would contain. She wasn't the only one, almost everyone in the hall was worried, especially Harry's family. Even Bellatrix, Draco and Lucius were unhappy, all three remembering what they had done during the few hours the trio had been captives.

**Harry looked around at the other two, now mere outlines in the darkness. He saw Hermione point her wand, not set toward the outside, but into his face; there was a bang, a burst of white light, and he buckled in agony, unable to see. He could feel his face swelling rapidly under his hands as heavy footfalls surrounded him.**

"What the hell did you hex him for?" James asked Hermione angrily.

"It was a disguise." Hermione whispered, going slightly pale.

"**Get up, vermin."**

**Unknown hands dragged Harry roughly off the ground, before he could stop them, someone had rummaged through his pockets and removed the blackthorn wand. Harry clutched at his excruciatingly painful face, which felt unrecognisable beneath his fingers, tight, swollen, and puffy as though he had suffered some violent allergic reaction. His eyes had been reduced to slits through which he could barely see; his glasses fell off as he was bundled out of the tent: **

"Oh no, that's not good." Lily whimpered, wishing she could reach Harry and hug him, but when she saw how miserable both Bellatrix and Lucius appeared, she realised that she would have to try and stay strong so that her son didn't have too many people to comfort. Lily knew that Bellatrix had been, unwillingly, one of the most feared Death Eaters in the world, and obviously, even though it had been many years since the events in the book, for those who had had their souls sent back, Bellatrix hadn't quite come to terms with what she'd been forced to do.

**all he could make out were the blurred shapes of four or five people wrestling Ron and Hermione outside too.**

"**Get - off - her!" Ron shouted. There was the unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh: Ron grunted in pain and Hermione screamed, "No! Leave him alone, leave him alone!"**

"**Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said the horribly familiar, rasping voice. "Delicious girl … what a treat … I do enjoy the softness of the skin …"**

"Bloody buggery fuck." Remus growled, almost completely losing control. He knew exactly who that was, and really wished he was able to rip that monster to shreds.

"Watch your language." Dorea said, looking very pale, so pale she appeared close to fainting.

"What's wrong, professor Lupin?" Susan asked nervously, not wanting to be shouted at by the clearly furious werewolf.

"That's Greyback." Remus snarled, visibly restraining himself, "he is a true monster, willingly placing himself near populated areas at the full moon, so that when he turns, he can attack and savage anyone, particularly children. I was one of his many victims, he bit me when I was five, purely because my father had offended him in some way."

"That's horrible." Hannah gasped, trying not to throw up.

"Indeed." Cygnus nodded, "he is the reason so many laws restricting werewolf rights have been written. People are terrified of him, which is unfortunate for other wolves, like Mr Lupin, who just want to live their lives without being persecuted."

**Harry's stomach turned over. He knew who this was, Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who was permitted to wear Death Eater robes in return for his hired savagery.**

"He wouldn't need to be paid for his savagery." Snape snorted, "he likes doing it, and he's only working for Voldemort because Voldemort gives him the freedom."

"**Search the tent!" said another voice.**

**Harry was thrown face down onto the ground. A thud told him that Ron had been cast down beside him. They could hear footsteps and crashes; the men were pushing over chairs inside the tent as they searched.**

"**Now, let's see who we've got," said Greyback's gloating voice from overhead, and Harry was rolled over onto his back. A beam of wand light fell onto his face and Greyback laughed.**

"**I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?"**

"At least the disguise works." James grimaced, "they don't recognise you."

**Harry did not answer immediately.**

"**I said," repeated Greyback, and Harry received a blow to the diaphragm that made him double over in pain. "What happened to you?"**

"**Stung." Harry muttered. "Been Stung."**

"**Yeah, looks like it." said a second voice.**

"**What's your name?" snarled Greyback.**

"**Dudley." said Harry.**

"**And your first name?"**

"**I - Vernon. Vernon Dudley."**

"Original." Ginny muttered, worried about her friends' safety.

"**Check the list, Scabior." said Greyback, and Harry head him move sideways to look down at Ron, instead. "And what about you, ginger?"**

"**Stan Shunpike." said Ron.**

"Not a good idea." Minerva fretted, "they'll know you're lying."

"**Like 'ell you are." said the man called Scabior. "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way."**

**There was another thud.**

"**I'b Bardy," said Ron, and Harry could tell that his mouth was full of blood. "Bardy Weadley."**

"That's an even worse idea." Mrs Weasley murmured, burying her face in her husband's shirt, trying not to burst into tears.

"**A Weasley?" rasped Greyback. "So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a Mudblood. And lastly, your pretty little friend …" The relish in his voice made Harry's flesh crawl.**

"**Easy, Greyback." said Scabior over the jeering of the others.**

"**Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet. We'll see if she's a bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny. Who are you, girly?"**

"**Penelope Clearwater." said Hermione. She sounded terrified, but convincing.**

"But she's Muggle-born, isn't she?" Percy asked, trying not to wince at the mention of the woman he had been forced to break up with when he was pretending to suck up to the former Minister. He wished he had been allowed to explain to her what he was really doing, but he had had to keep it secret so that no one could blow his cover.

"No, she's a half-blood." Hermione replied, "her mother was a Muggle-born. She told me when I warned her to use her mirror to look around corners after I found out about the basilisk."

"You saved her life." Percy whispered, sending a weak smile Hermione's way.

"**What's your blood status?"**

"**Half-Blood." said Hermione.**

"**Easy enough to check," said Scabior. "But the 'ole lot of 'em look like they could still be 'ogwarts age –"**

"**We'b lebt," said Ron.**

"**Left, 'ave you, ginger?" said Scabior. "And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Dark Lords name?"**

"**Nod a laugh," said Ron. "Aggiden."**

"I don't think they're going to believe that." James said darkly.

"**Accident?" There was more jeering laughter.**

"**You know who used to like using the Dark Lord's name, Weasley?" growled Greyback, "The Order of the Phoenix. Mean anything to you?"**

"Don't, whatever you do, don't say no." Bill said, "I don't think they'd believe you, seeing as most of us are actually _in_ the Order."

"**Doh."**

"**Well, they don't show the Dark Lord proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed. A few Order members have been tracked that way. We'll see. Bind them up with the other two prisoners!"**

"Obviously you were wrong, Bill." Charlie grinned, but everyone could see that his heart just wasn't in it. "They did believe him."

**Someone yanked Harry up by the hair, dragged him a short way, pushed him down into a sitting position, then started binding him back-to-back with other people. Harry was still half blind, barely able to see anything through his puffed-up eyes. When at last the man tying then had walked away, Harry whispered to the other prisoners.**

"**Anyone still got a wand?"**

"Doubtful." Regulus said, "even the stupidest Death Eaters or Snatchers would have taken everyone's wand right at the beginning."

"**No." Said Ron and Hermione from either side of him.**

"**This is all my fault. I said the name. I'm sorry –"**

"Don't blame yourself." Charlus sighed, "there'll be plenty of time later, once you've either found a way to escape, or been taken to a cell, if you really want to blame yourself."

"**Harry?"**

**It was a new, but familiar voice. and it came from directly behind Harry, from the person tied to Hermione's left.**

"**_Dean?_"**

"At least we know you're alive." Seamus muttered.

"Yeah, and now that I'm with Harry, I think I'm fairly safe." Dean nodded, "or at least, I will get out fairly quickly."

"**It is you! If they find out who they've got –! They're Snatchers, they're only looking for truants to sell for gold –"**

"I just hope they don't find out." Hannah whispered.

"Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be that lucky." Susan sighed.

"**Not a bad little haul for one night." Greyback was saying, as a pair of hobnailed boots marched close by Harry and they heard more crashes from inside the tent. "A Mudblood, a runaway goblin, and these truants. You checked their names on the list yet, Scabior?" he roared.**

"**Yeah. There's no Vernon Dudley on 'ere, Greyback."**

"**Interesting," said Greyback. "That's interesting."**

**He crouched down beside Harry, who saw, through the infinitesimal gap left between his swollen eyelids, a face covered in matted grey hair and whiskers, with pointed brown teeth and sores in the corners of his mouth. Greyback smelled as he had done at the top of the tower where Dumbledore had died: of dirt, sweat, and blood.**

"That sadistic, cannibalistic monster should be put down." Remus growled.

"**So you aren't wanted, then, Vernon? Or are you on that list under a different name? What house were you in at Hogwarts?"**

"**Slytherin," said Harry automatically.**

"I doubt that that would help." Sprout whispered, "the only people who know where the Slytherin common room is are Slytherins and the teachers."

"And those who have friends in Slytherin." Draco pointed out, "I've occasionally met Harry, Ron and Hermione just outside the entrance when we headed to training sessions."

"Well, that might help." Sprout murmured.

"**Funny 'ow they all thinks we wants to 'ear that." leered Scabior out of the shadows. "But none of 'em can tell us where the common room is."**

"**It's in the dungeons." said Harry clearly. "You enter through the wall. It's full of skulls and stuff and its under the lake, so the light's all green."**

"Wow, you might actually get out of trouble quite easily." Parvati grinned.

"I doubt just knowing something about the common room would convince the Snatchers to let them go, but we can hope." Scrimgeour sighed.

**There was a short pause.**

"**Well, well, looks like we really 'ave caught a little Slytherin." said Scabior. "Good for you, Vernon, 'cause there ain't a lot of Mudblood Slytherins. **

"Well that's total and utter bollocks." Ted snorted, "the head boy when I was in seventh year, was a Muggle-born Slytherin."

"Ah yes, Edmund Peterson, wonderfully talented, in everything he attempted, except public speaking." Slughorn reminisced, "he didn't seem to understand the subtle nuances of how to keep his audience interested."

"In other words, he was even more boring than Binns, if that's possible." Narcissa smirked.

"Well, unfortunately, yes." Slughorn sighed, "sadly, he was the most responsible Slytherin in that year, so I had to make him prefect, and then, well, his record was almost perfect, so he was really the only choice for the head boy position."

"I have to ask, what are the criteria required to be head boy?" Padma wondered.

"Responsibility, the ability to take control in emergencies, and holding the respect of the younger students." Minerva replied, "of course, the head boy needs to be close to the top of his year academically as well."

"So why was Alfred, by far the laziest student in the school, chosen to be head boy?" Charlus asked.

"We had hoped that giving him the position would inspire him to be a bit less lazy." Minerva replied with a grimace, "suffice it to say, that did not work."

"Plus, he wasn't going to be the first person in his family to not be given the badge." Albus smiled.

"What do you mean?" Terry queried.

"If you have a chance, look at the list of former head boys, and you'll see something rather interesting." James grinned, "I was the sixth Potter since the beginning of the twentieth century, to become Head boy."

"It does seem to be a bit of a family tradition." Charlus nodded, "pretty much every Potter in history has been head boy, ever since the first Edward Potter was given the position in ten-eighty-two."

"Interesting." Anthony muttered.

**Who's your father?"**

"**He works at the Ministry," Harry lied. He knew that his whole story would collapse with the smallest investigation, but on the other hand, he only had until his face regained its usual appearance before the game was up in any case. "Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."**

"**You know what, Greyback," said Scabior. "I think there is a Dudley in there."**

"No there isn't, but there is a Donnelly." Kingsley said.

"Stephen Donnelly is a hundred and twenty-six." Scrimgeour pointed out, "he wants to retire soon, and anyway, he doesn't have any children, but there is a chance that the Snatchers don't know that.

"We'll just have to hope that they don't, and that they believe the story." Kingsley sighed.

**Harry could barely breathe: Could luck, sheer luck, get them safely out of this?**

"**Well, well." said Greyback, and Harry could hear the tiniest note of trepidation in that callous voice, and knew that Greyback was wondering whether he had just indeed just attacked and bound the son of a Ministry Official.**

"If he does believe that he has, then he might let you go." James said, keeping his fingers crossed.

**Harry's heart was pounding against the ropes around his ribs; he would not have been surprised to know that Greyback could see it. "If you're telling the truth, ugly, you've got nothing to fear from a trip to the Ministry. I expect your father'll reward us just for picking you up."**

"**But," said Harry, his mouth bone dry, "if you just let us –"**

"**Hey!" came a shout from inside the tent. "Look at this. Greyback!"**

**A dark figure came bustling toward them, and Harry saw a glint of silver to the light of their wands. They had found Gryffindor's sword.**

"Oh shit." Lily groaned, "I hope they don't look too closely at it."

"I hope they believe it's a fake, and not the real thing." Remus said.

"I thought the real one had been put in my vault." Bellatrix whispered to Harry, "or at least, that's what Voldemort ordered me to do."

"He gave you what he thought was the real sword, when in fact it was a fake." Harry said quietly.

"Oh." Bellatrix murmured.

"**Ve-e-ery nice," said Greyback appreciatively, taking it from his companion. "Oh, very nice indeed. Looks goblin-made, that. Where did you get something like this?"**

"**It's my father's," Harry lied, hoping against hope that it was too dark for Greyback to see the name etched just below the hilt. "We borrowed it to cut firewood –"**

"Are you insane?" Charlus asked incredulously, "or had you forgotten that you're a wizard?"

"I had to think of a reason to have a sharp object in a tent in the middle of nowhere." Harry chuckled, while Hermione and Ron tried not to laugh hysterically.

"**'ang on a minute, Greyback! Look at this, in the Prophet!"**

**As Scabior said it, Harry's scar, which was stretched tight across his distended forehead, burned savagely. More clearly than he could make out anything around him, he saw a towering building, a grim fortress, jet-black and forbidding; Voldemort's thoughts had suddenly become razor-sharp again; he was gliding toward the gigantic building with a sense of calmly euphoric purpose … **

"Where the hell is he?" Justin asked.

"I don't care, as long as he isn't in this country." Susan said harshly, "if he was, then Harry and his friends would be in even more trouble."

_**So close … so close … **_

**With a huge effort of will Harry closed his mind to Voldemort's thoughts, pulling himself back to where he sat, tied to Ron, Hermione, Dean, and Griphook in the darkness, listening to Greyback and Scabior.**

"'**_Hermione Granger,'"_ Scabior was saying, "_'the Mudblood who is known to be travelling with 'arry Potter.'"_**

**Harry's scar burned in the silence, but he made a supreme effort to keep himself present, not to slip into Voldemort's mind. He heard the creak of Greyback's boots as he crouched down, in front of Hermione.**

"**you know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you."**

"**It isn't! It isn't me!"**

**Hermione's terrified squeak was as good as a confession.**

"I couldn't help myself." Hermione sighed, staring at the wall behind the Gryffindor table without really seeing it at all.

"I doubt the way you said it would have made any difference at all." Lucius said softly.

"'… **_known to be travelling with Harry Potter'_," repeated Greyback quietly.**

**A stillness had settled over the scene. Harry's scar was exquisitely painful, but he struggled with all his strength against the pull of Voldemort's thoughts: it had never been so important to remain in his own right mind.**

"**Well, this changes things, doesn't it?" whispered Greyback. **

**Nobody spoke: Harry sensed the gang of Snatchers watching, frozen, and felt Hermione's arm trembling against his. Greyback got up and took a couple of steps to where Harry sat, crouching down again to stare closely at his misshapen features.**

"Get away from him you foul creature." Remus snarled, angry at the fact that Greyback was allowed to wander around, killing and maiming anyone he wanted, and terrified that Harry, Ron and Hermione were going to be hurt or killed now that they were captured.

"**What's that on your forehead, Vernon?" he asked softly, his breath foul in Harry's nostrils as he pressed a filthy finger to the taught scar.**

"**Don't touch it!" Harry yelled; he could not stop himself, he thought he might be sick from the pain of it.**

"Foolish boy." Moody growled lowly.

"Oh shut up." Kingsley sighed, his concern for Harry and his friends over-riding his ability to be polite. "He's not an Auror like us, he's not trained to deal with situations such as that, and he's perfectly entitled to be scared. Let's give you a strange link to a madman like Voldemort and see how you cope when you're trying not to be sucked into said madman's mind while also trying to keep your friends out of trouble."

"**I thought you wore glasses, Potter?" breathed Greyback.**

"**I found glasses!" yelped one of the Snatchers skulking in the background. "There was glasses in the tent, Greyback, wait –"**

**And seconds later Harry's glasses had been rammed back onto his face. The Snatchers were closing in now, peering at him.**

"The only good thing there is that you can now see properly." James grimaced.

"But that doesn't help them." Lily moaned, "they've been caught, and now that Harry's been identified, Vol-Voldemort will get involved."

"From what we've read in this book already, Harry's pretty good at getting out of tight situations, so he should be all right." James pointed out, trying to stay calm and not panic.

"**It is!" rasped Greyback. "We've caught Potter!"**

**They all took several steps backward, stunned by what they had done. Harry, still fighting to remain present in his own splitting head, could think of nothing to say. Fragmented visions were breaking across the surface of his mind –**

… _**he was gliding around the high walls of the black fortress –**_

"I know now's not really the time, but that sounds like Nurmengard." Mrs Weasley whispered, "I think You-Know-Who's really close to getting his hands on the Elder Wand."

**No, he was Harry, tied up and wandless, in grave danger –**

… _**looking up, up to the topmost window, the highest tower –**_

**He was Harry, and they were discussing his fate in low voices –**

… _**time to fly –**_

"… **to the Ministry?"**

"**To hell with the Ministry." growled Greyback. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I say we take him straight to You-Know-Who."**

"No." Lily, Tonks and Dorea sobbed, breaking down in their husbands' and boyfriend's arms.

James, Charlus and Remus looked worried, though they were trying to comfort their wives and girlfriend, while the other adults had their lips pursed, angry at the thought of a seventeen-year-old having to face Voldemort. Lucius and Bellatrix, however, were not only worried about Harry and his friends, despite knowing what they had gone through, they were also trying to hold back the memories of what they had to do and see while they were Death Eaters.

"**Will you summon 'im? '_Ere_?" said Scabior, sounding awed, terrified.**

"He won't be able to to." Remus grinned maliciously, "Tom would never allow a part-human to wear the mark."

"**No," snarled Greyback, "I haven't got - they say he's using the Malfoy's place as a base. We'll take the boy there."**

**Harry thought he knew why Greyback was not calling Voldemort. The werewolf might be allowed to wear Death Eater robes when they wanted to use him, but only Voldemort's inner circle were branded with the Dark Mark: Greyback had not been granted this highest honour.**

"It wasn't just his inner circle, not in the beginning." Lucius whispered, "when he was first recruiting, he marked every new recruit. That's how I ended up with the mark, even though I wasn't in the inner circle at that point."

**Harry's scar seared again –**

… _**and he rose into the night, flying straight up to the windows at the very top of the tower –**_

"… **completely sure it's him? 'Cause if it ain't, Greyback, we're dead."**

"**Who's in charge here?" roared Greyback, covering his moment of inadequacy. "I say that's Potter, and him plus his wand, that's two hundred thousand Galleons right there! **

"Fortunately that isn't actually his wand." Seamus said.

"Yeah, I think we'd better be grateful for that small bit of good fortune." Dean nodded.

**But if you're too gutless to come along, any of you, it's all for me, and with any luck, I'll get the girl thrown in!"**

"He is a truly sick bastard." Angelina snarled, "he sounds like he wants to …" She just couldn't go on, the thought of what Greyback could possibly want to do to poor Hermione was too horrible for words.

… _**The window was the merest slit in the black rock, not big enough for a man to enter … a skeletal figure was just visible through it, curled beneath a blanket … dead, or sleeping …?**_

Everyone glanced at Albus, who had let out a quiet, but heart-broken sob at that description. They had all realised that Voldemort was looking at Grindelwald, and knew that it must have been hard for the headmaster to hear about his former friend's condition, but they hadn't realised just how deep Albus' feelings for the man had truly been. Even those who were gleefully gathering as much information as they could, so they would be able to pass it on to the Dark Lord, could tell that the mentions of Grindelwald, were tough on the old man, and didn't do or say anything to show their disdain for him.

"**All right!" said Scabior. "All right, we're in! And what about the rest of 'em, Greyback, what'll we do with 'em?"**

"**Might as well take the lot. We've got two Mudbloods, that's another ten Galleons. Give me the sword as well. If they're rubies, that's another small fortune right there."**

"Fuck." Remus swore, "at least he doesn't realise what sword it is."

"I think that might be the only good thing in this whole situation." Cygnus grimaced.

**The prisoners were dragged to their feet. Harry could hear Hermione's breathing, fast and terrified.**

"**Grab hold and make it tight. I'll do Potter!" said Greyback, seizing a fistful of Harry's hair; Harry could feel his long yellow nails scratching his scalp. "On three! One – two – three –"**

**They Disapparated, pulling the prisoners with them. Harry struggled, trying to throw off Greyback's hand, but it was hopeless: Ron and Hermione were squeezed tightly against him on either side; he could not separate from the group, and as the breath was squeezed out of him his scar seared more painfully still –**

"That's really not helpful." Lily whimpered.

… _**as he forced himself through the slit of a window like a snake and landed, lightly as vapour inside the cell-like room –**_

**The prisoners lurched into one another as they landed in a country lane. Harry's eyes, still puffy, took a moment to acclimatize, then he saw a pair of wrought-iron gates at the foot of what looked like a long drive. He experienced the tiniest trickle of relief. The worst had not happened yet: Voldemort was not here. He was, Harry knew, for he was fighting to resist the vision, in some strange, fortress-like place, at the top of a tower. How long it would take Voldemort to get to this place, once he knew that Harry was here, was another matter … **

"Not very long at all." Lucius muttered sadly, "but certainly long enough for you to get out alive."

**One of the Snatchers strode to the gates and shook them.**

"**How do we get in? They're locked, Greyback, I can't – blimey!"**

**He whipped his hands away in fright. The iron was contorting, twisting itself out of the abstract furls and coils into a frightening face, which spoke in a clanging, echoing voice. "State your purpose!"**

"Well that's not creepy." Padma said sarcastically.

"It wasn't supposed to be, when that gate was first designed, it was just supposed to look a bit like the owner of the house, and was just a way for the owner to find out who was there and why." Abraxas sighed, "I presume that Voldemort altered the enchantments, to make it look like that."

"**We've got Potter!" Greyback roared triumphantly. "We've captured Harry Potter!"**

**The gates swung open.**

"Of course they would." Narcissa grimaced, "we wouldn't be able to keep them shut if we didn't want Voldemort to realise that we really didn't want to be in his service."

"Plus there was the hope that we would be able to help Harry escape if he was inside the manor." Lucius added, leaning on Harry slightly, for strength.

"**Come on!" said Greyback to his men, and the prisoners were shunted through the gates and up the drive, between high hedges that muffled their footsteps. Harry saw a ghostly white shape above him, and realized it was an albino peacock. **

"I still can't believe Adrienne insisted on having those wretched birds in the garden." Abraxas grumbled quietly.

**He stumbled and was dragged onto his feet by Greyback; now he was staggering along sideways, tied back-to-back to the four other prisoner. Closing his puffy eyes, he allowed the pain in his scar to overcome him for a moment, wanting to know what Voldemort was doing, whether he knew yet that Harry was caught … **

"That sounds like a good reason to venture into the madman's mind." James said, wincing as he tried not to think of the pain Harry was putting himself through.

… _**the emaciated figure stirred beneath its thin blanket and rolled over toward him, eyes opening in a skull of a face … the frail man sat up, great sunken eyes fixed upon him, upon Voldemort, and then he smiled. Most of his teeth were gone … **_

"Merlin, is the state of him due to age, or just because he's in prison and isn't allowed basic hygiene?" Susan wondered.

"Probably a bit of both." Albus sighed, "he is a hundred and fourteen, and has been serving a life sentence since forty-five."

"That poor man." Hannah whispered, feeling sorry for Grindelwald, even though she thought he deserved to be in prison.

"_**So, you have come. I thought you would . . . one day. But your journey was pointless. I never had it."**_

"Why would he lie?" Albus whispered to himself, wondering what was going through his former lover's mind. Did he perhaps regret what he'd done? Or was it simply a way for him to die? Albus knew that the only way he would know, for sure, would be to ask Grindelwald himself.

"_**You lie!"**_

**As Voldemort's anger throbbed inside him, Harry's scar threatened to burst with pain, and he wrenched his mind back to his own body, fighting to remain present as the prisoners were pushed over gravel.**

**Light spilled out over all of them.**

"**What is this?" said a woman's cold voice.**

"That could only be one of two people." Andromeda sighed sadly, glancing between her two sisters, who were sitting opposite her.

"It wasn't me." Bellatrix muttered, "I can't remember what I was doing, but I certainly wasn't answering the door."

"It must be me." Narcissa grimaced.

"I think it was." Bellatrix frowned, trying to remember.

"If it is, then I am truly sorry for anything I did or said." Narcissa sighed, aiming her apology at the trio, who nodded in acceptance.

"**We're here to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" rasped Greyback.**

"**Who are you?"**

"**You know me!" There was resentment in the werewolf's voice. "Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!"**

**Greyback seized Harry and dragged him around to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle around too.**

"**I know 'es swollen, ma'am, but it's 'im!" piped up Scabior. "If you look a bit closer, you'll see 'is scar. And this 'ere, see the girl? The Mudblood who's been travelling around with 'im, ma'am. There's no doubt it's 'im, and we've got 'is wand as well! 'Ere, ma'am –"**

"That's not Harry's wand though." Dean said, "that's got to be a good thing."

"True, but it is only a small consolation, not something that will really help." Neville sighed, "but maybe it will buy them some time."

**Through his puffy eyelids Harry saw Narcissa Malfoy scrutinizing his swollen face.**

"I think I would have been praying that they were wrong, and that it wasn't Harry." Narcissa murmured, closing her eyes and bowing her head.

**Scabior thrust the blackthorn wand at her. She raised her eyebrows.**

"That's fairly obviously not yours." Andromeda said, trying to smile even though she really didn't feel like smiling at that precise point.

"I'm sure I would know that it doesn't look like the right wand." Narcissa nodded weakly.

"**Bring them in," she said.**

**Harry and the others were shoved and kicked up broad stone steps into a hallway lined with portraits.**

"**Follow me," said Narcissa, leading the way across the hall. "My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."**

"Crap." James grimaced, "I can't see a way for him to be able to not say yes or no."

"Well, I did manage to dither a bit." Draco sighed, "I had hoped that I wouldn't be put on the spot, but there was no way to get out of it."

**The drawing room dazzled after the darkness outside; even with his eyes almost closed Harry could make out the wide proportions of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits against the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from chairs in front of an ornate marble fireplace as the prisoners were forced into the room by the Snatchers.**

"**What is this?"**

**The dreadfully familiar, drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy fell on Harry's ears. **

"Oh Merlin." Remus mumbled, wondering what on earth Lucius was going to have to do, to keep his cover.

**He was panicking now. He could see no way out, and it was easier, as his fear mounted, to block out Voldemort's thoughts, though his scar was still burning.**

"**They say they've got Potter," said Narcissa's cold voice. "Draco, come here." Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw him obliquely; a figure slightly taller than he was,**

"At that point, yes I was taller, but that was before Harry had that massive growth spurt." Draco sighed.

**rising from an armchair, his face a pale and pointed blur beneath white-blond hair.**

"I think if you had looked straight at me, you would have seen the closest thing to a corporeal ghost." Draco grimaced, "I knew it was you, but there was no way I was going to say that. I think the fact that I didn't want to go anywhere near Greyback was a good thing, it gave me an excuse to claim that I wasn't sure."

**Greyback forced the prisoners to turn again so as to place Harry directly beneath the chandelier.**

"**Well, boy?" rasped the werewolf.**

**Harry was facing a mirror over the fireplace, a great gilded thing in an intricately scrolled frame. Through the slits of his eyes he saw his own reflection for the first time since leaving Grimmauld Place.**

"Blimey, six months without a mirror." James whistled.

"Says the man who can't go more than six minutes without looking in a mirror." Dorea said, giggling slightly at her son's pout.

**His face was huge, shiny, and pink, every feature distorted by Hermione's jinx. His black hair reached his shoulders **

"Looking a lot tidier than it did normally." Harry mumbled.

**and there was a dark shadow around his jaw.**

"You looked quite good, apart from the results of that stinging jinx." Lucius smiled, "though you could have done with a shave."

"I didn't particularly care about it at that point." Harry grinned, "there were far more important things to worry about."

**Had he not known that it was he who stood there, he would have wondered who was wearing his glasses. He resolved not to speak, for his voice was sure to give him away; yet he still avoided eye contact with Draco as the latter approached.**

"**Well, Draco?" said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. **

"I'm amazed you didn't hear how false that was." Lucius murmured, "I was faking it all, and wasn't entirely certain that no one had figured that out."

"**Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"**

"**I can't – I can't be sure," said Draco. He was keeping his distance from Greyback, and seemed as scared of looking at Harry as Harry was of looking at him.**

"Of course I was scared, I really didn't want it to be you." Draco snorted bitterly.

"**But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!"**

**Harry had never heard Lucius Malfoy so excited.**

"Only because if it really was you, I knew there was hope for us all." Lucius whispered, "besides, I think I was a lot more excited when Rax and Akasha were born."

"Anyone would be." Narcissa smiled, trying to keep the mood light, despite the tension produced by the book.

"**Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv–"**

"**Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope Mr Malfoy?" said Greyback menacingly.**

"**Of course not, of course not!" said Lucius impatiently. He approached Harry himself, came so close that Harry could see the usually languid, pale face in sharp detail even through his swollen eyes. With his face a puffy mask, Harry felt as though he was peering out from between the bars of a cage.**

"I hope the swelling goes down quickly." Lily whispered, "you need to be able to see to escape."

"**What did you do to him?" Lucius asked Greyback. "How did he get into this state?"**

"**That wasn't us."**

"**Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me," said Lucius.**

"An exceptionally powerful one." James muttered.

**His grey eyes raked Harry's forehead.**

"**There's something there," he whispered, "it could be the scar, stretched tight. . . . Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"**

**Harry saw Draco's face up close now, right beside his father's. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco's expression was full of reluctance, even fear.**

"Of course I was scared." Draco snorted, "I knew it was Harry, but there was no way I wanted to reveal that, and Greyback was in the room as well."

"**I don't know," he said, and he walked away toward the fireplace where his mother stood watching.**

"**We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa called to her husband in her cold, clear voice. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord … They say this is his," she was looking closely at the blackthorn wand, "but it does not resemble Ollivander's description … If we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing … remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?"**

"I'd rather not." Bellatrix mumbled, "they deserved something for the many people they've killed, but not the kind of torture Voldemort put them through."

"**What about the Mudblood, then?" growled Greyback. Harry was nearly thrown off his feet as the Snatchers forced the prisoners to swivel around again, so that the light fell on Hermione instead.**

"**Wait," said Narcissa sharply. "Yes – yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the _Prophet_! Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"**

"Don't you mean, the wonderful woman who's stolen my heart?" Draco smiled at Hermione, wishing they could skip the latter half of the chapter. He really didn't want to remember the way she had been tortured right in front of him, with him unable to protect her.

"**I … maybe … yeah."**

"**But then, that's the Weasley boy!" shouted Lucius, striding around the bound prisoners to face Ron. "It's them, Potter's friends – Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name –?"**

"What's his name?" Ron snorted quietly, "for some reason, I want to laugh at that."

"**Yeah," said Draco again, his back to the prisoners. "It could be."**

"How did no one realise that you really didn't want to give them away?" Regulus asked.

"I don't know, but I am bloody grateful that I was able to get away with it, and they didn't suffer because of me." Draco grimaced.

**The drawing room door opened behind Harry. A woman spoke, and the sound of the voice wound Harry's fear to an even higher pitch.**

"**What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"**

"Crap." Bellatrix groaned, hunching into herself even more, trying not to present too much of a target. She really hated what she had been forced to do while under Voldemort's control, and wished, not for the first time, that both she and Rodolphus had been strong enough to resist when her mother put them under the Imperius.

**Bellatrix Lestrange walked slowly around the prisoners, and stopped on Harry's right, staring at Hermione through her heavily lidded eyes.**

The students who liked Harry and his friends, glared at Bellatrix, and were about to start hexing her for what she was doing, but Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, threw the most venomous glares at anyone who raised their wand. That stopped them all. Their hatred of Bellatrix was less than their fear of the trio, all of whom had nasty tempers, and knew a lot more hexes and curses than most of the rest of the students in the hall.

"**But surely," she said quietly, "this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"**

"**Yes, yes, it's Granger!" cried Lucius, "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!" **

"**Potter?" shrieked Bellatrix, and she backed away, the better to take in Harry. "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" **

**She dragged back her left sleeve: Harry saw the Dark Mark burned into the flesh of her arm, and knew that she was about to touch it, to summon her beloved master –**

"He was not my beloved anything." Bellatrix growled, "I hated him and wouldn't have joined if I'd had a choice."

"I tried stopping Druella when she laced the contract with the Imperius, but nothing I said would change her mind." Cygnus grimaced, "she worshipped the very ground Voldemort walked on, and thought it would be an honour to have at least one of our daughters serving him. If I could, I would have destroyed him, but I never got the chance, Druella knew my thoughts and manipulated events in such a way as to stop me every time."

"Why did she insist on lacing a marriage contract with the Imperius?" Dean asked, "it seems like an extreme thing to do."

"I thought so too, but it was after Andromeda ran away." Cygnus sighed, "Druella wasn't willing to let Bella or Cissy follow suit, so lacing the marriage contract was her way of ensuring Bella's obedience."

"She sounds as though she was a little off her rocker." Seamus commented.

"She was completely off her rocker." Cygnus snorted, "not as bad as Walburga, but she was close."

"**I was about to call him!" said Lucius, and his hand actually closed upon Bellatrix's wrist, preventing her from touching the Mark. "_I_ shall summon him, Bella. Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority –"**

"**Your authority!" she sneered, attempting to wrench her hand from his grasp. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"**

"Why the hell are you two arguing?" Regulus wondered, "I mean really, even I know, it's not a good idea to argue with a woman, and I'm still only a teenager."

"It would have looked extremely odd if I hadn't argued." Lucius sighed.

"Reg, you should have realised that occasionally, those two manage to rub each other the wrong way." Narcissa snorted, "I can say, with some certainty, that if his hackles hadn't risen after she said that, I would have been extremely confused."

"And don't forget, Greyback and the Snatchers were still there, so I had to maintain my mask." Lucius added.

"**This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy –"**

"**Begging your pardon, _Mr_ Malfoy," interjected Greyback, "but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold –"**

"Oh for Merlin's sake, did he really have to open his mouth and remind everyone that he exists?" Remus asked, trying not to whine.

"**Gold!" laughed Bellatrix, still attempting to throw off her brother-in-law, her free hand groping in her pocket for her wand. **

"**Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honour of his – of –"**

"What?" Ernie muttered, "stopping at that point makes absolutely no sense at all."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Justin sighed, "I doubt the ones who know are going to explain."

**She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something Harry could not see. Jubilant at her capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and ripped up his own sleeve –**

"**STOP!" shrieked Bellatrix, "Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"**

"OK, what just happened?" Charlie asked, scratching his head in slight confusion.

"Let Tracy read, and you'll find out." Harry replied, bracing himself for what was to come later in the chapter.

**Lucius froze, his index finger hovering over his own Mark. Bellatrix strode out of Harry's limited line of vision.**

"**What is that?" he heard her say.**

"**Sword," grunted an out-of-sight Snatcher.**

"I don't understand, what's the problem with the Sword?" Dean asked.

"I'm sure it was mentioned in one of the earlier chapters, that Voldemort had ordered the Sword of Gryffindor to be placed in a vault in Gringotts, and that it was actually a fake that had been placed there, while the real one had been hidden." Neville said, "but the book didn't mention which vault."

"I get it now." Seamus grinned.

"**Give it to me."**

"**It's not yorn, Missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it."**

**There was a bang and a flash of red light; Harry knew that the Snatcher had been Stunned. There was a roar of anger from his fellows: Scabior drew his wand.**

"**What d'you think you're playing at, woman?"**

"Oh that's not good." Bill winced, "an angry woman, probably with PMS, combined with a hell of a lot of talent, and mixed in with irritating men like Scabior, that's a recipe for disaster."

"I didn't have PMS." Bellatrix mumbled, "it was not my time of the month. The Sword, or rather the fake sword, had been sent to my vault, and because I didn't know about the fake, I thought they'd broken into my vault."

"Right." Bill nodded, cringing at the thought of what Bellatrix would have been like if she had had PMS.

"**_Stupefy!_" she screamed, "_Stupefy!_"**

**They were no match for her, even thought there were four of them against one of her: she was a witch, as Harry knew, with prodigious skill and no conscience. They fell where they stood, all except Greyback, who had been forced into a kneeling position, his arms outstretched. Out of the corners of his eyes Harry saw Bellatrix bearing down upon the werewolf, the sword of Gryffindor gripped tightly in her hand, her face waxen.**

"What why were you so scared that they had broken into your vault?" Charlie wondered, "I mean yeah, it's a horrible thought that someone could have stolen something valuable, like the sword, but that's not enough to cause such fear."

"I had something in the vault that I didn't want people to find." Bellatrix sighed, "if Harry and his friends had stolen that item, well, Voldemort would have been furious."

"**Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to Greyback as she pulled his wand out of his unresisting grip.**

"**How dare you?" he snarled, his mouth the only thing that could move as he was forced to gaze up at her. He bared his pointed teeth. "Release me, woman!" **

"**Where did you find this sword?" she repeated, brandishing it in his face, "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"**

"I sent the fake, apparently." Snape smirked, "how I got hold of it, I still don't know."

"**It was in their tent," rasped Greyback. "Release me, I say!"**

**She waved her wand, and the werewolf sprang to his feet, but appeared too wary to approach her. He prowled behind an armchair, his filthy curved nails clutching its back.**

"**Draco, move this scum outside," said Bellatrix, indicating the unconscious men. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."**

"I can't see him wanting to do it." Blaise said, glancing shrewdly at Draco, who was paler than normal, with his arms wrapped around Hermione and her head on his shoulder.

"No, I didn't want to." Draco sighed, "I'm not a cold-hearted killer. I've known that for some time."

"**Don't you dare speak to Draco like –" said Narcissa furiously, but Bellatrix screamed, "Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"**

**She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at the silent prisoners.**

"**If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed," she muttered, more to herself than to the others. "The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself … but if he finds out … I must … I must know …"**

"I think there's a Horcrux in Gringotts." Alicia said, "I think that's the only reason for anyone to be that scared."

"But how are they going to get at it to destroy it?" Katie asked.

"I don't know." Alicia sighed, "I can't see Miss Black being allowed to give them access."

"We'll just have to wait and let the book tell us what they did." Katie grimaced.

**She turned back to her sister again.**

"**The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!" **

"That'll just give them time to escape." Remus grinned.

"Indeed, I made sure that there was something that could help any prisoners." Lucius nodded, "it may not have seemed like much, but it was all I could do without making Voldemort too suspicious."

"**This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my –"**

"**Do it! You have no idea of the danger we're in!" shrieked Bellatrix. She looked frightening, mad; a thin stream of fire issued from her wand and burned a hole in the carpet.**

**Narcissa hesitated for a moment, then addressed the werewolf.**

"**Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback."**

"What happened to the alcohol that was stored there?" Abraxas asked, "I'm sure that cellar wouldn't be big enough to hold four people as well as fifteen thousand bottles of wine and liquor."

"I had to find somewhere else to store the drinks." Lucius grumbled, "the wine was sent back to the vineyard in France, and the other alcohol was put in a cavern under the stables."

"There were a few bottles that weren't sent anywhere, they were just stored in the pantry." Draco added.

"**Wait," said Bellatrix sharply. "All except … except for the Mudblood."**

**Greyback gave a grunt of pleasure.**

"Oh Merlin no." Lily and many of the other women in the hall, sobbed, "not Hermione."

"**No!" shouted Ron. "You can have me, keep me!" **

"You are a brave man, Ronald." Regulus said softly, "to be willing to put yourself through the kind of torture Voldemort would expect one of his Death Eaters to use."

"I felt that if anyone had to be tortured, it should have been me." Ron muttered thickly.

"You are lucky, not knowing what the cruciatus feels like." Lucius sighed, "I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone."

**Bellatrix hit him across the face: the blow echoed around the room.**

"**If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next," she said. "Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them – yet."**

**She threw Greyback's wand back to him, then took a short silver knife from under her robes. She cut Hermione free from the other prisoners, then dragged her by the hair into the middle of the room, **

Ron was taking deep breaths through his nose, to try and stay calm, so he didn't end up ranting and raving, because he could still remember seeing Hermione's terrified face, as well as his feeling of utter helplessness as he was dragged away by Greyback.

Ron wasn't the only one struggling to maintain their calm, the only people who were not angry, terrified, or worried about Hermione, were those who were eagerly and impatiently waiting until they were old enough to take the Dark Mark. They were trying to hide how much they loved the thought of a lowly Mudblood being tortured while the Blood Traitors and Half-breeds were forced to listen. To them, the terror they could sense coming from Harry's friends and family, was like music to their ears.

**while Greyback forced the rest of them to shuffle across to another door, into a dark passageway, his wand held out in front of him, projecting an invisible and irresistible force.**

"**Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her?" Greyback crooned as he forced them along the corridor. "I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, Ginger?"**

The windows shattered, and the broken pieces of glass flew across the room, missing everyone, apart from the wannabe Death Eaters, who all got a few nicks and cuts. No one knew who had lost control to such an extent, until they looked at the staff table. Minerva was shaking in unbridled fury, with her lips pursed to such an extent that no one could see them, and tears of impotent rage were coursing down her cheeks. She had never felt so angry or distraught in her life, not even when she heard that Lily and James were dead and that Harry was an orphan. Hearing the glee and anticipation in Greyback's words, undid her, completely, despite how much she was trying to contain herself, and she wished that he was there so she could tear him apart, limb from limb.

"The Killing Curse is too good for a thing like him." Sprout growled angrily, trying to help Minerva rein in her emotions, but failing, because she too, was furious at the thought of Greyback touching Hermione, one of her favourite students.

**Harry could feel Ron shaking. They were forced down a steep flight of stairs, still tied back-to-back and in danger of slipping and breaking their necks at any moment. At the bottom was a heavy door. Greyback unlocked it with a tap of his wand, then forced them into a dank and musty room and left them in total darkness. The echoing bang of the slammed cellar door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn out scream from directly above them.**

Nobody spoke, the only sound in the hall was Tracy's clear but hollow voice reading the words that cut through almost everyone like knives. The ones who wanted to either fight against Voldemort or remain neutral were upset that an eighteen-year-old girl had to suffer under the cruciatus, while those who supported Voldemort hid smirks.

"**HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so that Harry staggered. "HERMIONE!"**

Harry and some of his friends started counting to ten in their heads, to try and maintain control of themselves as they, Harry, Lucius and Ron in particular, remembered how useless they had felt while Hermione was being tortured. Those who were looking at them could tell that their control was weakening, due to the fact that Lucius and Ron had unseen winds blowing through their hair, and the candles above Harry's head were flaring slightly. No one wanted to find out what would happen if any of the three lost control, so they all prayed that Tracy could get through the torturous chapter as quickly as possible, before Harry, Lucius and Ron snapped.

"**Be quiet!" Harry said. "Shut up. Ron, we need to work out a way –"**

"**HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"**

"**We need a plan, stop yelling – we need to get these ropes off –"**

"You're not going to get his attention that easily." Lily said in a dead voice, "he's not completely there. It's good that you're trying to come up with some way of getting out, but I don't think he's going to be much help."

"I can understand how he feels." James murmured, gazing at a point in the far distance, "hearing someone you care about in that kind of pain, without being able to help, it's one of the worst things anyone can experience."

Lily and Charlus gently rested their hands on James' shoulders, trying to comfort him as he relieved the day he had been forced to listen as Lily was tortured by Voldemort, the third time they had come face to face with him. Neither had expected to survive that night, but they did, and apart from a few more nightmares, on top of the ones they had from the previous two times they had escaped, both were in one piece, and were stronger than they had been. They believed fiercely in the aphorism, 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger'.

"**Harry?" came a whisper through the darkness. "Ron? Is that you?"**

**Ron stopped shouting. There was a sound of movement close by them, then Harry saw a shadow moving closer.**

"**Harry? Ron?"**

"**_Luna?_"**

"I don't know how to feel about the fact that Luna was there." Ginny murmured, "the simple fact that she was put in the dungeon is pretty bad, but with Harry there, she'll be able to escape."

"Yeah, now that I know that I'm in the same place as Harry, I'm happy." Luna nodded, "he's like the big brother I never got to have, and he'll find a way to get me out."

"**Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"**

"**Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?" said Harry.**

"**Oh yes, I expect so … there's an old nail we use if we need to break anything … just a moment …"**

"I wonder who put the nail there." James frowned, "it doesn't seem possible that anyone would not check the cells and remove that kind of thing."

"I put it there." Lucius said, "when I was ordered to check the cell before Luna was put in it, I made sure that there was something she and Ollivander could use if they needed it. I just wish I could have done more, but it was risky enough putting the nail in without being found out."

**Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"**

"**Mr Ollivander?" Harry could hear Luna saying. "Mr Ollivander, have you got the nail? If you just move over a little bit … I think it was beside the water jug."**

"I'm glad it didn't end up in the jug." Draco grinned.

"How can you joke at a time like this?" Lily shrieked, "my boy is in danger."

"I'm trying to get people to recognise the fact that we are reading about the future, and none of the events have happened yet." Draco replied, "plus, Harry, Ron and Hermione survived."

"I'm still not entirely certain how." Lucius said, "I was unconscious during their escape."

"Oh, so what you're saying is that your jokes are a way of trying to keep the tension to a minimum." James realised.

"Yep." Draco nodded.

**She was back within seconds.**

"**You'll need to stay still," she said.**

**Harry could feel her digging at the rope's tough fibres to work the knots free. From upstairs they heard Bellatrix's voice.**

"**I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? _Where?_"**

"A frozen pond in the forest of Dean." Harry dead-panned.

"**We found it – we found it – PLEASE!" Hermione screamed again; Ron struggled harder than ever, and the rusty nail slipped onto Harry's wrist.**

"**Ron, please stay still!" Luna whispered. "I can't see what I'm doing –"**

"**My pocket!" said Ron, "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"**

"I'd forgotten you'd got that." James muttered.

**A few seconds later, there was a click, and the luminescent spheres the Deluminator had sucked from the lamps in the tent flew into the cellar: unable to rejoin their sources they simply hung there, like tiny suns, flooding the underground room with light. Harry saw Luna, all eyes in her white face, and the motionless figure of Ollivander the wandmaker, curled up on the floor in the corner. Craning round, he caught sight of their fellow prisoners: Dean and Griphook the goblin, who seemed barely conscious, kept standing by the ropes that bound him to the humans.**

"**Oh, that's much easier, thanks, Ron," said Luna, and she began hacking at their bindings again. "Hello, Dean!"**

"Only Luna." Hermione smiled fondly.

"It's a good thing that there's someone there who can stay calm in that kind of situation." Minerva said, knowing that if it had been her, then she would have either been too furious or too scared to be of any help at all.

**From above came Bellatrix's voice.**

"**You're lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"**

**Another terrible scream–**

"My God, what the hell was going on?" Neville asked, trying not to compare what Hermione was going through to what his parents had experienced.

"**HERMIONE!"**

"**What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"**

"Why couldn't you stop?" Ginny asked, crying as she stared at Bellatrix. She was heart-broken that her mother could be so cruel as to torture Hermione, even though she knew, intellectually, that Bellatrix wasn't the one at fault.

"I wanted to." Bellatrix laughed bitterly, "no matter how hard I fought, nothing worked, and I have to live with the memories of what I was forced to endure, while I was trapped in my own mind. I fought so hard, for so long, against the curse, but in the end, it was useless, and I had to watch as my body did those horrible things without being able to do anything to stop it."

"**There!"**

**Harry felt the ropes fall away and turned, rubbing his wrists, to see Ron running around the cellar, looking up at the low ceiling, searching for a trapdoor. Dean, his face bruised and bloody, said, "Thanks," to Luna and stood there, shivering, but Griphook sank onto the cellar floor, looking groggy and disoriented, many welts across his swarthy face.**

**Ron was now trying to Disapparate without a wand.**

"I doubt that would work." Albus whispered, wishing, not for the first time, that he had been able to stop Voldemort when he first started, so that none of these atrocities would have come to pass.

"It wouldn't." Abraxas sighed, "my great-great-grandfather made sure there were anti-Apparition wards when the manor was rebuilt in eighteen-seventy-one. I don't know whether there were any previously, but I would assume there were."

"**There's no way out, Ron," said Luna, watching his fruitless efforts. "The cellar is completely escape-proof. **

"Not completely, there is a method of escape that was either overlooked when the wards were set up, or cannot be warded against." Harry muttered.

**I tried, at first. Mr. Ollivander has been here for a long time, he's tried everything."**

**Hermione was screaming again: the sound went through Harry like physical pain. Barely conscious of the fierce prickling of his scar, he too started to run around the cellar, feeling the walls for he hardly knew what, knowing in his heart that it was useless.**

"**What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"**

"I did wonder if that was the method being used." Remus said, struggling to maintain his grip on the wolf inside him. He knew that if he didn't, the wolf would take over completely. Fortunately, for his weakening control, Tonks had her arms wrapped around him, helping keep him grounded and completely human.

"It was Voldemort's favourite." Bellatrix sighed, remembering the many times she herself had been placed under that curse. "There was no way he would not force me to use it too."

**Hermione's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with his fists, and Harry in utter desperation seized Hagrid's pouch from around his neck and groped inside it: he pulled out Dumbledore's Snitch and shook it, hoping for he did not know what – nothing happened – he waved the broken halves of the phoenix wand, but they were lifeless – the mirror fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and he saw a gleam of brightest blue –**

**Dumbledore's eye was gazing at him out of the mirror.**

"I thought professor Dumbledore was dead." Theo murmured, looking slightly puzzled.

"He was, but there is another Dumbledore around, so it could be him, although I don't actually know what colour his eyes are." Blaise pointed out, remembering the newspaper articles that mentioned Aberforth Dumbledore, in previous chapters.

"**Help us!" he yelled at it in mad desperation. "We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!"**

"I don't know what the person on the other end is going to be able to do." Flitwick frowned nervously.

**The eye blinked and was gone.**

**Harry was not even sure that it had really been there. He tilted the shard of mirror this way and that, and saw nothing reflected there but the walls and ceiling of their prison, and upstairs Hermione was screaming worse than ever, and next to him Ron was bellowing, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"**

"If I hadn't heard that, I would have given up." Hermione whispered, sinking into Draco's embrace as she pushed the memories back behind her Occlumency shields, where they belonged. "I was beginning to lose the will to live, and couldn't really see the point in continuing to fight."

"At least you gained strength from Ron." Harry smiled slightly, "but I wish we could have done more to help, so that you didn't have to suffer like that."

"I don't think there was anything you could have done or said that would have helped." Hermione sighed sadly, "besides, hearing Ron's voice reminded me of what we were fighting for, and made me want to continue.".

"**How did you get into my vault?" they heard Bellatrix scream. "Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"**

"**We only met him tonight!" Hermione sobbed. "We've never been inside your vault … it isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"**

"Merlin, I can't believe you were able to lie under torture like that." Ernie whispered, "I don't think I could."

"**A copy?" screeched Bellatrix. "Oh, a likely story!"**

"**But we can find out easily!" came Lucius's voice. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"**

**Harry dashed across the cellar to where Griphook was huddled on the floor.**

"**Griphook," he whispered into the goblin's pointed ear, "you must tell them that sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Griphook, please –"**

"That worked incredibly well." Bellatrix sighed, giving Harry a slight smile while grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently. "I was never very good at Legilimency, I only really learned it as a method of passing messages to someone without others interrupting or knowing what the messages were."

"Besides, a goblin's mind is not easy to access anyway." Bill said, "they are born with basic shields already in place, and one of the first things an infant goblin learns, is how to increase those shields so that all the secrets of Gringotts are kept secure. All the human employees are taught the same thing, to make sure that they don't become security leaks."

**He could hear someone scuttling own the cellar steps; next moment, Draco's shaking voice spoke from behind the door.**

"**Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!"**

**They did as they were bidden; as the lock turned, Ron clicked the Deluminator and the lights whisked back into his pocket, restoring the cellar's darkness. The door flew open; Malfoy marched inside, wand held out in front of him, pale and determined. He seized the little goblin by the arm and backed out again, dragging Griphook with him. The door slammed shut and at the same moment a loud crack echoed inside the cellar.**

"A very loud crack." Lucius snorted, "it was audible in the drawing room."

**Ron clicked the Deluminator. Three balls of light flew back into the air from his pocket, revealing Dobby the house-elf, who had just Apparated into their midst.**

"I didn't think it was possible for people to Apparate where there are anti-Apparition wards." Justin frowned.

"People can't, but do remember that house-elf magic is very different. House-elves can Apparate around Hogwarts when we can't, and Kreacher escaped the cave in which Voldemort had hidden the locket Horcrux, just by Apparating out." Hermione pointed out.

"Plus, and I'm sure this is going to be fairly embarrassing for the man, but at the end of our second year, Dobby tossed his old Master down some stairs, just by clicking his fingers." Harry grinned.

"How the hell did he manage that?" Blaise asked, "I didn't think house-elves could attack their masters."

"I was tricked into freeing him." Lucius mumbled, going bright red in embarrassment, "I was out-Slytherined by a twelve-year-old."

"Oh." Blaise muttered, grinning in slight amusement.

"**DOB – !"**

**Harry hit Ron on the arm to stop him shouting, and Ron looked terrified at his mistake. Footsteps crossed the ceiling overhead: Draco marching Griphook to Bellatrix.**

**Dobby's enormous, tennis-ball shaped eyes were wide; he was trembling from his feet to the tips of his ears. He was back in the home of his old masters, and it was clear that he was petrified.**

There were tears in Harry's eyes at the mention of Dobby, the brave elf who had put aside his terror and returned to that house to help rescue the prisoners. He refused to let them fall, mainly because he knew that Dobby was alive and well, and would hopefully, be one of the first elves to be completely freed of the house-elf bond by the Nox.

Lucius, Hermione and the others who had been there that night, were all near tears as well, as they, too, remembered how brave Dobby was.

Even Narcissa was sad that Dobby was so scared to return to their house, where he had worked for most of his short life, and while she understood that it was because they hadn't treated him particularly well, and that some of their previous guests had been truly awful to him, she didn't quite understand why Harry, Lucius, Hermione, Draco, Ron and Bellatrix were so close to crying for him. She didn't know that they were all mourning the brave little elf, nor did she realise how much they felt they owed him for his sacrifice, but, she would eventually.

"**Harry Potter," he squeaked in the tiniest quiver of a voice, "Dobby has come to rescue you."**

"**But how did you – ?"**

"Not a good time." Dorea whispered, "you need to deal with escaping first, before asking about the hows and whys."

**An awful scream drowned Harry's words: Hermione was being tortured again. He cut to the essentials.**

"**You can Disapparate out of this cellar?" he asked Dobby, who nodded, his ears flapping.**

"**And you can take humans with you?"**

**Dobby nodded again.**

"**Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander, and take them – take them to –"**

"**Bill and Fleur's," said Ron. "Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth!"**

"Good choice, they probably won't ask too many questions." Remus said.

"I know I wouldn't." Bill nodded, silencing his mother to make sure she couldn't scream at him, "I don't know Harry as well as I'd like, but from what I've seen during the few times I've spoken to him, I know that I can trust him with my life, and will let him do what he thinks is necessary, without trying to stop him."

**The elf nodded for a third time.**

"**And then come back," said Harry. "Can you do that, Dobby?"**

"**Of course, Harry Potter," whispered the little elf. He hurried over to Mr. Ollivander, who appeared to be barely conscious. He took one of the wandmaker's hands in his own, then held out the other to Luna and Dean, neither of whom moved.**

"Of course we wouldn't." Luna smiled, "I wouldn't want to leave my friends, if there was any way I could help."

"I think, that while that might have been admirable and a very brave thing to do, not having a wand, and being unlikely to get your hands on one, would mean that you wouldn't be able to do much." Narcissa said, "the best thing you could do in that sort of situation, is get out while you have the chance."

"He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day. But he who is in battle slain, can never rise and fight again." Andromeda whispered softly, remembering those lines from a poem she had read several years previously.

"**Harry, we want to help you!" Luna whispered.**

"**We can't leave you here," said Dean.**

"**Go, both of you! We'll see you at Bill and Fleur's."**

**As Harry spoke, his scar burned worse than ever, and for a few seconds he looked down, not upon the wandmaker, but on another man who was just as old, just as thin, but laughing scornfully.**

"_**Kill me, then, Voldemort, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek … there is so much you do not understand …"**_

"Is he suicidal?" Susan asked.

"Probably." Hermione replied, "you have to understand, though, he has been in Nurmengard for just over half a century, and I'm sure he would be happy to die, to end the half-life he's living."

**He felt Voldemort's fury, but as Hermione screamed again he shut it out, returning to the cellar and the horror of his own present.**

"**Go!" Harry beseeched to Luna and Dean. "Go! We'll follow, just go!"**

**They caught hold of the elf's outstretched fingers. There was another loud crack, and Dobby, Luna, Dean, and Ollivander vanished.**

"**What was that?" shouted Lucius Malfoy from over their heads. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?"**

"Crap." Charlus muttered, "did you have to hear it?"

"I don't think I could avoid hearing it." Lucius grimaced, "it was loud enough that if I hadn't mentioned it, someone else would have, probably Greyback, and he would have gone to investigate himself."

"That would have been bad." James said.

**Harry and Ron stared at each other.**

"**Draco – no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!"**

"Dealing with the rat won't be too difficult." James said bitterly, "he never was very good at magic."

"We should have realised what he was truly like." Remus sighed, "always looking to us to protect him from bullies, not standing up for himself."

**Footsteps crossed the room overhead, then there was silence. Harry knew that the people in the drawing room were listening for more noises from the cellar.**

"**We're going to have to try and tackle him," he whispered to Ron. They had no choice: the moment anyone entered the room and saw the absence of three prisoners, they were lost. **

"Wormtail's fairly weak, he nearly failed his DADA exams, every year." Remus said dismissively.

"**Leave the lights on," Harry added, and as they heard someone descending the steps outside the door, they backed against the wall on either side of it.**

"**Stand back," came Wormtail's voice. "Stand away from the door. I'm coming in." The door flew open. For a split second Wormtail gazed into the apparently empty cellar, ablaze with light from the three miniature suns floating in mid-air. Then Harry and Ron launched themselves upon him. Ron seized Wormtail's wand arm and forced it upwards. Harry slapped a hand to his mouth, muffling his voice. **

"That was fast." Charlus blinked.

"Wormtail isn't very strong, not compared to two teenagers, who are very probably running on adrenaline." Remus said, "and they had the element of surprise as well."

"True." Charlus nodded.

**Silently they struggled: Wormtail's wand emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around Harry's throat.**

"Stop touching him you dirty little rat." James snarled.

"**What is it, Wormtail?" called Lucius Malfoy from above.**

"**Nothing!" Ron called back, in a passable imitation of Wormtail's wheezy voice. "All fine!"**

"It wasn't just a passable imitation, it was almost perfect." Lucius whispered, "I couldn't tell the difference."

**Harry could barely breathe.**

"**You're going to kill me?" Harry choked, attempting to prise off the metal fingers. "After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"**

"I still wish you'd let us kill him." Remus growled.

"Remus, we needed him alive, so we could prove that Sirius was innocent." Harry sighed, "I know that it didn't really work out, since he managed to escape again, but the simple fact that I stopped you, means he owes me a life debt. I know I don't particularly want anything to do with him, but the fact that he does owe me, was useful."

**The silver fingers slackened. Harry had not expected it: he wrenched himself free, astonished, keeping his hand over Wormtail's mouth. He saw the ratlike man's small watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: he seemed just as shocked as Harry at what his hand had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had betrayed, and he continued to struggle more powerfully, as though to undo that moment of weakness.**

"**And we'll have that," whispered Ron, tugging Wormtail's wand from his other hand.**

**Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew's pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry's face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat.**

"Oh God." James grimaced, "I know he betrayed us, but I still don't want him dead. Before we started reading, I thought of him as a friend, and I don't think he deserves to die."

"Are you sure about that?" Remus asked, "he betrayed you, framed Sirius, and left Harry without parents."

"I don't think he deserves to die by strangulation, but he does deserve death." Lily said, trying to refrain from hissing.

"**No –"**

**Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back the hand, but there was no stopping it. The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes.**

"Why is his hand strangling him, when it's his?" Justin asked, "I don't understand."

"The hand was cursed." Harry replied, "Voldemort said, 'may your loyalty never waver again', when he conjured that silver hand. He made sure that Wormtail wouldn't get the chance to betray him, and unfortunately, that moment where he showed me that ounce of mercy, was enough for the curse to activate."

"Merlin." Justin whispered, horrified.

"**No!"**

**Ron had released Wormtail too, and together he and Harry tried to pull the crushing metal fingers from around Wormtail's throat, but it was no use. Pettigrew was turning blue.**

"Don't bother." Regulus said, "I don't think there is anything anyone can do, not unless they know how Voldemort created that hand, and what enchantments he put on it."

"**_Relashio_!" said Ron, pointing the wand at the silver hand, but nothing happened; Pettigrew dropped to his knees, and at the same moment, Hermione gave a dreadful scream from overhead. Wormtail's eyes rolled upward in his purple face; he gave a last twitch, and was still.**

"Good riddance to bad bloody rubbish." Remus growled.

**Harry and Ron looked at each other, then leaving Wormtail's body on the floor behind them, ran up the stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading to the drawing room. Cautiously they crept along it until they reached the drawing room door, which was ajar. Now they had a clear view of Bellatrix looking down at Griphook, who was holding Gryffindor's sword in his long-fingered hands. Hermione was lying at Bellatrix's feet. She was barely stirring.**

"Were you OK?" Lily asked worriedly, asking the question that was on the lips of all the female teachers and the mothers in the hall.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded with a slight smile, "I just ended up with a couple of nightmares, and a few scars. It could have been worse."

"**Well?" Bellatrix said to Griphook. "Is it the true sword?"**

**Harry waited, holding his breath, fighting against the prickling of his scar.**

"**No," said Griphook. "It is a fake."**

"I can't believe it." Minerva gasped, "a goblin actually did what a wizard wanted him to do. That's unheard of."

"Not necessarily." Bill said, "they are willing to help the human employees at Gringotts, if necessary, but it is unheard of for a goblin to lie when a wizard asks him to. They hate liars."

"**Are you sure?" panted Bellatrix. "Quite sure?"**

"**Yes," said the goblin.**

**Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it.**

"**Good," she said, and with a casual flick of her wand she slashed another deep cut into the goblin's face, and he dropped with a yell at her feet. She kicked him aside. "And now," she said in a voice that burst with triumph, "we call the Dark Lord!"**

**And she pushed back her sleeve and touched her forefinger to the Dark Mark.**

"Get out of there as fast as you can." Everyone yelled, even the ones who'd had their souls sent back. Harry, Ron and Hermione just looked at each other before having to look away again, to make sure they didn't burst out laughing.

The only other person who wasn't panicking was Albus, who had noticed the looks Harry, Ron and Hermione shared, and realised that they had escaped, so yelling wasn't going to help.

Eventually, Hermione got fed up with all the panic, so fired off several cannon-blasts with her want, effectively bringing everyone back to reality. She then said, "why are you all yelling? The fact that we were able to come back, means we survived, and got out in time."

"Oh." They all grinned sheepishly, as they sat back down in their seats, embarrassed by their outburst.

When Lucius put his arm around Harry's shoulders, Harry noticed that he was shaking slightly, so he grabbed Lucius' free hand and squeezed gently. This effectively reminded the blond that not only was Harry alive and well, but also that he loved Lucius with all his heart.

**At once, Harry's scar felt as though it had split open again. His true surroundings vanished: he was Voldemort, and the skeletal wizard before him was laughing toothlessly at him; he was enraged at the summons he felt – he had warned them, he had told them to summon him for nothing less than Potter. If they were mistaken … **

"**_Kill me, then!_" demanded the old man. "_You will not win, you cannot win! That wand will never, ever be yours –_"**

**And Voldemort's fury broke: a burst of green light filled the prison room and the frail old body was lifted from its hard bed and then fell back, lifeless, **

Albus choked back another sob, utterly miserable at hearing the death of his old friend. Minerva glared at anyone who looked as though they wanted to comment, making sure that they all kept silent so as to not cause the headmaster any more pain.

"I think we should have a minute's silence, in respect for Grindelwald's death." Sprout whispered.

"Good idea." Minerva nodded, glaring once more around the hall before bowing her head. She knew that everybody would be less-than pleased at the fact that they were told to respect a man who had done terrible things, but his last words were a sign that he had come to repent at least a little.

As soon as the minute was up, Tracy was allowed to continue.

**and Voldemort returned to the window, his wrath barely controllable … they would suffer his retribution if they had no good reason for calling him back … **

"**And I think," said Bellatrix's voice, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."**

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

**Ron had burst into the drawing room; Bellatrix looked around, shocked; she turned her wand to face Ron instead –**

"You do like spectacular entrances." Ginny giggled slightly, knowing that the trio was going to escape, so they'd be safe.

"**_Expelliarmus!"_ he roared, pointing Wormtail's wand at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught by Harry, who had sprinted after Ron. **

"Sprinted past me more like." Ron snorted, "you were faster than me. I'm kinda surprised you didn't leave a cloud of dust behind you."

"And that catch was nice too." James grinned.

"Harry is the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen." Hermione pointed out, "he is the acknowledged master of the Wronski Feint, and in fact, in two thousand and two, was invited to join the England team for the World Cup Final that year, after their regular Seeker was injured."

"Who was the opposing team?" James asked eagerly.

"Bulgaria." Harry grinned, "I was up against Krum."

"Yep, and England flattened them." Ron nodded, "of course, the team did have the Wall of Wood in goal, and both Alicia and Angelina as well."

"And don't forget the Potter Plough." Draco sniggered, "the move that was named after Harry, who was the first and only person to pull it off successfully."

"What is the 'Potter Plough'?" Charlus asked.

"A sideways Wronski." Hermione giggled.

"Oh dear." Lily whispered.

"Why wasn't I involved?" Katie asked, "I'm sure if I'd been asked, I would have played."

"You were on maternity leave." Hermione giggled, "your son was barely a month old at the time of the final."

"Oh." Katie nodded, knowing that there was no way she would have been fit enough to play less than a month after giving birth.

"So what was the final score?" Oliver asked, yelling across the hall excitedly.

"Two hundred and seventy to nil." Harry laughed, "and the match only lasted about half-a-hour."

"Merlin." Minerva muttered with wide eyes. She could not believe that a British Quidditch team was that successful in the World Cup. Usually the England, Scotland and Wales teams failed to reach the Final.

**Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Greyback wheeled about; Harry yelled, "_Stupefy!"_ and Lucius Malfoy collapsed onto the hearth. Jets of light flew from Draco's, Narcissa's, and Greyback's wands; Harry threw himself to the floor, rolling behind a sofa to avoid them.**

"Sorry." Narcissa whispered, ashamed of what she would have to do.

Harry and Ron smiled at her, showing that there were no hard feelings.

"**STOP OR SHE DIES!"**

**Panting, Harry peered around the edge of the sofa. Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who seemed to be unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife to Hermione's throat.**

"**Drop your wands," she whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"**

"Like that's gonna help, no one can tell the difference." Lily snorted, "the blood of a non-magical is the same colour as a wizard's or witch's blood."

**Ron stood rigid, clutching Wormtail's wand. Harry straightened up, still holding Bellatrix's.**

"**I said, drop them!" she screeched, pressing the blade into Hermione's throat: Harry saw beads of blood appear there.**

"Oh dear." Lily and Mrs Weasley whimpered.

"**All right!" he shouted, and he dropped Bellatrix's wand onto the floor at his feet, Ron did the same with Wormtail's. Both raised their hands to shoulder height.**

"**Good!" she leered. "Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!"**

**Harry knew it; his scar was bursting with the pain of it, and he could feel Voldemort flying through the sky from far away, over a dark and stormy sea, and soon he would be close enough to Apparate to them, and Harry could see no way out.**

"Where's Dobby?" Lily asked herself quietly, "why isn't he helping?"

"**Now," said Bellatrix softly, as Draco hurried back to her with the wands. "Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood.**

"Oh for Merlin's sake." All the Muggle-borns, except Hermione, groaned.

"That insult doesn't affect me any more." Hermione smirked, "I've heard it so many times that it's lost the power to hurt."

**I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight."**

**At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of them looked upward in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she threw herself aside with a scream. The chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, **

"I still wish you hadn't stunned me. I hated that chandelier, and would have enjoyed watching it destroy itself." Lucius mumbled to Harry.

**falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who still clutched the sword of Gryffindor. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions; Draco doubled over, his hands covering his bloody face.**

"Were you all right Draco?" Narcissa asked nervously.

"Yeah, I just had a couple of scratches." Draco nodded, "one of which left me with a tiny little scar on my left eyebrow."

"Thank Merlin." Narcissa whispered.

**As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, Harry took the chance: he leapt over an armchair and wrested the three wands from Draco's grip, pointed all of them at Greyback, and yelled, _"Stupefy!"_ The werewolf was lifted off his feet by the triple spell, flew up to the ceiling and then smashed to the ground.**

"Nice." Remus grinned maliciously.

"Pity he didn't die." Harry growled.

**As Narcissa dragged Draco out of the way of further harm, Bellatrix sprang to her feet, her hair flying as she brandished the silver knife; but Narcissa had directed her wand at the doorway.**

"**Dobby!" she screamed and even Bellatrix froze. "You! _You_ dropped the chandelier –?"**

"I love that little elf." James, and a lot of the students, grinned.

**The tiny elf trotted into the room, his shaking finger pointing at his old mistress.**

"**You must not hurt Harry Potter," he squeaked.**

"**Kill him, Cissy!" shrieked Bellatrix, **

Harry and his friends who had known Dobby, winced at that, remembering what had happened a few minutes later.

**but there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand too flew into the air and landed on the other side of the room.**

"**You dirty little monkey!" bawled Bellatrix. "How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?"**

"**Dobby has no master!" squealed the elf. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"**

"He is truly loyal to you." Charlus smiled, "the only reason he would be that loyal, is if he had bonded himself to you, without you knowing, so despite the fact that both you and he consider him to be free to do whatever he wants, he is yours."

**Harry's scar was blinding him with pain. Dimly he knew that they had moments, seconds before Voldemort was with them.**

"**Ron, catch – and GO!" he yelled, throwing one of the wands to him; then he bent down to tug Griphook out from under the chandelier. Hoisting the groaning goblin, who still clung to the sword, over one shoulder, Harry seized Dobby's hand and spun on the spot to Disapparate.**

**As he turned into darkness he caught one last view of the drawing room of the pale, frozen figures of Narcissa and Draco, of the streak of red that was Ron's hair, and a blur of flying silver, as Bellatrix's knife flew across the room at the place where he was vanishing –**

"I hope that knife missed." Lavender whispered as Bellatrix closed her eyes, wishing she had been just a few seconds later in throwing, but she knew, that there was no way that would have happened, she had trained for long hours, ensuring that she would be one of the best knife-throwers in the world.

_**Bill and Fleur's … Shell Cottage … Bill and Fleur's …**_

**He had disappeared into the unknown; all he could do was repeat the name of the destination and hope that it would suffice to take him there. The pain in his forehead pierced him, and the weight of the goblin bore down upon him; he could feel the blade of Gryffindor's sword bumping against his back: Dobby's hand jerked in his; he wondered whether the elf was trying to take charge, to pull them in the right direction, and tried, by squeezing the fingers, to indicate that that was fine with him … **

"It's a miracle you weren't Splinched." Dorea murmured in shock.

**And then they hit solid earth and smelled salty air. Harry fell to his knees, relinquished Dobby's hand, and attempted to lower Griphook gently to the ground.**

"**Are you all right?" he said as the goblin stirred, but Griphook merely whimpered.**

**Harry squinted around through the darkness. There seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the wide starry sky, and he thought he saw movement outside it.**

"**Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?" he whispered, clutching the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys', ready to fight if he needed to. "Have we come to the right place? Dobby?"**

**He looked around. The little elf stood feet from him.**

"**DOBBY!"**

**The elf swayed slightly, stars reflected in his wide, shining eyes. Together, he and Harry looked down at the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf's heaving chest.**

"Poor Dobby." All the females who actually liked Harry, sobbed. The only ones who didn't, were those who hated Harry and were intending to join the Dark Lord. Even the female members of staff were crying, not one of them able to hold the tears back, not that they were trying very hard.

"**Dobby – no – HELP!" Harry bellowed toward the cottage, toward the people moving there. "HELP!"**

**He did not know or care whether they were wizards or Muggles, friends or foes; all he cared about was that a dark stain was spreading across Dobby's front, and that he had stretched out his own arms to Harry with a look of supplication. Harry caught him and laid him sideways on the cool grass.**

"**Dobby, no, don't die, don't die –"**

**The elf's eyes found him, and his lips trembled with the effort to form words.**

"**Harry … Potter …"**

**And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great glassy orbs, sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see.**

Harry and Narcissa were holding on to Bella, with Lucius leaning his head on Harry's shoulders, all four of them crying their eyes out for the brave little elf who had sacrificed his life to save Harry. They weren't the only ones in tears, almost everyone in the hall was crying, though the ones who wanted to join the Dark Lord weren't.

"That's the end of the chapter." Tracy said, nearly whispering as tears poured down her cheeks, "who wants to read next."

"I suggest we take a break first, so we can recover at least a little bit, and have lunch." Albus sighed, "I don't really think anyone in this room is really in a fit state to read right now."

No one argued, knowing that they would all have to recover their emotional equilibrium before diving back into the story, and even though they weren't really hungry, they all knew that they would have to eat, so agreed that lunch would not be a bad idea.


	31. Chapter 31

**The Wandmaker**

After an hour of picking at their food and trying to stop crying, the staff and students felt more capable of continuing to read.

"Who would like to go next?" Albus asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence.

"I will." Susan volunteered nervously.

"Very well." Albus nodded, gently floating the book over to the Hufflepuff table.

"**The Wandmaker**," Susan read.

**It was like sinking into an old nightmare; for an instant he knelt again beside Dumbledore's body at the foot of the tallest tower at Hogwarts, but in reality he was staring at a tiny body curled upon the grass, pierced by Bellatrix's silver knife. Harry's voice was still saying, "Dobby … _Dobby_ …" even though he knew that the elf had gone where he could not call him back.**

"I'm sure that he went the way he wanted to go." Regulus whispered, "the loyalty he showed you, was far more than anything I've ever seen from any House-elf, and I'm pretty sure that if he had to die, then he wanted to die saving your life."

**After a minute or so he realized that they had, after all, come to the right place, for here were Bill and Fleur, Dean and Luna, gathering around him as he knelt over the elf. **

"**Hermione," he said suddenly. "Where is she?"**

"Hopefully in bed where she should be." Pomfrey said sternly, though she still sounded as though she had a slight head-cold.

"**Ron's taken her inside," said Bill. "She'll be all right." Harry looked back down at Dobby. He stretched out a hand and pulled the sharp blade from the elf's body, then dragged off his own jacket and covered Dobby in it like a blanket.**

"Yous shouldn't do that for lowly Dobby." Dobby squeaked as he popped into the hall, "Dobby isn't worth that."

"Dobby, you are worth that, and so much more." Harry said, "you're my friend, there's no way I wouldn't want to do something nice for you."

Dobby burst into tears, utterly thrown by the care Harry was bestowing upon his lowly self.

**The sea was rushing against the rock somewhere nearby; Harry listened to it while the others talked, discussing matters in which he could take no interest, making decisions. Dean carried the injured Griphook into the house, Fleur hurrying with them; now Bill was making suggestions about burying the elf. Harry agreed without really knowing what he was saying. As he did so, he gazed down at the tiny body, and his scar prickled and burned, and in one part of his mind, viewed as if from the wrong end of a long telescope, he saw Voldemort punishing those they had left behind at the Malfoy Manor. His rage was dreadful and yet Harry's grief for Dobby seemed to diminish it, so that it became a distant storm that reached Harry from across a vast, silent ocean.**

"At least his emotions have been muted, but I wish it hadn't taken the death of a friend to cause it." James said, trying to smile, but not really succeeding.

"**I want to do it properly," were the first words of which Harry was fully conscious of speaking. "Not by magic. Have you got a spade?" **

"No no no, Harry Potter should not be doing manual labour for Dobby." Dobby moaned, as though he was utterly miserable, but totally ecstatic at the fact that Harry considered him worth it.

"You're his friend." Ginny smiled.

"It was the least I could do." Harry added, trying to suppress a grin as his mother grabbed the little house-elf and began to cuddle him.

"Is it just me, or does she resemble a little girl with a teddy bear when she does that?" Lucius wondered quietly.

"It's not just you." Harry sniggered, as Dobby squeaked slightly when he caught sight of Lucius, who was still sitting between Lily and her son. "All she needs to do to complete the picture is to suck her thumb."

Lily, having heard the little dialogue, stuck her tongue out at her son, then pretending to be a little girl, stuck her thumb in her mouth with a rather dry, "waah, waah, waah." She was a lot calmer now that Harry and his friends were free and safe.

"That was slightly creepy." Ginny murmured.

"You're telling me." Bellatrix mumbled, "and I thought my stupid baby voice was creepy and annoying."

"I am slightly curious at the fact that people, who are supposed to be mature adults, are acting like small children." Dorea giggled, "I mean honestly, at the beginning of the book, we had a man, who I could have sworn was close to seventy, pretending to vomit into his grandson's lap, then we had a forty-year-old get into a rather childish argument, and now a twenty-one-year-old acting like a toddler. And all three were at this table."

"Who was pretending to vomit, and why?" Andromeda asked curiously.

"The blond directly opposite Lily." James grinned, "and he did it because the first chapter held a mention of those so-called wretched birds."

"Oh dear." Andromeda giggled seeing Narcissa begin to pout.

"So who got into an argument and what were they arguing about?" Ted wondered.

"Dad and Hermione were arguing about coffee." Draco smirked.

"I'm not entirely certain that 'does, doesn't, does, doesn't' constitutes an argument." Harry snorted.

"It doesn't." Narcissa said dryly, "let's continue reading."

**And shortly afterwards he had set to work, alone, digging the grave in the place that Bill had shown him at the end of the garden, between bushes. He dug with a kind of fury, relishing the manual work, glorying in the non-magic of it, for every drop of his sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who had saved their lives.**

Dobby tried not to burst into tears again, but the simple fact that he believed that Harry was one of the greatest wizards in the world, while he was just a lowly house-elf, meant that he didn't feel worthy of any gift Harry could think of giving him.

The sadness, the grief, in the words Susan was reading out, very nearly made everyone in the hall start crying again, but a lot of them refused to, believing that crying would not help, even if they were getting depressed. The younger years weren't able to control themselves as much as the fifth, sixth and seventh years, and, the girls in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff especially, burst into tears once again.

**His scar burned, but he was master of the pain; he felt it, yet was apart from it. He had learned control at last, learned to shut his mind to Voldemort, the very thing Dumbledore had wanted him to learn from Snape. Just as Voldemort had not been able to possess Harry while Harry was consumed with grief for Sirius, so his thoughts could not penetrate Harry now while he mourned Dobby. Grief, it seemed, drove Voldemort out … though Dumbledore, of course, would have said that it was love …**

"Without love, there can be no grief." Cho murmured sadly.

**On Harry dug, deeper and deeper into the hard, cold earth, subsuming his grief in sweat, denying the pain in his scar. In the darkness, with nothing but the sound of his own breath and the rushing sea to keep him company, the things that had happened at the Malfoys' returned to him, the things he had heard came back to him, and understanding blossomed in the darkness … **

"Well I'm glad someone understands." Cygnus mumbled.

"He's had an epiphany." Neville groaned, "and he probably won't share with the rest of us."

**The steady rhythm of his arms beat time with his thoughts. Hallows … Horcruxes … Hallows … Horcruxes … yet no longer burned with that weird, obsessive longing. Loss and fear had snuffed it out. He felt as though he had been slapped awake again.**

"Thank Merlin for that." Luna sighed in relief, "obsessing over the Hallows is never healthy."

**Deeper and deeper Harry sank into the grave, and he knew where Voldemort had been tonight, and whom he had killed in the topmost cell of Nurmengard, and why…**

"Bugger." Remus grimaced, "I think Voldemort has figured out where the Wand is, and if he gets his hands on it, he'll be even more dangerous."

"He will never be the Master of the Elder Wand." Albus said, "I would never allow that to happen, and I'm sure, I would have made a plan to ensure that it didn't."

"I just hope it worked." Snape murmured.

**And he thought of Wormtail, dead because of one small unconscious impulse of mercy …Dumbledore had foreseen that … How much more had he known?**

"Oh Merlin, more mysteries." Charlus groaned, "can you please solve one without discovering more?"

"I'm not sure that's physically possible." Harry grinned.

**Harry lost track of time. He knew only that the darkness had lightened a few degrees when he was rejoined by Ron and Dean. "How's Hermione?"**

"**Better," said Ron. "Fleur's looking after her."**

"She kicked me out of the room as well." Ron grumbled.

**Harry had his retort ready for when they asked him why he had not simply created a perfect grave with his wand, but he did not need it. They jumped down into the hole he had made with spades of their own and together they worked in silence until the hole seemed deep enough.**

**Harry wrapped the elf more snuggly in his jacket. Ron sat on the edge of the grave and stripped off his shoes and socks, which he placed on the elf's bare feet. **

"Harry Potter's Wheezy shouldn't suffer for lowly Dobby." The little house-elf sniffled, still wrapped up in Lily's arms.

"I consider you a friend Dobby, just like Harry." Ron smiled.

Dobby couldn't withhold a sob at that pronouncement, unable to believe that any wizard, who wasn't the Great Harry Potter Sir, could think of him as an equal.

**Dean produced a woollen hat, which Harry placed carefully upon Dobby's head, muffling his batlike ears.**

"**We should close his eyes."**

**Harry had not heard the others coming through the darkness. Bill was wearing a travelling cloak, Fleur a large white apron, from the pocket of which protruded a bottle of what Harry recognized to be Skele-Gro. Hermione was wrapped in a borrowed dressing gown, pale and unsteady on her feet; **

"You should have been resting." Pomfrey said sternly.

"There was no way I wasn't going to be there to say goodbye to Dobby." Hermione refuted, "it would have hurt a lot more to not be able to honour his sacrifice. A few days of physical pain was enough of a price to pay to avoid the years of suffering from guilt."

"I understand." Pomfrey whispered, and unfortunately she did. Over her years as a healer, she had lost many patients, some of whom had been her friends, and she would have felt worse if she hadn't gone to their funerals.

**Ron put an arm around her when she reached him. Luna, who was huddled in one of Fleur's coats, crouched down and placed her fingers tenderly upon each of the elf's eyelids, sliding them over his glassy stare. "There," she said softly. "Now he could be sleeping."**

**Harry placed the elf into the grave, arranged his tiny limbs so that he might have been resting, then climbed out and gazed for the last time upon the little body. He forced himself not to break down as he remembered Dumbledore's funeral, and the rows and rows of golden chairs, and the Minister of Magic in the front row, the recitation of Dumbledore's achievements, the stateliness of the white marble tomb. He felt that Dobby deserved just as grand a funeral, and yet here the elf lay between bushes in a roughly dug hole. **

"That little hole is all Dobby needs Harry Potter sir." Dobby sniffled quietly, "'tis more than any other elf has had, and such an honour."

"You deserve a grand funeral, Dobby." Albus said kindly, "and to be perfectly honest, I would prefer a small funeral, with only my close friends and family."

Dobby burst into tears again, completely overwhelmed, and Lily, who was still cuddling him, tried to comfort him, though she wasn't sure how to comfort a hysterical house-elf.

"**I think we ought to say something," piped up Luna. "I'll go first, shall I?"**

**And as everybody looked at her, she addressed the dead elf at the bottom of the grave.**

"**Thank you so much Dobby for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now."**

"Dobby has never been happier miss." Dobby wailed.

**She turned and looked expectingly at Ron, who cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, "Yeah … thanks Dobby."**

"**Thanks," muttered Dean. **

**Harry swallowed. **

"**Good bye Dobby," he said. It was all he could manage, but Luna had said it all for him. **

Dobby tried to stop crying, but the simple fact that Harry and Luna felt so strongly about him meant that the tears continued to pour down his face. He really could not believe that there were people who thought he was worthy of their friendship.

**Bill raised his wand, and the pile of earth beside the grave rose up into the air and fell neatly upon it, a small, reddish mound.**

"**D'ya mind if I stay here a moment?" he asked the others.**

**They murmured words he did not catch; he felt gentle pats upon his back, and then they all traipsed back toward the cottage, leaving Harry alone beside the elf.**

**He looked around: There were a number of large white stones, smoothed by the sea, marking the edge of the flower beds. He picked up one of the largest and laid it, pillowlike, over the place where Dobby's head now rested. He then felt in his pocket for a wand. **

**There were two in there. He had forgotten, lost track; he could not now remember whose wands these were; he seemed to remember wrenching them out of someone's hand. **

"Yeah, mine." Draco grumbled jokingly.

**He selected the shorter of the two, which felt friendlier in his hand,**

"That means you've won its allegiance." Albus said serenely.

**and pointed it at the rock.**

**Slowly, under his murmured instruction, deep cuts appeared upon the rock's surface. He knew that Hermione could have done it more neatly, and probably more quickly, but he wanted to mark the spot as he had wanted to dig the grave. When Harry stood up again, the stone read: **

_**HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF.**_

Lily burst into tears at that, but she refused to let go of Dobby, who had fainted. She wasn't the only person in the hall who had started crying, but there were less people wailing. They had all got used to the fact that Harry and his friends were treating a house-elf with the respect any other wizard would show a human, and were now trying to not cry every time something relating to the poor elf's death was mentioned.

**He looked at his handiwork for a few more seconds, then walked away, his scar still prickling a little, and his mind full of those things that had come to him in the grave, ideas that had taken shape in the darkness, ideas both fascinating and terrible.**

"That is disturbingly irritating." Hermione mumbled, "knowing things the rest of us don't, and then not explaining properly."

"But I do explain." Harry said, confused.

"Only in riddles." Ron and Draco sniggered.

"Oh." Harry mumbled, slightly sheepish.

**They were all sitting in the living room when he entered the little hall, their attention focused upon Bill, who was talking. The room was light-coloured, pretty, with a small fire of driftwood burning brightly in the fireplace. Harry did not want to drop mud upon the carpet, so he stood in the doorway, listening.**

"… **lucky that Ginny's on holiday. If she'd been at Hogwarts they could have taken her before we reached her. Now we know she's safe too."**

"Well that's good." Mrs Weasley whispered, glad that she wouldn't have to hear about her adoptive daughter being killed.

**He looked around and saw Harry standing there. **

"**I've been getting them all out of the Burrow," he explained. "Moved them to Muriel's. **

"Bill, do you not remember the last time we spent more than a few hours in that old bat's presence?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I don't think there was anyone else we could have trusted, who had a house with wards as strong as hers." Bill grimaced.

"Bill, you forgot that during that last visit, I ended up trying to wring that scrawny bitch's neck." Charlie growled, "and the twins and Ginny were cheering me on."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Albus asked incredulously.

"She took away my broom, and all my books about dragons." Charlie grumbled, "it was the summer before my final year, and I was trying to study so that I could get a job as a dragon handler, and that flamingo-lookalike wouldn't let me."

"She felt, as do I, that it was too dangerous." Mrs Weasley snapped, "you should have got a nice safe job, at the Ministry."

"I'm not the kind of bloke who could cope with a desk job." Charlie shrugged, "I'm an out-doorsy kinda guy."

"That's one way to describe yourself." Percy grinned.

**The Death Eaters know Ron's with you now, they're bound to target the family – don't apologize," he added at the sight of Harry's expression. "It was always a matter of time, Dad's been saying so for months. We're the biggest blood traitor family there is."**

"**How are they protected?" asked Harry. **

"**Fidelius Charm. Dad's Secret-Keeper. And we've done it on this cottage too; I'm Secret-Keeper here. None of us can go to work, but that's hardly the most important thing now. Once Ollivander and Griphook are well enough, we'll move them to Muriel's too. **

"Are you seriously going to subject poor Ollivander and Griphook to a woman who seems to make that mad old portrait at Grimmauld Place look nice." Charlie asked, "poor them."

"Shell cottage is smaller than the Burrow." Ron sniggered, "Bill built it for a small family, not a whole crowd of people."

"Oh." Charlie mumbled.

**There isn't much room here, but she's got plenty. Griphook's legs are on the mend. Fleur's given him Skele-Gro – we could probably move them in an hour or –"**

"**No," Harry said and Bill looked startled. "I need both of them here. I need to talk to them. It's important."**

"Couldn't you wait until they were healed before interrogating them?" Pomfrey asked sternly.

"Believe me when I say that people need to be distracted when they take Skele-Gro." Harry said, "distraction will help take their mind off the pain."

**He heard the authority of his own voice, the conviction, the voice of purpose that had come to him as he dug Dobby's grave. All of their faces were turned toward him looking puzzled.**

"**I'm going to wash," Harry told Bill looking down at his hands still covered with mud and Dobby's blood. "Then I'll need to see them, straight away."**

**He walked into the little kitchen, to the basin beneath a window overlooking the sea. Dawn was breaking over the horizon, shell pink and faintly gold, as he washed, again following the train of thought that had come to him in the dark garden …**

**Dobby would never be able to tell them who had sent him to the cellar, but Harry knew what he had seen. A piercing blue eye had looked out of the mirror fragment, and then help had come. _Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it._**

"But the headmaster is dead." Ernie said, "I really don't understand how his eye could have appeared in the mirror."

"As Blaise already mentioned, professor Dumbledore does have a brother, and we don't know what colour his eyes are." Susan pointed out, "it could have been him."

"True." Ernie nodded, "I just wish one of these mysteries could be solved without about five more popping up."

**Harry dried his hands, impervious to the beauty of the scene outside the window and to the murmuring of the others in the sitting room. He looked out over the ocean and felt closer, this dawn, than ever before, closer to the heart of it all.**

**And still his scar prickled, and he knew that Voldemort was getting there too. Harry understood and yet did not understand. His instinct was telling him one thing, his brain quite another. **

"As I said during that radio broadcast, trust your instincts." Remus smiled, "they seem to have led you in the right direction before."

**The Dumbledore in Harry's head smiled, surveying Harry over the tips of his fingers, pressed together as if in prayer.**

_**You gave Ron the Deluminator. You understood him … you gave him a way back …**_

_**And you understood Wormtail too … you knew there was a bit of regret there, somewhere …**_

"I wish he hadn't." Remus grumbled, "it would have been easier to accept his death without it."

_**And if you knew them … what did you know about me, Dumbledore?**_

"Obviously quite a lot." Lily said.

_**Am I meant to know but not to seek? Did you know how hard I'd find that? Is that why you made it this difficult? So I'd have time to work that out?**_

"It does sound like something he'd do." Minerva said dryly.

**Harry stood quite still, eyes glazed, watching the place where a bright gold ray of dazzling sun was rising over the horizon. Then he looked down at his clean hands and was momentarily surprised to see the cloth he was holding in them. He set it down and returned to the hall, and as he did so, he felt his scar pulse angrily, and then flashed across his mind, swift as the reflection of a dragonfly over water, the outline of a building he knew extremely well.**

"Merlin, where is he?" Hannah asked, whispering in fear.

"I don't know, but obviously somewhere Harry has been, and not just a place Harry has only been to once or twice." Megan murmured, "I think he might be here."

"Oh, that's not good." Hannah whimpered slightly.

**Bill and Fleur were standing at the foot of the stairs.**

"**I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander," Harry said.**

"**No," said Fleur. "You will 'ave to wait, 'Arry. Zey are both too tired –"**

"Oh Merlin, it's a French version of Mum." Fred whined.

"Why?" George mock-wailed.

"You know what they say, blokes marry women who are just like their mothers." Bill grinned.

"That doesn't always hold true." Draco sniggered, "I know someone who didn't marry a woman like his mother."

"He's an oddity then." Bill smirked.

"**I'm sorry," he said without heat, "but it can't wait. I need to talk to them now. Privately – and separately. It's urgent."**

"**Harry, what the hell's going on?" asked Bill. "You turn up here with a dead house-elf and a half-conscious goblin, Hermione looks as though she's been tortured, and Ron's just refused to tell me anything –"**

"I was wondering when the famous Weasley temper was going to rear its ugly head." Tonks grinned.

"If it had been anyone other than Bill, that would have happened a lot faster." Charlie sniggered, "it is a lot harder to get a rise out of Bill, than anyone else in the family."

"**We can't tell you what we're doing," said Harry flatly. "You're in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left us a mission. We're not supposed to talk about it to anyone else."**

"I doubt that I would have liked to be told that." Bill grimaced.

"I don't think many people would." Remus grinned.

**Fleur made an impatient noise, but Bill did not look at her; he was staring at Harry. His deeply scarred face was hard to read. Finally, Bill said, "All right. Who do you want to talk to first?"**

"Why did you give in to him?" Mrs Weasley asked incredulously, staring at her oldest son, unable to believe that he wouldn't try to get answers out of someone.

"I could probably hear the conviction in his voice." Bill shrugged, "even though I haven't experienced the events in the book yet, I can still hear the confidence and determination in Harry's words. I don't know Harry as well as I would like, but there is a reason that Voldemort and the Ministry would have him as Undesirable Number One."

**Harry hesitated. He knew what hung on his decision. There was hardly any time left; now was the moment to decide: Horcruxes or Hallows?**

"Choose Horcruxes." Megan whispered, having decided that instead of just sitting quietly and only commenting in the privacy of the Hufflepuff common room, she would take part in the actual reading. "You don't know where the Wand is, so you'd be wasting time thinking about the Hallows."

"**Griphook," Harry said. "I'll speak to Griphook first."**

**His heart was racing as if he had been sprinting and had just cleared an enormous obstacle.**

"**Up here, then," said Bill, leading the way.**

**Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back.**

"**I need you two as well!" he called to Ron and Hermione, who had been skulking, half concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room.**

**They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved.**

"You two were crazy to think I didn't want you there." Harry smirked.

"**How are you?" Harry asked Hermione. "You were amazing – coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that –"**

"That truly was amazing." Lily nodded weakly.

**Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze.**

"**What are we doing now, Harry?" he asked.**

"**You'll see. Come on."**

"So those two get to experience the extreme irritant that is that answer." Regulus laughed, "good to know that you didn't just decide to use it here."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Bill up the steep stairs onto a small landing. Three doors led off it.**

"**In here," said Bill, opening the door into his and Fleur's room, it too had a view of the sea, now flecked with gold in the sunrise. Harry moved to the window, turned his back on the spectacular view, and waited, his arms folded, his scar prickling. Hermione took the chair beside the dressing table; Ron sat on the arm.**

"Harry, did you notice that you were standing in the archetypal stance of a leader?" Dorea asked with a smile.

"Nope." Harry grinned, "it does seem strange that I would stand like that, without realising it."

**Bill reappeared, carrying the little goblin, whom he set down carefully upon the bed. Griphook grunted thanks, and Bill left, closing the door upon them all.**

"**I'm sorry to take you out of bed," said Harry. "How are your legs?"**

"**Painful," replied the goblin. "But mending."**

**He was still clutching the sword of Gryffindor, and wore a strange look: half truculent, half intrigued. Harry noted the goblin's sallow skin, his long thin fingers, his black eyes. Fleur had removed his shoes: His long feet were dirty. He was larger than a house-elf, but not by much. His domed head was much bigger than a human's.**

"He doesn't sound well." Bill grimaced.

"**You probably don't remember –" Harry began.**

"– **that I was the goblin who showed you to your vault, the first time you ever visited Gringotts?" said Griphook. "I remember, Harry Potter. Even amongst goblins, you are very famous."**

"He respects you, because you seem to respect him by remembering that." Bill nodded, "which means that he will do whatever favour you want from him, as long as he gets something in return."

"What kind of thing would he want?" Astoria asked, speaking for the first time in a long while.

"I don't know." Bill sighed, "but it will probably be something valuable that isn't gold. I suspect, and I hope I'm wrong, that he will want the Sword."

**Harry and the goblin looked at each other, sizing each other up. Harry's scar was still prickling. He wanted to get through this interview with Griphook quickly, and at the same time was afraid of making a false move. While he tried to decide on the best way to approach his request, the goblin broke the silence.**

"**You buried the elf," he said, sounding unexpectedly rancorous. "I watched you from the window of the bedroom next door."**

"**Yes," said Harry.**

**Griphook looked at him out of the corners of his slanting black eyes.**

"**You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter."**

"He says that like it's a bad thing." Ernie frowned.

"No, he's curious about Harry." Flitwick smiled, "goblins aren't like humans, but they aren't that different either."

"**In what way?" asked Harry, rubbing his scar absently.**

"**You dug the grave."**

"**So?"**

**Griphook did not answer. **

"He truly does respect you." Bill said, "the way you answered that, told him you didn't care about the distinction between humans and house-elves."

"I don't care, just because they're not human, doesn't mean that house-elves, goblins, centaurs and all other magical beings don't have feelings." Harry shrugged.

**Harry rather thought he was being sneered at for acting like a Muggle, but it did not matter to him whether Griphook approved of Dobby's grave or not. He gathered himself for the attack.**

"**Griphook, I need to ask –"**

"**You also rescued a goblin."**

"**What?"**

"**You brought me here. Saved me."**

"**Well, I take it you're not sorry?" said Harry a little impatiently.**

"Wow, it only took you a couple of minutes to begin losing it with him, which is better than sometimes." George sniggered.

"Like last year, with the toad." Fred added.

"**No, Harry Potter," said Griphook, and with one finger he twisted the thin black beard upon his chin, "but you are a very odd wizard."**

"**Right," said Harry. "Well, I need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to me."**

**The goblin made no sign of encouragement, but continued to frown at Harry as though he had never seen anything like him.**

"**I need to break into a Gringotts vault."**

"You. Are. Insane." Lily said.

"Even I would never have dared to do that." Bellatrix whispered with wide eyes.

No one else could say a word, they were all struck dumb with shock at Harry's seeming insanity.

"I cannot imagine the reactions of the goblins if you're successful." Minerva murmured.

"They wouldn't be happy." Flitwick said, "remember what Harry told us about Ragnok's reaction when he found out that there was a Horcrux in a vault."

"True, and if Harry and his friends were successful, they would have to explain why, so that might mitigate the anger of the goblins." Minerva sighed.

**Harry had not meant to say it so baldly; the words were forced from him as pain shot through his lightning scar and he saw, again, the outline of Hogwarts.**

"What the hell is he doing here?" Minerva asked, hatred clearly audible in her voice.

"You'll see." Harry sighed, "his desecration will be mentioned later in the chapter."

**He closed his mind firmly. He needed to deal with Griphook first. Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry as though he had gone mad.**

"We thought you had." Hermione nodded, "but we realised, that if anyone could pull it off, it would be you."

"**Harry –" said Hermione, but she was cut off by Griphook.**

"**Break into a Gringotts vault?" repeated the goblin, wincing a little as he shifted his position upon the bed. "It is impossible."**

"Harry has the unique ability to do the supposedly impossible." Ginny giggled.

"**No, it isn't," Ron contradicted him. "It's been done."**

"**Yeah," said Harry. "The same day I first met you, Griphook. My birthday, seven years ago."**

"Was the person caught, and did they take anything?" Charlus asked.

"No, the perpetrator wasn't caught, and the vault was empty anyway." Harry replied.

"Merlin." Dorea whispered.

"**The vault in question was empty at the time," snapped the goblin, and Harry understood that even though Griphook had left Gringotts, he was offended at the idea of its defences being breached. "Its protection was minimal."**

"**Well, the vault we need to get into isn't empty, and I'm guessing its protection will be pretty powerful," said Harry.**

"I wonder which vault." Ernie said.

"The Lestrange vault." Bellatrix sighed, "probably. Unless they want to rob another vault for no reason."

"**It belongs to the Lestranges."**

"I thought so." Bellatrix mumbled.

"That is one of the older, and more secure vaults." Bill grinned.

"There are older vaults." Charlus smirked, "like the Potter vault."

"And the Black vault." Cygnus added.

"Does that mean that your families are older, or that whoever opened them decided to do so first?" Justin wondered.

"Generally, the older the vault, the older the family." Abraxas replied, "some people judge the age of their family, by the number of their family vault."

"Interesting." Ernie muttered, "so how old would a family be if they had vault number, say forty-two?"

"Any vault with a number lower than fifty was opened before fifteen thirty-six, when King Henry VIII began the Dissolution of the Monasteries." Lucius said, "so more than four hundred and sixty years."

"Wow." Alicia whispered.

**He saw Hermione and Ron look at each other, astonished, but there would be time enough to explain after Griphook had given his answer.**

"**You have no chance," said Griphook flatly. "No chance at all. _If you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours –_"**

"**_Thief, you have been warned, beware _– yeah, I know, I remember," said Harry. "But I'm not trying to get myself any treasure, I'm not trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?"**

"If it was anyone but you, he wouldn't." Neville grinned.

"But since it is you, then he's going to believe you, and will help." Seamus added.

**The goblin looked slantwise at Harry, and the lightning scar on Harry's forehead prickled, but he ignored it, refusing to acknowledge its pain or its invitation.**

"**If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain," said Griphook finally, "it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection or the respect that you have shown this night. Not from wand-carriers."**

"**Wand-carriers," repeated Harry: **

"That's what goblins call wizards." Regulus said.

**the phrase fell oddly upon his ears as his scar prickled, as Voldemort turned his thoughts northward, and as Harry burned to question Ollivander next door.**

"**The right to carry a wand," said the goblin quietly, "has long been contested between wizards and goblins."**

"**Well, goblins can do magic without wands," said Ron.**

"Arguing with him will not help." Flitwick grimaced, "but Ronald is right, goblins and house-elves, even though they are not allowed to use wands, have magic far more powerful than ours so don't need."

"I did once ask a house-elf what they thought of that law, and he laughed." Harry sniggered, "house-elves aren't affected by it, because they physically can't use wands anyway. Their magic is too different, it's incompatible with the magic of a wand."

"That may be true about house-elves, but not the goblins." Flitwick said, "they would be physically capable, if they were allowed, but the law forbids them, and Griphook will not like to be argued with."

"**That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wand-lore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!"**

"That law needs to be changed." Lily growled, "in fact, most of the current laws need to either be changed, or completely erased."

"That is one thing we will look into doing when we have finished reading." Kingsley said, wondering whether it would actually be possible with Scrimgeour, who was quite happy to maintain the status quo.

"Good." Lily nodded.

"**Well, goblins won't share any of their magic either," said Ron. "You won't tell us how to make swords and armour the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never –"**

"**It doesn't matter," said Harry, noting Griphook's rising colour. "This isn't about wizards versus goblins or any other sort of magical creature –"**

"Unfortunately it is." Remus sighed.

**Griphook gave a nasty laugh.**

"**But it is, it is precisely that! As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under Wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?"**

"**We do!" said Hermione. She had sat up straight, her eyes bright. "We protest! And I'm hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I'm a Mudblood!"**

"Please don't use that word." Snape said softly.

"**Don't call yourself –" Ron muttered.**

"**Why shouldn't I?" said Hermione. "Mudblood, and proud of it! **

"I would have said the same thing." Lily smiled.

"True." Snape sighed.

**I've got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose to torture, back at the Malfoys!"**

**As she spoke, she pulled aside the neck of the dressing gown to reveal the thin cut Bellatrix had made, scarlet against her throat.**

Unbidden, many people turned to look at Hermione's neck, all of them trying to imagine what it would look like with that scar, but they weren't really able to. Even Harry, Ron and Draco couldn't help but glance at her, even though they knew they wouldn't see anything.

"**Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free?" she asked. "Did you know that we've wanted elves to be freed for years?" (Ron fidgeted uncomfortably on the arm of Hermione's chair.) "You can't want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!"**

**The goblin gazed at Hermione with the same curiosity he had shown Harry.**

"How nice, he ignored me." Ron grumbled good-naturedly.

"You did insult him." Hermione pointed out, "I can see why he wouldn't want to look at the person who argued with him."

"**What do you seek within the Lestranges' vault?" he asked abruptly. "The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one." He looked from one to the other of them. "I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there."**

"He really is going to help." Charlie murmured in awe, "that's unbelievable."

"He respects Harry, and Hermione, and he can tell that they respect him." Bill said, "he'd already made the decision to help, he just wants to keep them hanging, and get as much information as possible."

"**But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it?" asked Harry. "Perhaps you've seen other things in there?"**

**His heart was pounding harder than ever. He redoubled his efforts to ignore the pulsing of his scar.**

**The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again.**

"**It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers."**

"But wouldn't he want to help get rid of the wizards who are trying to control the bank?" Dennis asked.

"Yes, but he still feels a certain amount of pride in the bank, and therefore feels duty-bound to try and dissuade them." Bill sighed, "he doesn't want to give away too many of the bank's secrets, even though he no longer works there."

**The goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes roved from Harry to Hermione to Ron and then back again.**

"**So young," he said finally, "to be fighting so many."**

"I agree." Mrs Weasley grimaced.

"So do I." Dorea said, "but sometimes, youth cannot protect someone."

"**Will you help us?" said Harry. "We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's help. You're our one chance."**

"**I shall … think about it," said Griphook maddeningly.**

"Yeah, he's going to help, he just wants to think about what he will want in return." Bill winced.

"**But –" Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in the ribs.**

"**Thank you," said Harry.**

**The goblin bowed his great domed head in acknowledgement, then flexed his short legs.**

"**I think," he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon Bill and Fleur's bed, "that the Skele-Gro has finished its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me …"**

"**Yeah, of course," said Harry, but before leaving the room he leaned forward and took the sword of Gryffindor from beside the goblin. Griphook did not protest, but Harry thought he saw resentment in the goblin's eyes as he closed the door upon him.**

"You probably did." Flitwick said, "goblins have very different views of ownership. They believe that any goblin-made object, like the Sword of Gryffindor, belongs to the maker, not the person it was either made for or bought by."

"But wouldn't he know of the goblin law governing the ownership of the Sword?" Colin asked.

"I presume he would, but there are goblins who believe that Ragnuk, who made the sword, was wrong to declare that it would be owned by Gryffindor's heirs, in perpetuity." Bill replied, "unfortunately for them, not even Ragnok can change that law."

"**Little git," whispered Ron. "He's enjoying keeping us hanging."**

"**Harry," whispered Hermione, pulling them both away from the door, into the middle of the still-dark landing, "are you saying what I think you're saying? Are you saying there's a Horcrux in the Lestranges vault?"**

"Obviously." Ernie snorted.

"**Yes," said Harry. "Bellatrix was terrified when she thought we'd been in there, she was beside herself. Why? What did she think we'd seen, what else did she think we might have taken? Something she was petrified You-Know-Who would find out about."**

"I think I'm glad you were able to work that out." Bellatrix grimaced, "though I definitely wish Voldemort had not found out."

"**But I thought we were looking for places You-Know-Who's been, places he's done something important?" said Ron, looking baffled. "Was he ever inside the Lestranges' vault?"**

"That wouldn't matter Tom." Albus said, "he only ever had access to the vault for students who can't afford their school supplies, but he would have known that Gringotts is one of the most secure places in Britain."

"**I don't know whether he was ever inside Gringotts," said Harry. "He never had gold there when he was younger, because nobody left him anything. He would have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first time he ever went to Diagon Alley."**

**Harry's scar throbbed, but he ignored it; he wanted Ron and Hermione to understand about Gringotts before they spoke to Ollivander.**

"**I think he would have envied anyone who had a key to a Gringotts vault. I think he'd have seen it as a real symbol of belonging to the Wizarding world. And don't forget, he trusted Bellatrix and her husband. **

"I don't think he truly trusted anyone." Lucius frowned, "he knew that if he could betray someone, then they would be able to betray him."

"He feels that trust and love are weaknesses." Abraxas grimaced, "he doesn't understand that they can also be great strengths."

**They were his most devoted servants before he fell, and they went looking for him after he vanished. He said it night he came back, I heard him."**

**Harry rubbed his scar.**

"**I don't think he'd have told Bellatrix it was a Horcrux, though. **

"He didn't." Bellatrix said, "he just told me it was something that he didn't want to lose."

"What would you have done if he had told you what it really was?" Dean wondered.

"I don't know." Bellatrix sighed, "either I would have been utterly disgusted, or the fact that I was under his control would have meant that I would have been gleeful about having it."

**He never told Lucius Malfoy the truth about the diary. **

"I did find out eventually." Lucius cringed, "I still can't believe we had that thing in our house."

"I can imagine." Regulus shuddered, "I wish I had thought to order Kreacher to hide the locket elsewhere, not at Grimmauld place."

**He probably told her it was a treasured possession and asked her to place it in her vault. The safest place in the world for anything you want to hide, Hagrid told me … except for Hogwarts."**

"When put like that …" Fred started.

"… it really does make sense." George finished.

"It truly does." Percy nodded with a wince.

**When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head.**

"**You really understand him."**

"**Bits of him," said Harry. "Bits …**

"Unfortunately." Lily grimaced.

"We could put that on your tombstone." Draco grinned.

"I think not." Harry snorted, comforting Lucius, who really did not want to think about his soul-mate dying.

**I just wish I'd understood Dumbledore as much. But we'll see. Come on – Ollivander now."**

**Ron and Hermione looked bewildered but very impressed as they followed him across the little landing and knocked upon the door opposite Bill and Fleur's. A weak "Come in!" answered them.**

**The wandmaker was lying on the twin bed farthest from the window. He had been held in the cellar for more than a year, and tortured, Harry knew, on at least one occasion. **

"That poor man." Alicia whispered.

"I wish I'd been able to do more to help him." Lucius sighed.

**He was emaciated, the bones of his face sticking out sharply against the yellowish skin. His great silver eyes seemed vast in their sunken sockets. The hands that lay upon the blanket could have belonged to a skeleton.**

"Oh Merlin, that sounds terrible." Lily whimpered.

"He's an old man, and being imprisoned for a year and a half will have had an affect." Flitwick sighed sadly.

**Harry sat down on the empty bed, beside Ron and Hermione. The rising sun was not visible here. The room faced the cliff-top garden and the freshly dug grave.**

"**Mr Ollivander, I'm sorry to disturb you," Harry said.**

"**My dear boy," Ollivander's voice was feeble. "You rescued us, I thought we would die in that place, I can never thank you … never thank you … enough."**

"At least someone's grateful." Lily grumbled quietly.

"He didn't need to thank me, I was happy to rescue him." Harry said, "there's no way I would have left him there."

"**We were glad to do it."**

**Harry's scar throbbed. He knew, he was certain, that there was hardly any time left in which to beat Voldemort to his goal, or else to attempt to thwart him. **

**He felt a flutter of panic … yet he had made his decision when he chose to speak to Griphook first. **

"Trying to go after Voldemort at that point would have been suicidal." Hermione pointed out.

"Plus, I don't think I could have done what he did." Harry agreed.

"There's no way any decent person could have done something like that." Ron snorted.

**Feigning a calm he did not feel, he groped in the pouch around his neck and took out the two halves of his broken wand.**

"**Mr. Ollivander, I need some help."**

"**Anything. Anything." Said the wandmaker weakly.**

"**Can you mend this? Is it possible?"**

"Doubtful." James said sadly, "wands that have been broken that badly can't be fixed."

"_Don't be so sure_." Lucius sniggered, switching to Parseltongue to keep what he was saying secret.

"So you've also got a snake animagus form?" Ginny giggled.

"Yes, I'm a King Cobra animagus." Lucius smiled.

"Harry was right, hearing a snigger in Parseltongue is really odd." Dean grinned.

**Ollivander held out a trembling hand, and Harry placed the two barely connected halves in his palm.**

"**Holly and phoenix feather," said Ollivander in a tremulous voice. "Eleven inches. Nice and supple."**

"**Yes," said Harry. "Can you –?"**

"**No," whispered Ollivander. "I am sorry, very sorry, but a wand that has suffered this degree of damage cannot be repaired by any means that I know of."**

**Harry had been braced to hear it, but it was a blow nevertheless. He took the wand halves back and replaced them in the pouch around his neck. Ollivander stared at the place where the shattered wand had vanished, and did not look away until Harry had taken from his pocket the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys'.**

"**Can you identify these?" Harry asked.**

"Ask a stupid question." Regulus grinned, "that man can easily identify wands, even ones he never sold."

"Yeah, he could tell, the moment he held it at the Wand-Weighing for the Triwizard two years ago, that Fleur's wand was rosewood with a Veela-hair core." Harry nodded.

"That's impressive." Charlus commented, "but I wouldn't have thought any wandmaker would want to use Veela-hair as the core of a wand."

"I don't know who the wandmaker was, Fleur didn't mention that, and I felt that it would not have been polite to ask." Harry shrugged, "of course, up until the end of the second task of the tournament, Fleur acted like a stuck-up little bitch, so I wasn't going to ask anyway. I do know, though, that the hair was one of her grandmother's, donated purely for Fleur to use in her wand."

"Interesting." Dorea murmured.

**The wandmaker took the first of the wands and held it close to his faded eyes, rolling it between his knobble-knuckled fingers, flexing it slightly.**

"**Walnut and dragon heartstring," he said. "Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. **

"Oi, that's mine." Bellatrix whined, pouting at Harry and looking very like a puppy that had been kicked one too many times.

**This wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange."**

"**And this one?"**

**Ollivander performed the same examination.**

"**Hawthorn and unicorn hair. Ten inches precisely. Reasonably springy. This was the wand of Draco Malfoy."**

"Blimey." Neville whispered in surprise.

"It won't happen this time around." Harry and Draco grinned in unison.

"Did you rehearse that?" Andromeda and Narcissa asked curiously, in unison.

"No." Harry and Draco replied together, "it's getting creepy now."

"You're telling us." Andromeda and Narcissa muttered.

"OK now, let's get back to the book." Ted suggested, slightly worried about the sanity of everyone around if the strange conversation wasn't stopped.

"**Was?" repeated Harry. "Isn't it still his?"**

"**Perhaps not. If you took it –"**

"– **I did –"**

"– **then it may be yours. Of course, the manner of taking matters. Much also depends upon the wand itself. In general, however, where a wand has been won, its allegiance will change."**

"It truly is fascinating." Lily said.

**There was a silence in the room, except for the distant rushing of the sea.**

"**You talk about wands like they've got feelings," said Harry, "like they can think for themselves."**

"**The wand chooses the wizard," said Ollivander. "That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore."**

"So how was Harry able to use Hermione's wand, when it didn't choose him?" Seamus asked.

"I think that might be because they trust each other so much." Flitwick said, "however, I don't really know, I am not an expert in wandlore."

"**A person can still use a wand that hasn't chosen them, though?" asked Harry.**

"**Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand."**

"Wandlore is an absolutely fascinating subject." Remus said, agreeing with Lily's statement from earlier.

**The sea gushed forward and backward; it was a mournful sound. "I took this wand from Draco Malfoy by force," said Harry. "Can I use it safely?"**

"**I think so. Subtle laws govern wand ownership, but the conquered wand will usually bend its will to its new master."**

"That must be why Harry didn't have much luck with the blackthorn wand." Justin realised, "he didn't win it."

"**So I should use this one?" said Ron, pulling Wormtail's wand out of his pocket and handing it to Ollivander.**

"**Chestnut and dragon heartstring. Nine-and-a-quarter inches. Brittle. I was forced to make this shortly after my kidnapping, for Peter Pettigrew. Yes, if you won it, it is more likely to do your bidding, and do it well, than another wand."**

"So Hermione used my wand." Bellatrix whispered, "I hope it worked all right."

"**And this holds true for all wands, does it?" asked Harry.**

"**I think so," replied Ollivander, his protuberant eyes upon Harry's face. "You ask deep questions, Mr Potter. Wandlore is a complex and mysterious branch of magic."**

"True, but that does not mean that it isn't interesting." Cygnus grinned, "in fact, that just makes it more interesting."

"**So, it isn't necessary to kill the previous owner to take the possession of a wand?" asked Harry.**

**Ollivander swallowed.**

"Poor man." Regulus snorted.

"Did you really need to nearly give him a heart attack?" Orion asked with a grin.

"We needed a change of pace." Harry smirked.

"**Necessary? No, I should not say that it is necessary to kill."**

"**There are legends, though," said Harry, and as his heart rate quickened, the pain in his scar became more intense; he was sure that Voldemort had decided to put his idea into action. "Legends about a wand – or wands – that have been passed from hand to hand by murder."**

**Ollivander turned pale. Against the snowy pillow he was light grey, and his eyes were enormous, bloodshot, and bulging with what looked like fear.**

"Oh that's right, shock him by knowing more than he thinks you know." Narcissa said, her tone laced with sarcasm, though she was trying not to giggle at the same time.

"**Only one wand, I think," he whispered.**

"**And You-Know-Who is interested in it, isn't he?" asked Harry.**

"**I – how?" croaked Ollivander, and he looked appealingly at Ron and Hermione for help. "How do you know this?"**

"He doesn't know about the connection between your mind and Voldemort's, he's going to need a few shots of firewhisky after you've finished talking to him." Dean grinned.

"**He wanted you to tell him how to overcome the connection between our wands," said Harry.**

**Ollivander looked terrified.**

"**He tortured me, you must understand that! The Cruciatus Curse, I – I had no choice but to tell him what I knew, what I guessed!"**

"Anyone would break after they wee tortured as much as he was." Lucius murmured sadly.

"Even Harry, and he's got a will of solid steel." Hermione nodded.

"**I understand," said Harry. "You told him about the twin cores? You said he just had to borrow another wizard's wand?"**

**Ollivander looked horrified, transfixed, by the amount that Harry knew. He nodded slowly.**

"It must have been hard for him, to be asked those questions by the one who rescued him when he's already been tortured for the same answers." Justin muttered.

"**But it didn't work," Harry went on. "Mine still beat the borrowed wand. Do you know why that is?"**

**Ollivander shook his head as slowly as he had just nodded.**

"**I had … never heard of such a thing. Your wand performed something unique that night. The connection of the twin cores is incredibly rare, yet why your wand would have snapped the borrowed wand, I do not know …"**

"No one can truly understand, because nobody has ever delved so deeply into the mysteries of magic like Voldemort." Albus sighed.

"**We were talking about the other wand, the wand that changes hands by murder. When You-Know-Who realized my wand had done something strange, he came back and asked about that other wand, didn't he?"**

"**How do you know this?"**

**Harry did not answer.**

"Do you have any idea how annoying that is?" Ron huffed.

"I'm not the only one who does it, and yes, I do know how annoying it is." Harry grinned, "why do you think I do it?"

"**Yes, he asked," whispered Ollivander. "He wanted to know everything I could tell him about the wand variously known as the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, or the Elder Wand."**

**Harry glanced sideways at Hermione. She looked flabbergasted.**

"Well he was right, you were wrong." Lily giggled.

"That doesn't happen often." Hermione grinned.

"**The Dark Lord," said Ollivander in hushed and frightened tones, "had always been happy with the wand I made him – yes and phoenix feather, thirteen-and-a-half inches. – until he discovered the connection of the twin cores. Now he seeks another, more powerful wand, as the only way to conquer yours."**

"**But he'll know soon, if he doesn't already, that mine's broken beyond repair," said Harry quietly.**

"That's not good." Tracy murmured.

"**No!" said Hermione, sounding frightened. "He can't know that, Harry, how could he -?"**

"**Priori Incantatem," said Harry. "We left your wand and the blackthorn wand at the Malfoys', Hermione. If they examine them properly, make them re-create the spells they've cast lately, they'd see that yours broke mine, they'll see that you tried and failed to mend it, and they'll realize that I've been using the blackthorn one ever since."**

"I don't think it was a good idea to mention that, not just then." Millicent said, "I don't know Hermione very well, but even I can tell that she would not want to be reminded."

**The little colour she had regained since their arrival had drained from her face. Ron gave Harry a reproachful look, and said, "Let's not worry about that now –"**

**But Mr Ollivander intervened.**

"**The Dark Lord no longer seeks the Elder Wand only for your destruction, Mr Potter. He is determined to possess it because he believes it will make him truly invulnerable."**

"That's not good." Hannah said sarcastically, "the thing's scary enough without that wand, I dread to think what he'd be like with it."

"Voldemort will never be the Master of the Elder Wand." Albus stated forcefully.

"**And will it?"**

"**The owner of the Elder Wand must always fear attack," said Ollivander, "but the idea of the Dark Lord in possession of the Deathstick is, I must admit … formidable."**

**Harry was suddenly reminded of how unsure, when they first met, of how much he liked Ollivander. **

"Not many people do like him." Flitwick smiled, "he is a rather strange man. However, that does not mean that he doesn't know what he's talking about."

**Even now, having been tortured and imprisoned by Voldemort, the idea of the Dark Wizard in possession of this wand seemed to enthral him as much as it repulsed him.**

"**You – you really think this wand exists, then, Mr Ollivander?" asked Hermione.**

"Oh Merlin, you really didn't want to believe that it was real." Parvati giggled, knowing that her room-mate never was able to believe in something without empirical proof.

"**Oh yes," said Ollivander. "Yes, it is perfectly possible to trace the wand's course through history. There are gaps, of, course, and long ones, where it vanishes from view, temporarily lost or hidden; but always it resurfaces. It has certain identifying characteristics that those who are learned in wandlore recognize. There are written accounts, some of them obscure, that I and other wandmakers have made it our business to study. They have the ring of authenticity."**

"**So you – you don't think it can be a fairy tale or a myth?" Hermione asked hopefully.**

"Hermione, just get over it." Lavender sighed, "the wand exists, and isn't going to disappear just because you want it to."

"**No," said Ollivander. "Whether it needs to pass by murder, I do not know. Its history is bloody, but that may be simply due to the fact that it is such a desirable object, and arouses such passions in wizards. Immensely powerful, dangerous in the wrong hands, and an object of incredible fascination to all of us who study the power of wands."**

"**Mr Ollivander," said Harry, "you told You-Know-Who that Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand, didn't you?"**

"The idiot shouted it out to the whole world." Caruso snorted.

**Ollivander turned, if possible, even paler. He looked ghostly as he gulped.**

"**But how – how do you - ?"**

"I'd be surprised if poor Ollivander doesn't have a heart attack at the rate you're going." James sniggered.

"**Never mind how I know it," said Harry, closing his eyes momentarily as his scar burned and he saw, for mere seconds, a vision of the main street in Hogsmeade, still dark, because it was so much farther north. "You told You-Know-Who that Gregorovitch had the wand?"**

"**It was a rumour," whispered Ollivander. "A rumour, years and years ago, long before you were born I believe Gregorovitch himself started it. You can see how good it would be for business; that he was studying and duplicating the qualities of the Elder Wand!"**

"And we now know it wasn't just a rumour." Colin grinned, "he definitely had it, and it got stolen from him."

"**Yes, I can see that," said Harry. He stood up. "Mr Ollivander, one last thing, and then we'll let you get some rest. What do you know about the Deathly Hallows?"**

"**The – the what?" asked the wandmaker, looking utterly bewildered.**

"**The Deathly Hallows."**

"**I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Is this still something to do with wands?"**

**Harry looked into the sunken face and believed that Ollivander was not acting. He did not know about the Hallows.**

"Not many do, and of those that have heard of them, even less believe." Albus mumbled.

"**Thank you," said Harry. "Thank you very much. We'll leave you to get some rest now."**

**Ollivander looked stricken.**

"**He was torturing me!" he gasped. "The Cruciatus Curse … you have no idea …"**

"**I do," said Harry, "I really do. **

Lily whimpered, hating the fact that her baby boy had experienced the pain of the Cruciatus. She really wished that he hadn't had to go through that kind of pain, but she also knew that there was nothing she could have done to help, not being there herself.

**Please get some rest. Thank you for telling me all of this."**

**He led Ron and Hermione down the staircase. Harry caught glimpses of Bill, Fleur, Luna, and Dean sitting at the table in the kitchen, cups of tea in front of them. They all looked up at Harry as he appeared in the doorway, but he merely nodded to them and continued into the garden, Ron and Hermione behind him. The reddish mound of earth that covered Dobby lay ahead, and Harry walked back to it, as the pain in his head built more and more powerfully. It was a huge effort now to close down the visions that were forcing themselves upon him, but he knew that he would have to resist only a little longer. He would yield very soon, because he needed to know that his theory was right. He must make only one more short effort, so that he could explain to Ron and Hermione.**

"**Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand a long time ago," he said, "I saw You-Know-Who trying to find him. When he tracked him down, he found that Gregorovitch didn't have it any more: it was stolen from him by Grindelwald. How Grindelwald found out that Gregorovitch had it, I don't know – but if Gregorovitch was stupid enough to spread the rumour, it can't have been that difficult."**

"It's been said, many times already, but not many people could keep their mouths shut if they had the Elder Wand." Sprout said.

"And as has already been mentioned, Gregorovitch was an idiot." Regulus added.

**Voldemort was at the gates of Hogwarts; Harry could see him standing there, and see too the lamp bobbing in the pre-dawn, coming closer and closer.**

"**And Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to become powerful. And at the height of his power, when Dumbledore knew he was the only one who could stop him, he duelled Grindelwald and beat him, and he took the Elder Wand."**

"**_Dumbledore_ had the Elder Wand?" said Ron. "But then – where is it now?"**

"Oh Merlin, it's buried with him." James grimaced, "and Voldemort knows."

"I can't believe that he's going to do what I think he's going to do." Charlus spat, "he's despicable."

"**At Hogwarts," said Harry, fighting to remain with them in the cliff-top garden.**

"**But then, let's go!" said Ron urgently. "Harry, let's go and get it before he does!"**

"And they say I'm the suicidal one." Harry whispered to Lucius.

"Well, some of your ideas are a little outrageous, even if they do work." Lucius shrugged.

"I don't know how you two can think you're conversation is private, I heard every word." Dorea grinned, "and I'm not even sitting next to you."

"Yes, I think the whole hall heard you, and would like an example of one of Harry's outrageous ideas that works." Pomfrey nodded, interested in what was going to be said.

"All right, ten days after we found and raised Atlantis, it was attacked by the Replicators." Lucius smiled, "they had built a satellite weapon and sent it to Lantea, the planet the Ancients had taken Atlantis to. The weapon sat in orbit and used an extremely powerful energy beam, which would have destroyed the city within minutes if the shield hadn't been up, but because we had activated the shield, we were protected, temporarily."

"We knew that we would have to either destroy the satellite weapon, or go somewhere where it couldn't follow." Harry continued, "so I came up with a way to do both, by flying Atlantis as close to the Lantean sun as physically possible. It worked, the shield on Atlantis was powerful enough to protect the city despite the fact that we were pretty much skimming the surface of the sun, and the satellite couldn't get close enough to try and continue its attack. Atlantis survived, and the satellite was destroyed."

"That's just one of Harry's crazy ideas that actually works." Hermione giggled, "another example will be mentioned in a later chapter."

"Merlin, that does sound scary and stupid." Lily muttered, "I'm going to have gone grey by the end of this book."

"**It's too late for that," said Harry. He could not help himself, but clutched his head, trying to help it resist. "He knows where it is. He's there now."**

"**Harry!" Ron said furiously. "How long have you known this – why have we been wasting time? Why did you talk to Griphook first? We could have gone – we could still go –"**

"You really wanted to risk a run-in with Voldemort before we'd finished off the Horcruxes?" Hermione asked incredulously, "he was already at Hogwarts, and there's no way we could have avoided meeting him."

"Besides, at the time, we only knew the wand was at Hogwarts, not its precise location." Harry said, "we would never have done what Voldemort did."

"**No," said Harry, and he sank to his knees in the grass. "Hermione's right. Dumbledore didn't want me to have it. He didn't want me to take it. He wanted me to get the Horcruxes."**

"**The unbeatable wand, Harry!" moaned Ron.**

"**I'm not supposed to . . . I'm supposed to get the Horcruxes …"**

"Hallelujah." Lily sighed, "finally he realises."

**And now everything was cool and dark: the sun was barely visible over the horizon as he glided alongside Snape, up through the grounds toward the lake.**

Almost everyone glared angrily at Snape, the only ones who weren't were the Death Eater wannabes, who were pleased that he was in the presence of the Dark Lord, and the group who'd had their souls sent back, who felt sorry for the poor man.

Snape, who was the one mentioned as walking next to Voldemort, wished there was some way he could have hurt the reptilian thing without being killed or punished for it, but he knew there was nothing he could do that wouldn't have potentially disastrous results.

"**I shall join you in the castle shortly," he said in his high, cold voice. "Leave me now."**

**Snape bowed and set off back up the path, his black cloak billowing behind him. Harry walked slowly, waiting for Snape's figure to disappear. It would not do for Snape, or indeed anyone else, to see where he was going.**

"What would have happened if someone had discovered where he was going and tried to stop him?" Dennis wondered, rather naively some thought.

"He would have killed them." Minerva grimaced, "unfortunately."

**But there were no lights in the castle windows, and he could conceal himself … and in a second he had cast upon himself a Disillusionment Charm that hid him even from his own eyes.**

**And he walked on, around the edge of the lake, taking in the outlines of the beloved castle, his first kingdom, his birthright …**

"Is he really that deluded?" Ernie asked in disbelief.

"Yes, he thought he was the Heir of Slytherin, and therefore, he believed that Hogwarts was his property." Harry replied, "he did not realise that because Hogwarts, or Avalon as it should be called, is an Alteran creation, it has an Artificial Intelligence controlling everything, from the moving stairways to the doorways that require passwords. The only people who can do anything other than use a password to open a door, are those who have been given clearance to access the systems."

"So how would one go about getting access?" Albus asked.

"By sitting in the control chair, and allowing the AI to interface with their mind." Lucius replied, "that interface allows the user to feel as though they are part of the ship, and even after they stand up, they can still access most of the basic systems, though to launch or fire any of the weapons, someone would have to use the chair."

"I hope Voldemort does not know about that." Pomfrey said, looking at Harry and his friends with a hint of fear.

"No, he doesn't." Harry smiled, "he has no idea that Hogwarts isn't just old stone castle."

"Good." Sprout murmured.

**And here it was, beside the lake, reflected in the dark waters. The white marble tomb, an unnecessary blot on the familiar landscape. **

"How disrespectful." Minerva huffed.

**He felt again that rush of controlled euphoria, that heady sense of purpose in destruction. He raised the old yew wand: how fitting that this would be its last great act.**

**The tomb split open from head to foot. The shrouded figure was as long as thin as it had been in life. He raised the wand again.**

**The wrappings fell open. The face was translucent, pale, sunken, yet almost perfectly preserved. They had left his spectacles on the crooked nose: He felt amused derision. **

"What an absolute _monster_." Sinistra hissed angrily.

**Dumbledore's hands were folded upon his chest, and there it lay, clutched beneath them, buried with him.**

**Had the old fool imagined that marble or death would protect the wand? Had he thought that the Dark Lord would be scared to violate his tomb? The spiderlike hand swooped and pulled the wand from Dumbledore's grasp, and as he took it, a shower of sparks flew from its tip, sparkling over the corpse of its last owner, ready to serve a new master at last.**

"Why is it that we only see how truly deluded he is when you're in his head?" Hermione wondered.

"I don't know." Harry laughed.

"That was the end of the chapter." Susan said quietly, "who want's to read next?"

"I'll go if you don't mind." Hannah smiled.

"Be my guest." Susan grinned as she passed her best friend the book.


	32. Chapter 32

**Shell Cottage**

"**Shell Cottage**," Hannah read, sounding slightly nervous at the beginning, but getting more confident as she realised that the title wasn't a threatening one.

**Bill and Fleur's cottage stood alone on a cliff overlooking the sea, its walls embedded with shells and whitewashed.**

"It sounds beautiful." Tonks smiled.

**It was a lonely and beautiful place. Wherever Harry went inside the tiny cottage or its garden, he could hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering creature. **

"It really does sound like a beautiful place." Lily sighed happily.

"That's partly why I chose to buy that plot of land to build on." Bill grinned.

"You're building that cottage yourself?" James asked.

"Yes, I decided against having it built by others, I wanted to do it by myself." Bill nodded, "I haven't quite finished, I only started building two months ago, and doing it on my own is hard work, but I'm enjoying it, and have nearly finished the ground floor already."

**He spent much of the next few days making excuses to escape the crowded cottage, craving the cliff-top view of open sky and wide, empty sea, and the feel of cold, salty wind on his face.**

**The enormity of his decision not to race Voldemort to the wand still scared Harry. He could not remember, ever before, choosing _not_ to act. **

"So you do have a brain." Dorea smiled, "I did worry that you'd inherit your father's rashness as well as his looks."

**He was full of doubts, doubts that Ron could not help voicing whenever they were together.**

"**What if Dumbledore wanted us to work out the symbol in time to get the wand?" "What if working out what the symbol meant made you 'worthy' to get the Hallows?" "Harry, if that really is the Elder Wand, how the hell are we supposed to finish off You-Know-Who?"**

"You're an idiot, Ron." George groaned.

**Harry had no answers: there were moments when he wondered whether it had been outright madness not to try to prevent Voldemort breaking open the tomb. He could not even explain satisfactorily why he had decided against it: every time he tried to reconstruct the internal arguments that had led to his decision, they sounded feebler to him.**

**The odd thing was that Hermione's support made him feel just as confused as Ron's doubts. **

"Of course, I say something sensible, and he doesn't like it." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

**Now forced to accept that the Elder Wand was real, she maintained that it was an evil object, and that the way Voldemort had taken possession of it was repellent, not to be considered.**

"**You could never have done that, Harry," she said again and again. "You couldn't have broken into Dumbledore's grave."**

"Only someone with no soul could ever desecrate a tomb like that." Narcissa snarled.

"Oh Voldemort had a soul, it was just in pieces, spread all over the country." Harry grinned.

"Oh Merlin." Hermione grimaced, refraining from banging her head against the table as almost everyone who could appreciate it, laughed at Harry's humour.

"And of course, at that point, only about an eighth of it was left in existence." Harry added.

"Wow." Andromeda muttered, "how much is left now?"

"Just over that, but there will be far less when I get around to cleansing the locket." Harry smiled.

"Good." Andromeda nodded.

**But the idea of Dumbledore's corpse frightened Harry much less than the possibility that he might have misunderstood the living Dumbledore's intentions. **

**He felt that he was still groping in the dark; he had chosen his path but kept looking back, wondering whether he had misread the signs, whether he should not have taken the other way. From time to time, anger at Dumbledore crashed over him again, powerful as the waves slamming themselves against the cliff beneath the cottage, anger that Dumbledore had not explained before he died.**

"**But _is_ he dead?" said Ron, three days after they had arrived at the cottage. Harry had been staring out over the wall that separated the cottage garden from the cliff when Ron and Hermione had found him; he wished they had not, having no wish to join in with their argument.**

"You never do." Ron grinned.

"Would you want to be stuck in the middle of an argument like yours?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at the redhead.

"Probably not." Ron admitted.

"I cannot imagine anyone willingly getting stuck in the middle of an argument." Narcissa said, "especially not someone who grew up stuck in the middle of their siblings' arguments."

"And arguments between siblings are far worse than arguments between friends." Bellatrix nodded, wincing slightly as she remembered the arguments she and Andromeda had had when they were younger.

"**Yes, he is, Ron, _please_ don't start that again!"**

"**Look at the facts, Hermione," said Ron, speaking across Harry, who continued to gaze at the horizon. "The silver doe. The sword. The eye Harry saw in the mirror –"**

"Oh Merlin, stop arguing please." Lily groaned, "you sound worse than James and I ever did."

"I'm not so sure about that." Remus frowned, "I don't think they've ever got to the point where they start hexing each other, like you did, on multiple occasions, catching others in the crossfire at times."

"I remember that." Regulus grinned, "they were in the middle of the great hall, and managed to rile each other up so much that they started duelling right then and there. Sirius ended up bald, and his nose looked like a penis."

"It was rather amusing listening to him trying to talk with that nose." Snape smirked.

"Yes, but I think the fact that Frank had to wrap his hair around his waist and over his shoulders like a toga, after he was hit by Lily's hair-growth hex, was even funnier." Remus sniggered.

"That was one of the more amusing moments." Snape admitted.

"I wish I had been there to see that." Hermione muttered, with Harry, Neville and a few others agreeing.

"I don't." Ron grimaced, "and I'm very glad we weren't that bad."

"If you had started hexing each other, and I'd been there, you'd have been bat-bogeyed." Ginny grinned maliciously.

"You really are more like me than I would have thought, that was my favourite hex as well, when I was a teenager." Bellatrix smiled.

"**Harry admits he could have imagined the eye! Don't you, Harry?"**

"**I could have," said Harry without looking at her.**

"**But you don't think you did, do you?" asked Ron.**

"**No, I don't," said Harry.**

"Pick a side, any side." Dean laughed.

"**There you go!" said Ron quickly, before Hermione could carry on. "If it wasn't Dumbledore, explain how Dobby knew we were in the cellar, Hermione?"**

"The still unidentified person with blue eyes told him." Minerva suggested dryly.

"**I can't – but can you explain how Dumbledore sent him to us if he's lying in a tomb at Hogwarts?"**

"**I dunno, it could've been his ghost!"**

"**Dumbledore wouldn't come back as a ghost," said Harry. There was little about Dumbledore he was sure of now, but he knew that much. "He would have gone on."**

"That is very true my boy." Albus smiled, "I have always believed that death is he next great adventure."

"**What d'you mean, 'gone on'?" asked Ron, but before Harry could say any more, a voice behind them said, "'Arry?"**

**Fleur had come out of the cottage, her long silver hair flying in the breeze.**

"**'Arry, Grip'ook would like to speak to you. 'E eez in ze smallest bedroom, 'e says 'e does not want to be over'eard."**

**Her dislike of the goblin sending her to deliver messages was clear; she looked irritable as she walked back around the house.**

"I'm not surprised." Seamus snorted, "no one likes to be treated like an owl."

**Griphook was waiting for them, as Fleur had said, in the tiniest of the cottage's three bedrooms, in which Hermione and Luna slept by night. He had drawn the red cotton curtains against the bright, cloudy sky, which gave the room a fiery glow at odds with the rest of the airy, light cottage.**

"**I have reached my decision, Harry Potter," said the goblin, who was sitting cross-legged in a low chair, drumming its arms with his spindly fingers. "Though the goblins of Gringotts will consider it base treachery, I have decided to help you –"**

"I knew he would." Bill grinned, "he'd already decided to, he just wanted to think about what he wanted in return."

"**That's great!" said Harry, relief surging through him. "Griphook, thank you, we're really -"**

"– **in return," said the goblin firmly, "for payment."**

**Slightly taken aback, Harry hesitated.**

"**How much do you want? I've got gold."**

"**Not gold," said Griphook. "I have gold."**

**His black eyes glittered; there were no whites to his eyes.**

"**I want the sword. The sword of Godric Gryffindor."**

"That's not a good thing." Flitwick sighed, "the sword is the only thing they have that can destroy Horcruxes, and if they lose it, they're stuck."

"Basilisk venom would be useful at that juncture." Snape grimaced, "but I don't know where they could get it. I've never seen any shop that sells the stuff legally, and due to the rarity of basilisks, I'm not even sure any would be available on the black market."

"If we had been able to get into Hogwarts, we could have got our hands on some." Harry said, "Sanasha's corpse was still in the Chamber of Secrets, and the venom sacks were still mostly full. When I extracted everything of use four days ago, I managed to get about twenty litres of venom."

"But wouldn't it have been too dangerous to go into the Chamber?" Flitwick asked, "I mean, with the Carrows in the school, you'd have been in danger of getting caught, and I remember hearing something about a rock-fall inside the Chamber itself."

"Yes and no." Harry grinned, "the Carrows were a risk, but the Chamber itself was relatively safe. While there had been a rock-fall when I went down in second year, that was caused by Lockhart's backfiring spell hitting the rock lining. The rest of the lining might have collapsed on its own, but there was not much chance of that happening, and most repairing spells would have worked if it had become an issue."

"I thought that whole tunnel was made of rock?" Minerva muttered, confused.

"It's not, actually." Hermione smiled, "the founders didn't make the illusion extend down to the Chamber or any of the access corridors in that area, for some reason, maybe because they knew it would take more power than just having the illusion covering the visible bits, instead they just layered about three feet of rock along all those corridors, maybe to protect the Alteran architecture from being worn down by Sanasha slithering around for a thousand years."

"Interesting." Minerva nodded.

**Harry's spirits plummeted.**

"**You can't have that," he said. "I'm sorry."**

"**Then," said the goblin softly, "we have a problem."**

"**We can give you something else," said Ron eagerly. "I'll bet the Lestranges have got loads of stuff, you can take your pick once we get into the vault."**

"Ron, you are an idiot." Bill grimaced, "he's not going to want to take something from the vault instead of the Sword."

**He had said the wrong thing. Griphook flushed angrily.**

"**I am not a thief, boy! I am not trying to procure treasures to which I have no right!"**

"**The sword's ours –"**

"**It is not," said the goblin.**

"Actually, it's Harry's, but never mind." James snarled, "let's just forget the fact that Godric Gryffindor was given the Sword after saving the lives of Ragnuk and his entire family, nearly dying in the process."

"Well, now we have proof that Gryffindors really don't think things through before they jump in, feet first." Snape snorted.

"That's not true." The Bloody Baron rasped, "my godfather spent three days trying to come up with a plan after Ragnuk and his family had been captured. When Godric found out, they had four days to live, which meant that he was under a lot of pressure to get the job done if he wanted to stop the goblin nation declaring war. He was extremely lucky that he knew where they were being held, and that one of the captors was a spy, working for him, who was able to get him at least part of the way in."

"Merlin." Minerva whispered.

"**We're Gryffindors, and it was Godric Gryffindor's –"**

"**And before it was Gryffindor's, whose was it?" demanded the goblin, sitting up straight.**

"**No one's," said Ron. "It was made for him, wasn't it?"**

"Exactly." Charlus growled, annoyed at the goblin for ignoring the true events surrounding the forging of the Sword.

"**No!" cried the goblin, bristling with anger as he pointed a long finger at Ron. "Wizarding arrogance again! That sword was Ragnuk the First's, taken from him by Godric Gryffindor! **

"Bloody hell!" James swore, "if that is what he believes, then history has been twisted even more than we thought."

**It is a lost treasure, a masterpiece of goblinwork! It belongs with the goblins. **

"He's a fool." Charlus groaned, "trying to make Godric sound like a bloody thief."

**The sword is the price of my hire, take it or leave it!"**

**Griphook glared at them. Harry glanced at the other two, then said, "We need to discuss this, Griphook, if that's all right. Could you give us a few minutes?"**

**The goblin nodded, looking sour.**

"No wonder he's looking sour." Ernie said, "you're stalling."

**Downstairs in the empty sitting room, Harry walked to the fireplace, brow furrowed, trying to think what to do. Behind him, Ron said, "He's having a laugh. We can't let him have that sword."**

"I don't think you've got a choice." Sprout murmured, "he's unlikely to change his mind."

"**Is it true?" Harry asked Hermione. "Was the sword stolen by Gryffindor?"**

"**I don't know," she said hopelessly. "Wizarding history often skates over what the wizards have done to other magical races, but there's no account that I know of that says Gryffindor stole the sword."**

"**It'll be one of those goblin stories," said Ron, "about how the wizards are always trying to get one over on them. I suppose we should think ourselves lucky he hasn't asked for one of our wands."**

"That wouldn't help him." Flitwick said, "if he had asked for one of your wands, and the Ministry discovered that you had given it to him, you would be in far more trouble than him. They might order his execution, or turn him over to the goblin nation, but you would be sentenced to life in Azkaban or the Dementors' Kiss."

"**Goblins have got good reason to dislike wizards, Ron." said Hermione. "They've been treated brutally in the past."**

"**Goblins aren't exactly fluffy little bunnies, though, are they?" said Ron. "They've killed plenty of us. They've fought dirty too."**

"Do you two always argue about every little thing?" Lily asked exasperatedly.

"Yes." The rest of their little group nodded, each one barely refraining from rolling their eyes.

"**But arguing with Griphook about whose race is most underhanded and violent isn't going to make him more likely to help us, is it?"**

**There was a pause while they tried to think of a way around the problem. Harry looked out of the window at Dobby's grave. Luna was arranging sea lavender in a jam jar beside the headstone.**

Dobby, who had been unconscious since he fainted during the previous chapter, woke up just in time to hear that sentence, and promptly burst into tears.

"It sounds like a beautiful spot." Lily smiled, trying to comfort the little house-elf, whom she was still cuddling.

"**OK," said Ron, and Harry turned back to face him, "how's this? We tell Griphook we need the sword until we get inside the vault and then he can have it. There's a fake in these, isn't there? We switch them, and give him the fake."**

"Why am I surrounded by idiocy?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes.

"**Ron, he'd know the difference better than we would!" said Hermione. "He's the only one who realized there had been a swap!"**

"**Yeah, but we could scarper before he realizes –"**

"Don't even try something like that." Flitwick warned, "goblins are vicious, especially when they've been cheated, or lied to."

"Besides, it wouldn't work." Bill added, "he would realise what you'd done before you could escape."

**He quailed beneath the look Hermione was giving him.**

"**That," she said quietly, "is despicable. Ask for his help, then double-cross him? And you wonder why goblins don't like wizards, Ron?"**

**Ron's ears had turned red.**

"**All right, all right! It was the only thing I could think of! What's your solution, then?"**

"**We need to offer him something else, something just as valuable."**

"I don't think there is anything as valuable as Gryffindor's sword." James sighed, "a lot of goblin made objects from that era have been lost to time, either because they've been melted down and made into new objects, or because they were merely hidden and have never been found."

"**Brilliant, I'll go and get one of our ancient goblin-made swords and you can gift wrap it."**

"Are you sure your name isn't Sirius?" Regulus laughed, "that sounded so like something he'd say."

**Silence fell between them again. Harry was sure that the goblin would accept nothing but the sword, even if they had something as valuable to offer him. Yet the sword was their one, indispensable weapon against the Horcruxes.**

**He closed his eyes for a moment or two and listened to the rush of the sea. The idea that Gryffindor might have stolen the sword was unpleasant to him: he had always been proud to be a Gryffindor; Gryffindor had been the champion of Muggle-borns, the wizard who had clashed with the pure-blood-loving Slytherin …**

"**Maybe he's lying," Harry said, opening his eyes again. "Griphook. Maybe Gryffindor didn't take the sword. How do we know the goblin version of history's right?"**

"Many goblins don't believe that the leader would ever just give away a goblin-made weapon like the Sword, to a wizard." Charlus sighed, "even though Ragnuk did so, and wrote the law forbidding any goblin from ever trying to get the Sword back, a lot of goblins refuse to believe it."

"**Does it make a difference?" asked Hermione.**

"**Changes how I feel about it," said Harry.**

**He took a deep breath.**

"**We'll tell him he can have the sword after he's helped us get into that vault - but we'll be careful to avoid telling him exactly _when_ he can have it."**

"I don't think that's a good idea." Remus grimaced.

"It's the only idea they have, no matter how bad it sounds." Lily said, wincing at how many ways the plan could go wrong.

**A grin spread slowly across Ron's face. Hermione, however, looked alarmed.**

"**Harry, we can't –"**

"**He can have it," Harry went on, "after we've used it on all of the Horcruxes. I'll make sure he gets it then. I'll keep my word."**

"There are a lot of holes in that plan." Justin sighed, cringing slightly as Hannah, Susan and Megan glared at him.

"**But that could be years!" said Hermione.**

"**I know that, but _he_ needn't. I won't be lying … really."**

**Harry met her eyes with a mixture of defiance and shame. He remembered the words that had been engraved over the gateway to Nurmengard: _F__OR THE__ G__REATER__ G__OOD_. He pushed the idea away. What choice did they have?**

"**I don't like it," said Hermione.**

"**Nor do I, much," Harry admitted.**

"**Well, I think it's genius," said Ron, standing up again. "Let's go and tell him."**

"Anything Ron thinks is a good idea, is bound to go wrong." Neville muttered to Dean and Seamus.

**Back in the smallest bedroom, Harry made the offer, careful to phrase it so as not to give any definite time for the handover of the sword. Hermione frowned at the floor while he was speaking; he felt irritated at her, afraid that she might give the game away. However, Griphook had eyes for nobody but Harry.**

"Well that's fortunate." Kingsley said.

"She should have learned to not question the leader when others were there." Moody growled, "it's one thing for her to say she has misgivings when they're in private, but in that situation, she should keep her thoughts to herself, and preferably not allow her facial expression to give her away."

"She's an eighteen-year-old girl, in a situation that she hasn't prepared for, she's allowed to make a few mistakes." Kingsley sighed.

"**I have your word, Harry Potter, that you will give me the sword of Gryffindor if I help you?"**

"**Yes," said Harry.**

"**Then shake," said the goblin, holding out his hand.**

**Harry took it and shook. He wondered whether those black eyes saw any misgivings in his own. Then Griphook relinquished him, clapped his hands together, and said, "So. We begin!"**

**It was like planning to break into the Ministry all over again. **

"I hope that's not foreshadowing." Lily said nervously, "because the ministry mission was terrifying."

"Well, if it is foreshadowing, it's proof that they will succeed in getting the Horcrux." Luna smiled dreamily.

**They settled to work in the smallest bedroom, which was kept, according to Griphook's preference, in semi-darkness.**

"**I have visited the Lestranges' vault only once," Griphook told them, "on the occasion I was told to place inside it the false sword. It is one of the most ancient chambers. The oldest Wizarding families store their treasures at the deepest level, where the vaults are largest and best protected …"**

"Aren't there supposed to be _dragons_ guarding those vaults?" Alicia asked worriedly.

"As far as I know, that's just a rumour." Bill said, "though I have never had a reason to go anywhere near those vaults."

**They remained shut in the cupboard-like room for hours at a time. Slowly the days stretched into weeks. There was problem after problem to overcome, not least of which was that their store of Polyjuice Potion was greatly depleted.**

"You could have asked me." Bill said, "to get into the training for being a curse-breaker, I had to be able to brew any potion I was asked to, and Polyjuice was one of the ones I was tested on, so either I could have brewed more, or I probably already had some stored away in the cottage."

"We didn't need more than one dose." Hermione smiled, "and that was what we had."

"Oh." Bill grinned, "well, I didn't know that."

"**There's really only enough left for one of us," said Hermione, tilting the thick mud-like potion against the lamplight.**

"Who's going to be drinking the sludge?" James asked.

"And who are they going to turn into?" Seamus added.

"Wait and see." Harry smirked.

"**That'll be enough," said Harry, who was examining Griphook's hand-drawn map of the deepest passageways.**

"So what are the other two going to be doing?" Lavender asked.

"They have the Cloak, and I suspect one of them will be disguised with transfiguration." Snape said, "that's what I would do, if I was in their position."

**The other inhabitants of Shell Cottage could hardly fail to notice that something was going on now that Harry, Ron and Hermione only emerged for mealtimes. Nobody asked questions, although Harry often felt Bill's eyes on the three of them at the table, thoughtful, concerned. **

"Of course I would be watching you." Bill laughed, "I would have known that you were up to something with him, and there are very few reasons for wizards to be spending that much time in seclusion with a goblin."

**The longer they spent together, the more Harry realized that he did not much like the goblin. Griphook was unexpectedly bloodthirsty, laughed at the idea of pain in lesser creatures and seemed to relish the possibility that they might have to hurt other wizards to reach the Lestranges' vault. **

"Griphook is one of the slightly more bloodthirsty goblins." Bill nodded, "I don't particularly get on with him, but I do have goblins I consider friends. Don't judge the entire race on just one example."

**Harry could tell that his distaste was shared by the other two, but they did not discuss it: they needed Griphook.**

**The goblin ate only grudgingly with the rest of them. Even after his legs had mended, he continued to request trays of food in his room, like the still-frail Ollivander, until Bill (following an angry outburst from Fleur) **

"Definitely a French version of mum." Fred sniggered.

**went upstairs to tell him that the arrangement could not continue. Thereafter Griphook joined them at the overcrowded table, although he refused to eat the same food, insisting, instead, on lumps of raw meat, roots, and various fungi.**

"That's disgusting." Parvati said, wrinkling her nose, like many of the more squeamish females in the hall.

"You know, you were wearing that expression at the World Cup." Draco grinned at his mother.

"I was not." Narcissa said.

"Yes, you were." Harry smiled, "you looked like there was a very nasty smell under your nose."

"I was in Fudge's presence, and even though I'd never met him before, I didn't like him." Narcissa snorted, "I'm not surprised that I didn't look like I enjoyed standing so close to him."

"I can understand that." Harry nodded.

**Harry felt responsible: it was, after all, he who had insisted that the goblin remain at Shell Cottage so that he could question him; his fault that the whole Weasley family had been driven into hiding, that Bill, Fred, George, and Mr Weasley could no longer work.**

"You are an idiot if you think for one moment that we would blame you for that." Mr Weasley said.

"**I'm sorry," he told Fleur, one blustery April evening as he helped her prepare dinner. **

"I'm sure she was very glad that someone was willing to help her." Lily smiled.

"Yes, she was." Hermione smiled.

"**I never meant you to have to deal with all of this."**

**She had just set some knives to work, chipping up steaks for Griphook and Bill, who had preferred his meat bloody ever since he had been attacked by Greyback. **

**While the knives sliced behind her, her somewhat irritable expression softened.**

"**'Arry, you saved my sister's life, I do not forget."**

**This was not, strictly speaking, true, but Harry decided against reminding her that Gabrielle had never been in real danger.**

"She probably would have been." Remus sighed, "if the sleeping spell had worn off sooner. She was no more than eight at the time, and the fact that she is a quarter Veela, meant that she would have been in more danger than if she was pure human. Veela are creatures of air and fire, not water, and if the Merpeople had discovered that there was a part-Veela in the lake, they would have killed her, instantly."

"Merlin." Lily whispered, "are you saying that someone put a part-Veela in the middle of the Mer-village in the school lake?"

"Yes." Harry nodded, "it was for the Second Task of the tournament."

"Who the hell was stupid enough to do something like that?" Lily shrieked.

"Ludo Bagman, the man who organised the tournament." Albus grimaced, "I tried to warn him, but he was adamant. The eggs that the champions had had to grab in the First task had been enchanted with a song, which stated that 'we've taken what you'll sorely miss', and the only thing Bagman could think of that Miss Delacour would miss, was her sister. He didn't even ask her parents' permission first, if he had, he might have accepted the warning, and decided against choosing the younger Miss Delacour."

"That's horrible." Lily said, trying not to lose control.

"**Anyway," Fleur went on, pointing her want at a pot of sauce on the stove, which began to bubble at once, "Mr Ollivander leaves for Muriel's zis evening. Zat will make zings easier. Ze goblin," she scowled a little at the mention of him, "can move downstairs, and you, Ron, and Dean can take zat room."**

"Griphook won't like that idea." Flitwick winced.

"**We don't mind sleeping in the living room," said Harry, who knew that Griphook would think poorly of having to sleep on the sofa; keeping Griphook happy was essential to their plans. **

"Yes, I think it would be." Bill nodded.

"**Don't worry about us." And when she tried to protest he went on, "We'll be off your hands soon too, Ron, Hermione, and I. We won't need to be here much longer."**

"**But, what do you mean?" she said, frowning at him, her wand pointing at the casserole dish now suspended in mid-air. "Of course you must not leave, you are safe 'ere!"**

**She looked rather like Mrs Weasley as she said it, **

"At that point in time, she was Mrs Weasley, just a different model." Hermione giggled.

**and he was glad that the back door opened at that moment. Luna and Dean entered, their hair damp from the rain outside and their arms full of driftwood.**

"… **and tiny little ears," Luna was saying, "a bit like hippo's, Daddy says, only purple and hairy. And if you want to call them, you have to hum; they prefer a waltz, nothing too fast …"**

"Er … what's she on about?" Tonks asked nervously.

"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack." Luna replied, as if it were obvious.

"Oh." Tonks mumbled, not really knowing what else she could say to that.

**Looking uncomfortable, Dean shrugged at Harry as he passed, following Luna into the combined dining and sitting room where Ron and Hermione were laying the dinner table. Seizing the chance to escape Fleur's questions, Harry grabbed two jugs of pumpkin juice and followed them.**

"… **and if you ever come to our house I'll be able to show you the horn, Daddy wrote to me about it but I haven't seen it yet, because the Death Eaters took me from the Hogwarts Express and I never got home for Christmas," Luna was saying, as she and Dean relit the fire.**

"**Luna, we told you," Hermione called over to her. "That horn exploded. It came from an Erumpent, not a Crumple-Horned Snorkack –"**

"Oh no, not that argument again." Ron groaned.

"Yes, that argument again, just with a different person." Ginny giggled.

"**No, it was definitely a Snorkack horn," said Luna serenely, "Daddy told me. It will probably have re-formed by now, they mend themselves, you know."**

"I don't know why the Crumple-Horned Snorkack is called that, they don't have horns." Draco grinned.

"What do they look like then?" Luna asked, looking at Draco eagerly, like almost everyone else in the hall.

"I'm not entirely certain, the Nox have the power to make things invisible, and the only time I've ever seen one was when it was hovering. It vaguely resembled a hummingbird, with teeth."

"Big ones." Harry sniggered, "they're pretty dangerous creatures actually, but because the Nox are utterly pacifistic, and connected to nature, they cannot bear to see anything killed, not even the Goa'uld."

"Merlin, they sound like wimps." Smith sneered.

"They are most definitely not wimps." Hermione said flatly, "they make sure that people underestimate them, but they are capable of things that we would consider impossible. They are so connected to nature that they can heal any injury, and can resurrect the recently deceased. They have the ability to make objects the size of Avalon, invisible and insubstantial. They are a truly incredible race, despite the fact that they are strictly pacifistic."

"The oldest Nox we met, Opher, was four hundred and thirty-two when we met him, but he barely looked fifty." Harry continued.

"How did he get that old?" Minerva asked, "do the Nox have something similar to the Philosopher's Stone?"

"No, their natural life-span is around five hundred years, and because they believe in the sanctity of nature, they would never create something to extend their lives beyond five hundred." Harry replied.

"I would love to meet them." Flitwick smiled, "they sound truly wonderful."

**Hermione shook her head and continued laying down forks as Bill appeared, leading Mr Ollivander down the stairs. The wandmaker still looked exceptionally frail, and he clung to Bill's arm as the latter supported him, carrying a large suitcase.**

"So he's being moved to Muriel's." Percy murmured, "poor man."

"At least he will be well looked after." Bill said, "Muriel, and the rest of the family, will have time to brew him the potions he needs, without needing to split their attention to helping others who need healing as well."

"True." Percy nodded.

"**I'm going to miss you, Mr Ollivander," said Luna, approaching the old man.**

"**And I you, my dear," said Ollivander, patting her on the shoulder. "You were an inexpressible comfort to me in that terrible place."**

"**So, _au revoir,_ Mr. Ollivander," said Fleur, kissing him on both cheeks. "And I wonder whezzer you could oblige me by delivering a package to Bill's Auntie Muriel? I never returned 'er tiara."**

"I'm sure Muriel would have been happy about having it back." Mrs Weasley grimaced, "I am actually quite surprised she allowed Fleur to wear it."

"I dread to think what staying with Muriel would have been like." Ginny groaned, "she was bad enough when I was six and she decided I was old enough to start learning how to be a proper lady, I don't want to know what she would be like now."

"**It will be an honour," said Ollivander with a little bow, "the very least I can do in return for your generous hospitality."**

**Fleur drew out a worn velvet case, which she opened to show the wandmaker. The tiara sat glittering and twinkling in the light from the low-hanging lamp.**

"**Moonstones and diamonds," said Griphook, who had sidled into the room without Harry noticing. "Made by goblins, I think?"**

"**And paid for by wizards," said Bill quietly, and the goblin shot him a look that was both furtive and challenging.**

"Wow, I've worked with the goblins for six years, and even now, I struggle to understand their facial expressions." Bill muttered.

**A strong wind gusted against the cottage windows as Bill and Ollivander set off into the night. The rest of them squeezed in around the table; elbow to elbow and with barely enough room to move, they started to eat. The fire crackled and popped in the grate beside them. Fleur, Harry noticed, was merely playing with her food; she glanced at the window every few minutes; however, Bill returned before they had finished their first course, his long hair tangled by the wind.**

"**Everything's fine," he told Fleur. "Ollivander settled in, Mum and Dad say hello. Ginny sends you all her love, Fred and George are driving Muriel up the wall, **

"They were probably driving the rest of us up the wall as well." Ginny grinned.

**they're still operating an Owl-Order business out of her back room. **

"That's not going to make her any happier." Alicia giggled.

**It cheered her up to have her tiara back, though. She said she thought we'd stolen it."**

"**Ah, she eez charmant, your aunt," said Fleur crossly, waving her wand and causing the dirty plates to rise and form a stack in mid-air. She caught them and marched out of the room.**

"Obviously, Fleur and Muriel don't get on." Charlie grinned.

"Did you really expect them to?" Percy snorted, "Muriel doesn't particularly like people from other countries, and Fleur is French."

"That's probably due to the fact that her parents and grand-parents were around during a time when the world was less-than stable, politically." Mr Weasley pointed out, "they were around to witness the strained relationship between Britain and France, after the Napoleonic wars, and I cannot imagine Muriel not being told stories about that time, or being happy about the fact that Britain repeatedly got dragged into wars caused by other countries getting too big for their boots."

"**Daddy's made a tiara," piped up Luna, "Well, more of a crown, really."**

**Ron caught Harry's eye and grinned; Harry knew that he was remembering the ludicrous headdress they had seen on their visit to Xenophilius.**

"**Yes, he's trying to re-create the lost diadem of Ravenclaw. He thinks he's identified most of the main elements now. Adding the billywig wings really made a difference –"**

"As I said when it was first mentioned, Rowena Ravenclaw would never have worn something that ridiculous." The Grey Lady said, looking at Luna with a most unfriendly expression on her face.

"How do you know?" Luna asked, seemingly not caring about the ghost's dislike of her.

"I lived during that time." She replied.

"Helena, I'm sorry to say that everyone here will discover your secret." Harry said, throwing an apologetic glance in the ghost's direction. "It was too important to leave out, so it will be mentioned later in the book."

"Don't think too badly of me when you read about what I did, I was young and foolish." The Grey Lady whispered. She didn't sound too upset that her secret was going to be revealed, she hadn't expected it to remain hidden forever, even though she had only told one person in the nine hundred and forty years since her death.

**There was a bang on the front door. **

"Oh no, what now?" Lily asked nervously.

**Everyone's head turned toward it. Fleur came running out of the kitchen, looking frightened; Bill jumped to his feet, his wand pointing at the door; Harry, Ron, and Hermione did the same. Silently Griphook slipped beneath the table, out of sight.**

"Bloody coward." Ron grumbled quietly.

"**Who is it?" Bill called.**

"**It is I, Remus John Lupin!" called a voice over the howling wind. **

"Don't scare us like that Moony." James snapped, feeling Lily collapse into his arms in relief. She still hadn't let go of Dobby, who had finally stopped bawling, and was just sitting, listening to the story.

**Harry experienced a thrill of fear; what had happened? "I am a werewolf, married to Nymphadora Tonks, and you, the Secret-Keeper of Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come in an emergency!"**

"I hope it isn't a real emergency." Tonks whispered.

Dorea, Charlus, and a lot of the older people in the hall, were doing the mental arithmetic, working out when this event was taking place, and almost all of them had figured out what was going on, so were smiling happily, anticipating the reactions to what was going to be revealed.

"**Lupin," muttered Bill, and he ran to the door and wrenched it open.**

**Lupin fell over the threshold. He was white-faced, wrapped in a travelling cloak, his greying hair windswept. He straightened up, looked around the room, making sure of who was there, then cried aloud, "It's a boy! We've named him Ted, after Dora's father!"**

"Congratulations Moony." James cheered, "there's now a new Marauder to teach pranks to."

Ted smiled at his daughter, proud and honoured beyond belief that she would name her son after him.

"I won't have him this time." Tonks murmured sadly, "the fact that the book was sent, and things are going to happen earlier than before, means that even if we do have a son and give him that name, he won't be the same."

"When we planned this whole thing out, before coming back, we figured out that no matter when you have your children, no matter order they're born in, their souls will be the same." Hermione smiled, "whatever higher power that decides what soul gets reborn in what body, has already decided, thousands of years before we were born, what souls would belong in our children's bodies, so even if the circumstances of your son's birth and youth are different, his soul will be the same as the one he had in our original time-line."

"Oh." Tonks nodded, slightly happier than she had been.

"So does that mean that Harry and Lucius were always destined to have sixteen children?" James asked nervously.

"We're not sure, but possibly." Harry replied with a shrug.

"Oh." James murmured.

**Hermione shrieked.**

"**Wha –? Tonks – Tonks has had the baby?"**

"**Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" shouted Lupin.**

"Is he, like me?" Remus asked nervously, not wanting to hear that he had cursed his son.

"He's not a werewolf, but he does get a bit irritable during the full moon." Harry smiled.

"His best friend, Rax, told me that apart from his obvious male parts, Teddy was more like a woman than any other bloke he knew." Draco sniggered.

"Yes, and then Rax was hexed by his own sister." Harry snorted.

"He should have known not to say something like that in the presence of a hormonal pregnant woman." Hermione pointed out.

"Oh dear." Tonks giggled.

**All around the table came cries of delight, sighs of relief: Hermione and Fleur both squealed, "Congratulations!" and Ron said, "Blimey, a baby!" as if he had never heard of such a thing before.**

"Did you have to notice that?" Ron asked with a huff.

"**Yes – yes – a boy," said Lupin again, **

"Someone's excited." Regulus laughed.

**who seemed dazed by his own happiness. He strode around the table and hugged Harry; the scene in the basement of Grimmauld Place might never have happened.**

"**You'll be godfather?" he said as he released Harry.**

"**M – me?" stammered Harry.**

"**You, yes, of course – Dora quite agrees, no one better –"**

"**I – yeah – blimey –"**

"You'd be a wonderful godfather." Remus smiled.

"I agree." Tonks nodded.

**Harry felt overwhelmed, astonished, delighted; now Bill was hurrying to fetch wine, and Fleur was persuading Lupin to join them for a drink.**

"**I can't stay long, I must get back," said Lupin, beaming around at them all: he looked years younger than Harry had ever seen him. "Thank you, thank you, Bill."**

**Bill had soon filled all of their goblets, they stood and raised them high in a toast.**

"**To Teddy Remus Lupin," said Lupin, "a great wizard in the making!"**

"I'm sure he will be." Andromeda smiled.

"**'Oo does 'e look like?" Fleur inquired.**

"**I think he looks like Dora, but she thinks he is like me. Not much hair. It looked black when he was born, but I swear it's turned ginger in the hour since. Probably blond by the time I get back.**

"Ginger and blond don't suit him." Hermione giggled, "he looked washed out when he tried blond, and like he'd set his head on fire when he tried ginger."

"Oh dear." Tonks grinned, "so what colour does he normally go for then?"

"Blue." Harry sniggered, "and he doesn't seem to have any fashion sense at all, because he likes wearing orange trousers and green shirts, together."

"That's awful." Narcissa muttered, wrinkling her nose at the image.

"Yes, a truly horrific lack of style." Draco nodded, while most of the fashion-conscious students, especially the girls, shuddered at the thought.

**Andromeda says Tonks's hair started changing colour the day that she was born." He drained his goblet. "Oh, go on then, just one more," he added, beaming, as Bill made to fill it again.**

Tonks and Remus beamed at the thought of having a child together, even though Remus couldn't silence that niggling little voice in the back of his head telling him that he didn't deserve to have a child.

**The wind buffeted the little cottage and the fire leapt and crackled, and Bill was soon opening another bottle of wine. Lupin's news seemed to have taken them out of themselves, removed them for a while from their state of siege: tidings of new life were exhilarating. Only the goblin seemed untouched by the suddenly festive atmosphere, and after a while he slunk back to the bedroom he now occupied alone. Harry thought he was the only one who had noticed this, until he saw Bill's eyes following the goblin up the stairs.**

"**No … no … I really must get back," said Lupin at last, declining yet another goblet of wine.**

"Yes, get back to your wife and son." James grinned, "don't just hang around with friends when you can spend that time with your family."

**He got to his feet and pulled his travelling cloak back around himself.**

"**Good-bye, good-bye – I'll try and bring some pictures in a few day's time – they'll all be so glad to know that I've seen you –"**

"I'm sure we would have been." Andromeda and Tonks smiled.

**He fastened his cloak and made his farewells, hugging the women and grasping hands with the men, then, still beaming, returned into the wild night.**

"**Godfather, Harry!" said Bill as they walked into the kitchen together, helping clear the table. "A real honour! Congratulations!"**

**As Harry set down the empty goblets he was carrying, Bill pulled the door behind him closed, shutting out the still voluble voices of the others, who were continuing to celebrate even in Lupin's absence.**

"Oh dear, they're going to have hangovers after that." Lily muttered.

"I think they should be allowed to have a bit of a party." Dorea said, "one shouldn't forget to celebrate happy events, even at a time like that, so even if they do have hangovers, they can be happy to suffer, because there is something to celebrate."

"**I wanted a private word, actually, Harry. It hasn't been easy to get an opportunity with the cottage this full of people."**

"You're going to warn him about the danger inherent in working with a goblin." Remus said.

"I probably am." Bill agreed, "it's the least I could do, especially if I don't know exactly what they're planning, or why."

**Bill hesitated.**

"**Harry, you're planning something with Griphook."**

**It was a statement, not a question, and Harry did not bother to deny it. He merely looked at Bill, waiting.**

"When you look at people like that, Harry, it can be quite unnerving." Ron grinned, "especially once you lose the need for glasses."

"He did spend a couple of weeks talking to Professor Dumbledore's portrait." Hermione pointed out, "he could have learned how to look as though he's x-raying someone when he looks at them."

"That's a slightly disturbing thought." Charlus mumbled.

"**I know goblins," said Bill. "I've worked for Gringotts ever since I left Hogwarts. As far as there can be friendship between wizards and goblins, I have goblin friends - or, at least, goblins I know well, and like." Again, Bill hesitated.**

"**Harry, what do you want from Griphook, and what have you promised him in return?"**

"**I can't tell you that," said Harry. "Sorry, Bill."**

"Oh Merlin, I probably should have expected you to say something like that." Bill said with a wry smile, "I don't know why I wouldn't have been."

**The kitchen door opened behind them; Fleur was trying to bring through more empty goblets.**

"**Wait," Bill told her, "Just a moment."**

**She backed out and he closed the door again.**

"**Then I have to say this," Bill went on. "If you have struck any kind of bargain with Griphook, and most particularly if that bargain involves treasure, you must be exceptionally careful. Goblin notions of ownership, payment, and repayment are not the same as human ones."**

"But that doesn't take into account what happens when a goblin gives a wizard something as a gift, and then writes a law stating that no goblin would have any right to that object." James reiterated.

**Harry felt a slight squirm of discomfort, as though a small snake had stirred inside him.**

"**What do you mean?" he asked.**

"**We are talking about a different breed of being," said Bill. "Dealings between wizards and goblins have been fraught for centuries – but you'll know all that from History of Magic. **

"Not with Binns." Ginny snorted, "I don't know how anyone can stay awake in his lessons."

"Yeah, he can make the most bloody and vicious goblin war about as interesting as watching paint dry." Angelina nodded.

**There has been fault on both sides, I would never claim that wizards have been innocent. However, there is a belief among some goblins, and those at Gringotts are perhaps most prone to it, that wizards cannot be trusted in matters of gold and treasure, that they have no respect for goblin ownership."**

"**I respect –" Harry began, but Bill shook his head.**

"**You don't understand, Harry, nobody could understand unless they have lived with goblins. To a goblin, the rightful and true master of any object is the maker, not the purchaser. All goblin made objects are, in goblin eyes, rightfully theirs."**

"But that's ridiculous way of thinking." Smith sneered, "the one who bought an item should be the one who owns it."

"That is what wizards believe, goblins have a different philosophy." Sprout said, slightly annoyed that one of her Puff's was not acting like a true Hufflepuff.

"**But it was bought –"**

"– **then they would consider it rented by the one who had paid the money. They have, however, great difficulty with the idea of goblin-made objects passing from wizard to wizard. You saw Griphook's face when the tiara passed under his eyes. He disapproves. I believe he thinks, as do the fiercest of his kind, that it ought to have been returned to the goblins once the original purchaser died. They consider our habit of keeping goblin-made objects, passing them from wizard to wizard without further payment, little more than theft."**

"That's ominous." Mrs Weasley murmured.

**Harry had an ominous feeling now; he wondered whether Bill guessed more than he was letting on.**

"He probably did." Charlie grinned, "Bill is not stupid."

"**All I am saying," said Bill, setting his hand on the door back into the sitting room, "is to be very careful what you promise goblins, Harry. It would be less dangerous to break into Gringotts than to renege on a promise to a goblin."**

"**Right," said Harry as Bill opened the door, "yeah. Thanks. I'll bear that in mind." **

**As he followed Bill back to the others a wry thought came to him, born no doubt of the wine he had drunk. He seemed set on course to become just as reckless a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black had been to him. **

"There are different forms of recklessness." Remus smiled, "you aren't likely to rush off half-cocked without a plan, and end up getting yourself thrown in Azkaban without a trial, unlike Sirius."

"True, but since I was planning to break into Gringotts, and hopefully get out again with a bit of booty, there was a chance that I would get in a lot of trouble." Harry pointed out.

"Yes." Remus nodded with a wry grin.

"That was the end of the chapter." Hannah said.

"I'll go next, if no one minds." Dorea smiled.

"Be our guest." Albus nodded, as Hannah levitated the book over to the purple-clad table, letting it come to rest in front of Dorea.


	33. Chapter 33

**Gringotts**

"**Gringotts**," Dorea read after taking the small pair of reading glasses she had put on, off again, due to discovering that she didn't actually need them.

**Their plans were made, their preparations complete; in the smallest bedroom a single long, coarse black hair (plucked from the sweater Hermione had been wearing at Malfoy Manor) lay curled in a small glass phial on the mantelpiece.**

"Are you absolutely positive it's not cat hair?" Ginny asked with a giggle.

"Yes, there was no way I would not check that, not after what happened in second year." Hermione snorted.

"What happened in your second year?" Andromeda asked.

"I accidentally used cat hair." Hermione mumbled.

"Oh dear." Andromeda said, "whose hair were you trying to get?"

"Millie's." Hermione whispered.

"But you got Carpathia's fur instead." Millicent sighed, "you could have just asked."

"We weren't supposed to let anyone know, and asking would have given the game away." Hermione grimaced.

"Yeah, I understand." Millicent nodded.

"**And you'll be using her actual wand," said Harry, nodding toward the walnut wand, "so I reckon you'll be pretty convincing."**

**Hermione looked frightened that the wand might sting or bit her as she picked it up. **

"**I hate that thing," she said in a low voice. "I really hate it. It feels all wrong, it doesn't work properly for me … it's like a bit of _her_."**

"That sounded a little wrong." Bellatrix murmured.

**Harry could not help but remember how Hermione has dismissed his loathing of the blackthorn wand, insisting that he was imagining things when it did not work as well as his own, telling him to simply practice. He chose not to repeat her own advice back to her, however, the eve of their attempted assault on Gringotts felt like the wrong moment to antagonize her. **

"Definitely the wrong moment." Ron snorted, "I can just imagine her being either being really miserable, or blowing her top, ranting and raving, sounding like a complete lunatic."

"Which would not have been a good thing." Ginny giggled, "when Hermione sounds like a lunatic, people run away, and get scarred for life."

"I don't think Trelawney ever really recovered after Hermione lost it with her." Harry mused, "but then again, I'm not really sure that Trelawney has ever been anything other than slightly unstable."

"Was she addicted to sherry before third year, or did that addiction appear after third year?" Ron wondered.

"That's a very good question." Harry said, "I really don't know. If she was here, we could ask her, but she's still holed up in her tower."

"**It'll probably help you get in character, though," said Ron. "Think what that wand's done!"**

"I'd rather not." Alicia said dryly.

"So would I." Bellatrix sighed, wishing that she had been strong enough to run when her mother told her about the marriage contract.

"**But that's my point!" said Hermione. "This is the wand that tortured Neville's mum and dad,**

"WHAT?" A lot of the students yelled in shock. They were the ones who hadn't read the article in the Daily Prophet when Bellatrix was broken out earlier that year, so they hadn't known that she had been caught torturing Frank and Alice.

Neville and Bellatrix grimaced, both hunching down and trying to hide from all the curious looks they were receiving, but neither was exactly successful. Neville hadn't wanted people to know, despite the fact that he wasn't ashamed of how brave his parents had been, he just didn't want the attention the knowledge would give him; while Bellatrix hated the fact that she hadn't been able to resist when she was ordered to torture Frank and Alice, and didn't want to draw any more attention to herself.

"Leave them alone." Harry said quietly, "now is not the time."

**and who knows how many other people? This is the wand that killed Sirius!"**

**Harry had not thought of that: He looked down at the wand and was visited by a brutal urge to snap it, to slice it in half with Gryffindor's sword, which was propped against the wall beside him. **

"Not a good idea." Regulus said, "you need that wand."

"And I'd like it back after you've finished with it." Bellatrix added in a near-whisper.

"**I miss my wand," Hermione said miserably. "I wish Mr Ollivander could have made me another one too."**

**Mr Ollivander had sent Luna a new wand that morning. She was out on the back lawn at that moment, testing its capabilities in the late afternoon sun. Dean, who had lost his wand to the Snatchers, was watching rather gloomily. **

"Yeah, I would be a bit miserable." Dean sighed, "and jealous."

"I don't understand how Ollivander would be able to make Luna a wand, when he didn't know what materials would suit her." Seamus said.

"They got to know each other." Hermione smiled, "the amount of time they spent in that cell, together, helped him know what to use. Don't forget, the man's been making wands for years, he knows what he's doing."

**Harry looked down at the hawthorn wand that had once belonged to Draco Malfoy. He had been surprised, but pleased to discover that it worked for him at least as well as Hermione's had done. **

"While I don't understand how you were able to use Hermione's wand, the reason that one worked is because you won it, and it bent to your will." Narcissa said.

**Remembering what Ollivander had told them of the secret workings of wands, Harry thought he knew what Hermione's problem was: she had not won the walnut wand's allegiance by taking it personally from Bellatrix. **

**The door of the bedroom opened and Griphook entered. Harry reached instinctively for the hilt of the sword and drew it close to him, **

"Oh that's not good." Remus muttered, "he's unlikely to trust you if you keep doing that."

**but regretted his action at once. He could tell that the goblin had noticed. Seeking to gloss over the sticky moment, he said, "We've just been checking the last-minute stuff, Griphook. We've told Bill and Fleur we're leaving tomorrow, and we've told them not to get up to see us off."**

"I'm sure we wouldn't like that." Bill grimaced, "but I can understand why."

**They had been firm on this point, because Hermione would need to transform in Bellatrix before they left, and the less that Bill and Fleur knew or suspected about what they were about to do, the better. **

"Yes, but it is a little too late." Charlie snorted, "Bill ain't stupid, he has already figured most of it out."

"I think it would have been quite obvious." Bill grinned, "as I said before, there are very few reasons for someone to spend as much time as those three did, holed up with a goblin."

**They had also explained that they would not be returning. As they had lost Perkin's old tent on the night that the Snatcher's caught them, Bill had lent them another one. **

"Well I hope it doesn't smell of cats." Neville sniggered.

"Or overcooked cabbage." Seamus added.

**It was now packed inside the beaded bag, which, Harry was impressed to learn, Hermione had protected from the Snatchers by the simple expedient of stuffing it down her sock. **

"That was clever." Angelina giggled.

"Yeah, and at least the Death Eaters wouldn't have been willing to search her too intensively." Alicia nodded.

"How do you know?" Katie asked.

"Well, most of them are snobs, and wouldn't want to touch a muggle-born, so Hermione's safe." Alicia shrugged.

"Don't forget Greyback was there, and he sounded as though he wanted to rape Hermione." Oliver pointed out disgustedly.

"True, but he's just a monster, and Harry and Ron wouldn't have let him get anywhere near her." Alicia said.

**Though he would miss Bill, Fleur, Luna, and Dean, not to mention the home comforts they had enjoyed over the last few weeks, Harry was looking forward to escaping the confinement of Shell Cottage. He was tired of trying to make sure that they were not overheard, tired of being shut in the tiny, dark bedroom. Most of all, he longed to be rid of Griphook.**

"I'm not surprised." Flitwick said, "as William said, Griphook is one of the more bloodthirsty goblins, so I would almost expect someone who didn't like bloodshed to want to get away from him."

**However, precisely how and when they were to part from the goblin without handing over Gryffindor's sword remained a question to which Harry had no answer. It had been impossible to decide how they were going to do it, because the goblin rarely left Harry, Ron, and Hermione alone together for more than five minutes at a time: "He could give my mother lessons," growled Ron, as the goblin's long fingers kept appearing around the edges of doors. **

"Blimey, and I thought Mum had a knack for appearing at the wrong time." George whistled.

**With Bill's warning in mind, Harry could not help suspecting that Griphook was on the watch for possible skullduggery. Hermione disapproved so heartily of the planned double-cross that Harry had given up attempting to pick her brains on how best to do it: Ron, on the rare occasions that they had been able to snatch a few Griphook-free moments, had come up with nothing better than "We'll just have to wing it, mate."**

"Yeah, and it will become yet another episode of 'Harry flying by the Seat of his Pants'." Fred grinned.

"You do like saying that." Hermione giggled.

"Well it's true." Fred snorted, "most of Harry's plans go wrong, so he does end up making up as he goes along, and flying by the seat of his pants is one of the best ways to describe Harry's improvisation."

"I can't argue with that." Hermione sighed, throwing a disgruntled look at Harry, who was grinning widely.

**Harry slept badly that night. Lying away in the early hours, he thought back to the way he had felt the night before they had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic and remembered a determination, almost an excitement. Now he was experiencing jolts of anxiety nagging doubts: he could not shake off the fear that it was all going to go wrong. **

"I can see why you'd think that, you do seem to like planning to do the impossible, so of course there is a high risk of the plan going wrong." Remus smirked.

"I wouldn't call it, impossible." Harry mused, "I'd probably call it, improbable instead."

"Good point." Regulus nodded.

**He kept telling himself that their plan was good, that Griphook knew what they were facing, that they were well-prepared for all the difficulties they were likely to encounter, yet still he felt uneasy. Once or twice he heard Ron stir and was sure that he too was awake, but they were sharing the sitting room with Dean, so Harry did not speak. **

"Of course I was awake." Ron grimaced, "I was absolutely terrified that it was all going to go wrong."

"I was too." Hermione sighed, "but we couldn't not go, there was too much at stake."

"I think we can all understand that." Charlus nodded.

**It was a relief when six o'clock arrived and they could slip out of their sleeping bags, dress in the semi-darkness, then creep out into the garden, where they were to meet Hermione and Griphook. The dawn was chilly, but there was little wind now that it was May. **

"Merlin." Draco whispered, "I hadn't realised how much happened in so little time."

"What do you mean?" Narcissa asked.

"Everything from this chapter to the end of chapter thirty-six, happened in less than forty-eight hours." Draco replied, "that's nearly eleven chapters covering less than two days."

"Merlin." Narcissa murmured.

**Harry looked up at the stars still glimmering palely in the dark sky and listened to the sea washing backward and forward against the cliff: he was going to miss the sound. **

**Small green shoots were forcing their way up through the red earth of Dobby's grave now, in a year's time the mound would be covered in flowers. **

"It truly does sound like a beautiful place." Lily whispered, "I don't think you could have chosen better."

**The white stone that bore the elf's name had already acquired a weathered look. He realized now that they could hardly have laid Dobby to rest in a more beautiful place, but Harry ached with sadness to think of leaving him behind. Looking down on the grave, he wondered yet again how the elf had known where to come to rescue them. His fingers moved absent-mindedly to the little pouch still strung around his neck, thorough which he could feel the jagged mirror fragment in which he had been sure he had seen Dumbledore's eye. Then the sound of a door opening made him look around. **

**Bellatrix Lestrange was striding across the lawn toward them, accompanied by Griphook. **

"I wouldn't have called what she was doing, striding." Ron grinned, "I would call it tottering."

"Well of course you would, I wasn't used to wearing such high heels." Hermione snorted, "plus there's the fact that I was only about five foot eight at the time."

"And of course, I'm five foot eleven." Bellatrix whispered, "so you had to cope with an extra three inches."

"Plus three and a half inch heels." Hermione nodded.

"Oh dear." Andromeda said, trying not to giggle.

**As she walked, she was tucking the small, beaded bag into the inside pocket of another set of the old robes they had taken from Grimmauld Place. Though Harry knew perfectly well that it was really Hermione, he could not suppress a shiver of loathing. **

**She was taller than he was,**

"Yeah, but you did have that massive growth spurt." Bellatrix grinned, "you ended up taller than me."

**her long black hair rippling down her back,**

"I'm so jealous." Hermione moaned, "I wish I had hair as smooth as yours."

"It isn't at the moment, it's a bit of a mess." Bellatrix sighed, "spending fourteen and a bit years in Azkaban and not having access to a hot shower for the same length of time can do that."

**her heavily lidded eyes disdainful as they rested upon him; but then she spoke, and he heard Hermione through Bellatrix's low voice. **

"That might help you distinguish between me and Hermione disguised as me." Bellatrix shrugged, "maybe."

"**She tasted _disgusting_, worse than Gurdyroots! **

"Oh lordy." Neville grimaced, "I can't imagine anything worse than Gurdyroots."

"Oh there are things that are far worse." Hermione giggled, "live larval Goa'uld for example."

"Why would anyone eat their Gods?" Minerva wondered, remembering the explanation of what the Goa'uld were.

"The Goa'uld themselves eat their young during summits." Harry replied, "we don't know why, but that practice has had a severe effect on their population. When we were eliminating the System Lords and taking control of their territories, we discovered that the Goa'uld population was declining rapidly, and it was mainly because they were eating their young. We were only killing one or two at a time, and despite the fact that the Queens, who were producing the young, were spawning around a hundred at one go, each, there was no population growth, at all."

"How many of these 'Queens', were there?" Flitwick asked.

"Currently, there are four who are still around and capable of producing spawn for the Goa'uld empire." Hermione said, "there are three others that we know of, but Egeria, Hathor and Anat are currently imprisoned."

"I hope they don't get free." Minerva stated forcefully, "that would be a disaster if they did."

"Well, freeing Egeria shouldn't cause too many problems, since she was the one who spawned the Tok'Ra, and if we can get to Anat, maybe we can convince her to work with them." Harry smiled, "Hathor, however, is far more dangerous, and the worst thing is, she's currently imprisoned in her Sarcophagus, somewhere in Mexico. She's been there since three-thirty-two BC, over two thousand years."

"Merlin." Sprout whispered fearfully, "I cannot believe there is something that dangerous on Earth."

"Hathor isn't the only Goa'uld hidden somewhere on this planet." Hermione grimaced, "there were four others, Anhur, an Egyptian God of War, and Osiris, one of the Egyptian Gods of the Afterlife, were both removed from their hosts and imprisoned in canopic jars, along with Osiris' Queen Isis, who is now dead, and Seth, one of the Egyptian Gods of the desert, storms and foreigners, is currently leading a Cult of Setesh in Washington DC."

"I hope that information will be passed on to the correct authorities." Minerva said sternly.

"The American police wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him, because he uses a drug called Nish'ta to control people, but we can do something." Hermione sighed, "after the book is finished, and when we have time, we will take care of him."

"Good." Sprout murmured.

**Okay, Ron, come here so I can do you …"**

"**Right, but remember, I don't like the beard too long –"**

"**Oh, for heaven's sake, this isn't about looking handsome –" **

"That definitely sounds like Hermione." Seamus grinned.

"**It's not that, it gets in the way! But I liked my nose a bit shorter, try and do it the way you did last time."**

**Hermione sighed and set to work, muttering under her breath as she transformed various aspects of Ron's appearance. **

"What was she muttering?" Bellatrix asked with a bit of a giggle.

"She was praying for patience, and counting to ten repeatedly, so she didn't blow up at me." Ron grimaced.

"Oh dear." Bellatrix giggled.

**He was to be given a completely fake identity, and they were trusting to the malevolent aura cast by Bellatrix to protect him. **

"That would work." Regulus nodded.

"It wouldn't now." Bellatrix pointed out, "having that Imperius-laced contract and Voldemort controlling me really screwed with my personality. I don't think I could act as mad or hateful as I was, not after being freed of that control, and anyway, as soon as the book is over, the world will know about that, so I doubt that anyone would believe it if we did do what the trio are doing in the book."

"True." Regulus grinned.

**Meanwhile Harry and Griphook were to be concealed under the Invisibility Cloak. **

"**There," said Hermione, "how does he look, Harry?"**

**It was just possible to discern Ron under his disguise, but only, Harry thought because he knew him so well. Ron's hair was now long and wavy; he had a thick brown beard and moustache, no freckles, a short, broad nose, and heavy eyebrows. **

"Well, I think I know where Hermione got the inspiration for the eyebrows." Ginny giggled.

"Yeah, Krum." Hermione nodded, "that is what I was thinking about."

"**Well, he's not my type, but he'll do," said Harry. "Shall we go, then?"**

"That disguise doesn't sound like my type either." Daphne said, mock-sadly, "I like his freckles and red hair too much."

**All three of them glanced back at Shell Cottage, lying dark and silent under the fading stars, then turned and began to walk toward the point, just beyond the boundary wall, where the Fidelius Chard stopped working and they would be able to Disapparate. Once past the gate, Griphook spoke. **

"**I should climb up now, Harry Potter, I think?"**

"I would have thought it would be annoying to have people address you by your full name." Lily commented.

"It does get a bit irritating, but I've actually got used to it, what with the fact that those who use it do so quite often." Harry said, after thinking about it for a few seconds.

**Harry bent down and the goblin clambered onto his back, his hands linked in front of Harry's throat. **

**He was not heavy, but Harry disliked the feeling of the goblin and the surprising strength with which he clung on. Hermione pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of the beaded bag and threw it over them both. **

"**Perfect," she said, bending down to check Harry's feet. "I can't see a thing. Let's go." **

"Evidently, before his growth spurt, Harry was able to wear the Cloak, with a goblin on his back, without any trouble." Dean grinned.

"Yep, he wouldn't have been able to after it though." Hermione giggled.

**Harry turned on the spot, with Griphook on his shoulders, concentrating with all his might on the Leaky Cauldron, the inn that was the entrance to Diagon Alley. The goblin clung even tighter as they moved into the compressing darkness, and seconds later Harry's feet found pavement and he opened his eyes on Charing Cross Road. Muggles bustled past wearing the hangdog expressions of early morning,**

"I'm not surprised, I doubt anyone, whether witch, wizard or muggle, enjoys getting up early to go to work." Caruso snorted. "I feel sorry for them."

"What about those who have to work overnight?" Charlus grinned.

"I feel even more sorry for them." Caruso said.

**quite unconscious of the little inn's existence. **

**The bar of the Leaky Cauldron was nearly deserted. Tom, the stooped and toothless landlord, was polishing glasses behind the bar counter; a couple of warlocks having a muttered conversation in the far corner glanced at Hermione and drew back into the shadows. **

"**Madam Lestrange," murmured Tom, and as Hermione paused he inclined his head subserviently. **

"**Good morning," said Hermione, **

"Ooh, I doubt I would be that polite." Bellatrix grimaced, "no matter how much I would want to be nice to him, I'd probably sneer at the poor man instead."

**and as Harry crept past, still carrying Griphook piggyback under the Cloak, he saw Tom look surprised. **

"**Too polite," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear as they passed out of the Inn into the tiny backyard. "You need to treat people like they're scum!"**

"You should have been the one taking the Polyjuice instead of Hermione, Harry." Draco sniggered.

"Yeah, you might have done a better job." Hermione nodded.

"I might also have made a complete and utter fool of myself." Harry snorted, "Hermione may have had difficulty walking around while wearing those shoes of hers, but at least she's female and knows how to act like a woman. I, on the other hand, am not female, and would probably have looked like I was drunk trying to walk like a woman."

"I'd have been in the same boat." Ron grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, all right, so I was the only feasible choice." Hermione grumbled.

"**Okay, okay!"**

**Hermione drew out Bellatrix's wand and rapped a brick in the nondescript wall in front of them. At once the bricks began to whirl and spin: A hole appeared in the middle of them, which grew wider and wider, finally forming an archway onto the narrow cobbled street that was Diagon Alley. **

**It was quiet, barely time for the shops to open, and there were hardly and shoppers abroad. The crooked, cobbled street was much altered now from the bustling place Harry had visited before his first team at Hogwarts so many years before. More shops than ever were boarded up, though several new establishments dedicated to the Dark Arts had been created since his last visit. Harry's own face glared down at him from posters plastered over many windows, always captioned with the words _U__NDESIRABLE __N__UMBER__ O__NE__. _**

"That sounds truly depressing." Lavender whispered.

"It really was." Lucius sighed, "that year, Diagon Alley showed me what the wizarding world looks like at its absolute worst."

"Merlin." Angelina murmured.

**A number of ragged people sat huddled in doorways. He heard them moaning to the few passers-by, pleading for gold, insisting that they were really wizards. One man had a bloody bandage over his eye. **

"Probably muggle-borns, who've had their wands confiscated by Umbitch." James snarled.

"Very probably." Minerva grimaced.

"I wish there was something we could have done." Hermione whispered sadly.

"If we had, people would have been suspicious, and we might have been captured again." Harry said, in a very disgruntled tone.

**As they set off along the street, the beggars glimpsed Hermione. They seemed to melt away before her, drawing hoods over their faces and fleeing as fast as they could. Hermione looked after them curiously, until the man with the bloodied bandage came staggering right across her path. **

"**My children," he bellowed, pointing at her. His voice was cracked, high-pitched, he sounded distraught. "Where are my children? What has he done with them? You know, you know!"**

"Poor Hermione." Parvati whispered. She didn't particularly like the bushy-haired girl, but no one deserved to be faced with someone like that, especially if they really wanted to help, but couldn't.

"**I – I really –" stammered Hermione. **

**The man lunged at her, reaching for her throat. Then, with a bang and a burst of red light he was thrown backward onto the ground, unconscious. Ron stood there, his wand still outstretched and a look of shock visible behind his beard. **

"Well done Ron, though it gives me no pleasure to say that." Regulus said sadly.

**Faces appeared at the windows on either side of the street, while a little knot of prosperous-looking passers-by gathered their robes about them and broke into gentle trots, keen to vacate the scene. **

**Their entrance into Diagon Alley could hardly have been more conspicuous; for a moment Harry wondered whether it might not be better to leave now and try to think of a different plan. **

"Don't do that." Remus said.

"Just because your entrance into Diagon Alley didn't go quite as planned, doesn't mean that the rest of it won't." James added.

**Before they could move or consult one another, however, they heard a cry from behind them. **

"**Why, Madam Lestrange!"**

"Oh dear, who's that?" Snape wondered.

**Harry whirled around and Griphook tightened his hold around Harry's neck: a tall, thin wizard with a crown of bushy, grey hair and a long, sharp nose was striding toward them. **

"Oh crap, that's Travers." Snape grimaced, "one of the more dangerous Death Eaters, despite being a complete dunderhead."

"Oh dear." Lily whimpered.

"**It's Travers," hissed the goblin into Harry's ear, but at that moment Harry could not think who Travers was. Hermione had drawn herself up to full height and said with as much contempt as she could muster, "and what do you want?"**

"Well, that was a good imitation, but he'll be suspicious." Bellatrix grimaced, "I'd generally be more courteous with other Death Eaters."

"Except those you really don't like." Lucius said.

"True." Bellatrix nodded, "like him. I can't stand that man. I really don't understand why he of all people got promoted."

"Voldemort's getting desperate?" Draco suggested.

"I think he might be." Snape frowned, "so many of the Inner Circle were killed or imprisoned during the first war that there aren't all that many Death Eaters with money or political influence left. In fact, as far as I'm aware, the only Inner Circle Death Eater left out of prison who did have political influence is Lucius, and we all know that he isn't as loyal as Voldemort likes to think."

"Macnair got out, and despite not being particularly wealthy, his family did have some influence, which might be why he was able to get a job fairly high up in the hierarchy of the DRCMC." Lucius pointed out, "and while Avery, Crabbe Sr and Goyle Sr don't have much in the way of political influence or money, all three are from fairly old pureblood families, which may well have made them reasonably important to Voldemort."

"That's true." Snape sighed, "I don't think we'll ever really know for sure, unless we can somehow get close enough to shove some Veritaserum down Voldemort's throat and ask him."

"Indeed." Lucius grinned, "that is not going to happen."

**Travers stopped in his tracks, clearly affronted. **

"**_He's another Death Eater!_" breathed Griphook, and Harry sidled sideways to repeat the information into Hermione's ear. **

"**I merely sought to greet you," said Travers coolly, "but if my presence is not welcome …"**

**Harry recognized his voice now: Travers was one of the Death Eaters who had been summoned to Xenophilius's house. **

"Then he's mine." Luna growled, uncharacteristically, furious that a man like that could go to her house and attack her father and then be allowed to walk free. She was temporarily ignoring the fact that her father had been the one who called them there.

"**No, no, not at all, Travers," said Hermione quickly, trying to cover up her mistake. "How are you?" **

"**Well, I confess I am surprised to see you out and about, Bellatrix."**

"Uh oh." Susan whispered, "that's not a good sign."

"**Really? Why?" asked Hermione.**

"**Well," Travers coughed, "I _heard_ that the inhabitants of Malfoy Manor were confined to the house, after the … ah … _escape_."**

"We were." Lucius grimaced, "Voldemort was furious. I don't think I'd ever seen him that angry before."

"You weren't there when he got back from the battle in June." Bellatrix said, "I did say that he tortured me until I was coughing up blood. I think the only reason he didn't kill me was that he thought I was more valuable alive. If anyone else had escaped, they would have been killed instantly, as an example of the price of failure."

"Evidently he doesn't realise that no plan survives much beyond first contact with the enemy." Terry commented.

"I don't think he does, or if he is aware, then he probably doesn't believe that his plans are like others'." Snape sighed, "Voldemort is arrogant and deluded, he believes that he is the best of the best, better than any mere mortal, and should be worshipped as such."

"That is one of the best ways to describe Tom." Albus smiled.

**Harry willed Hermione to keep her head. If this was true, and Bellatrix was not supposed to be out in public –**

"**The Dark Lord forgives those who have served him most faithfully in the past," said Hermione in a magnificent imitation of Bellatrix's most contemptuous manner. "Perhaps your credit is not as good with him as mine is, Travers."**

"That'll make him less suspicious." Narcissa said softly, not wanting to hurt her big sister's feelings.

"Yeah, the fact that I was completely under his control meant that I ended up being his most faithful." Bellatrix agreed with a grimaced.

**Though the Death Eater looked offended, he also seemed less suspicious. He glanced down at the man Ron had just Stunned. **

"**How did it offend you?"**

"**It does not matter, it will not do so again," said Hermione coolly.**

"Despite the slightly wobbly start, Hermione's doing a brilliant job." Minerva said, aiming a smile at her favourite student.

"By that point, I'd got used to being three inches taller than normal, as well as those three and a half inch heels." Hermione giggled, "and the fact that I didn't want Travers to be too suspicious meant that I had to ignore how nervous I was."

"I think the way he called the poor beggar 'it' helped." Ron grinned.

"Of course it would." Hermione snorted, "I didn't want to act like him, but the simple fact that he called the poor man 'it' in such a nasty tone, allowed me to be belligerent without insulting _him_ instead of the unfortunate muggle-born."

"**Some of these wandless can be troublesome," said Travers.**

"Well, you know the solution to that problem you imbecile." Lily snarled at the book, "give them their wands back, and let them live their lives in peace."

"Lily dear, please aim your glare elsewhere." Dorea said, "I may be a Black with a right nasty temper, but even I'm not enjoying being on the wrong end of your glares."

Lily stopped glaring and looked extremely sheepish, causing Dorea to nod and say, "thank you."

"**While they do nothing but beg I have no objection, but one of them actually asked me to plead her case in the Ministry last week. "_'I'm a witch, sir, I'm a witch, let me prove it to you!'_" he said in a squeaky impersonation. "As if I was going to give her my wand – but whose wand," said Travers curiously, "are you using at the moment, Bellatrix? I heard that your own was –"**

"Oh Merlin, one bad thing after another." Mrs Weasley groaned, trying not to panic, but she was terrified for her youngest son, as well as her honorary son and daughter.

"**I have my wand here," said Hermione coldly, holding up Bellatrix's wand. "I don't know what rumours you have been listening to, Travers, but you seem sadly misinformed."**

**Travers seemed a little taken aback at that, and he turned instead to Ron. **

"**Who is your friend? I do not recognize him."**

"My name's Ron Weasley, and I'm next in line to kick your arse after Luna's finished."

"Good one Ron." George laughed, along with almost everyone else.

"**This is Dragomir Despard," said Hermione; they had decided that a fictional foreigner was the safest cover for Ron to assume. "He speaks very little English, but he is in sympathy with the Dark Lord's aims. He has travelled here from Transylvania to see our new regime."**

"**Indeed? How do you do, Dragomir?"**

"**'Ow you?" said Ron, holding out his hand.**

**Travers extended two fingers and shook Ron's hand as though frightened of dirtying himself. **

"Bloody arsehole." Neville growled.

"Are the Death Eaters anti-foreigner as well as anti-everything else?" Hannah asked.

"Some probably are, but I do know that Voldemort was planning to take Europe once he'd got Britain under control." Snape replied, "his goal is to control the entire world, not just Britain and Europe, he wants America, China and Japan as well, so he can get a stranglehold on the world economy, crushing any chance of a foreign power being able to oppose him."

"But he won't get most countries in Europe as easily as he seems to have got Britain." Sprout said, "I don't know about the rest, but I do know that France, Germany and Spain are likely to cause him big problems, the purebloods in those countries are not as politically or financially powerful as they are here, nor do they really believe in pureblood superiority."

"There are only one or two pureblood families who believe in pureblood superiority left in mainland Europe." Lucius nodded, "the Cortez family in Spain, the Schacht family in Germany, and the de Groots in the Netherlands. From what I have heard, there were others, but with every generation, their beliefs have changed."

"So basically, Voldemort will have trouble getting control of the mainland." Minerva smiled.

"Indeed." Lucius said.

"**So what brings you and your – ah – sympathetic friend to Diagon Alley this early?" asked Travers.**

"**I need to visit Gringotts," said Hermione.**

"**Alas, I also," said Travers.**

"Did he really have to choose that day?" James asked in exasperation, "he's just going to make things more difficult for you."

"Even with him there, I think it all worked out rather well." Harry said.

"**Gold, filthy gold! We cannot live without it, yet I confess I deplore the necessity of consorting with our long-fingered friends."**

**Harry felt Griphook's clasped hands tighten momentarily around his neck. **

"Whoops, I forgot you were there as well." Remus grinned.

"So did I." Hermione giggled.

"It was a bit of a shock when Harry threw off the Cloak." Ron nodded with a laugh.

"I think what he did while we were talking to Travers and the goblin at the counter, was even more shocking for me." Hermione snorted.

"What did he do?" Lily asked.

"You'll see." Ron grinned.

"**Shall we?" said Travers, gesturing Hermione forward. **

**Hermione had no choice but to fall into step beside him and head along the crooked, cobbled street toward the place where the snowy-white Gringotts stood towering over the other little shops. Ron sloped along beside them, and Harry and Griphook followed. **

**A watchful Death Eater was the very last thing they needed, and the worst of it was, with Travers marching at what he believed to be Bellatrix's side, there was no means for Harry to communicate with Hermione or Ron. All too soon they arrived at the foot of the marble steps leading up to the great bronze doors. As Griphook had already warned them, the liveried goblins who usually flanked the entrance had been replaced by two wizards, both of whom were clutching long thin golden rods. **

"Oh damn, Probity Probes." Kingsley groaned, "horrible things, especially when wielded by people who have no compunctions about shoving them up people's arses."

"That's not good." Flitwick whispered.

"**Ah, Probity Probes," signed Travers theatrically, "so crude – but so effective!"**

"I have no idea how you're going to get away with not having them used on you." Cygnus murmured, wondering how the trio had succeeded with this mission with so much stacked against them.

**And he set off up the steps, nodding left and right to the wizards, who raised the golden rods and passed them up and down his body. The Probes, Harry knew, detected spells of concealment and hidden magical objects. Knowing that he had only seconds, Harry pointed Draco's wand at each of the guards in turn and murmured, "_Confundo_" twice. Unnoticed by Travers, who was looking through the bronze doors at the inner hall, each of the guards gave a little start as the spells hit them. **

"If only Travers hadn't decided to accompany you." Lucius said, "you could have bashed them on the head instead of merely confunding them."

**Hermione's long black hair rippled behind her as she climbed the steps. **

"And I bet Harry, like me, had a cushioning charm ready and waiting just in case she fell over." Ron grinned.

"I most certainly did." Harry sniggered, "Hermione may have mastered the art of walking while being six and a half inches taller than normal, but I wasn't sure how she'd manage to walk up a set of stairs like that."

"Oh dear." Lily mumbled, trying not to burst out laughing at the very funny image her imagination had conjured.

"**One moment, madam," said the guard, raising his Probe. **

"**But you've just done that!" said Hermione in Bellatrix's commanding, arrogant voice. Travers looked around, eyebrows raised. The guard was confused. He stared down at the thin golden Probe and then at his companion, who said in a slightly dazed voice, "Yeah, you've just checked them, Marius."**

"Well, that worked." Regulus smiled.

"I hope everything else works as well." Charlus grinned.

"I think you'll find that Harry's luck will not allow them to get out either unscathed or without being noticed." Snape said dryly.

"Well I hope they don't get too badly injured." James grimaced, "I know that some kind of injury may not be avoidable, but serious maiming is something I don't want to contemplate."

**Hermione swept forward. Ron by her side, Harry and Griphook trotting invisibly behind them. Harry glanced back as they crossed the threshold: the wizards were both scratching their heads. **

**Two goblins stood before the inner doors, which were made of silver and which carried the poem warning of dire retribution to potential thieves. Harry looked up at it, and all of a sudden a knife-sharp memory came to him: standing on this very spot on the day that he had turned eleven, the most wonderful birthday of his life, and Hagrid standing beside him saying, "_Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it."_**

"I certainly didn' think yer'd be doin' so when I said tha'." Hagrid laughed, surprising everyone. He'd been so silent since the mention of Norberta in chapter seven that no one had remembered that he was still in the hall with them.

"I don't think anyone could have predicted that I would be making the attempt." Harry grinned.

"Not even the dried up old bug who has a sherry habit and likes predicting the deaths of her students." Ron snorted.

**Gringotts had seemed a place of wonder that day, the enchanted repository of a trove of gold he had never known he possessed, and never for an instant could he have dreamed that he would return to steal … But within seconds they were standing in the vast marble hall of the bank. **

**The long counter was manned by goblins sitting on high stools serving the first customers of the day. Hermione, Ron, and Travers headed toward an old goblin who was examining a thick gold coin through an eyeglass. Hermione allowed Travers to step ahead of her on the pretext of explaining features of the hall to Ron.**

"Well at least you've temporarily got rid of him, but that won't last long." Tonks said, trying to look on the bright side.

**The goblin tossed the coin he was holding aside, said to nobody in particular, "Leprechaun," and then greeted Travers, who passed over a tiny golden key, which was examined and given back to him. **

"Uh oh, you haven't got a key, so how are you going to get in?" Little Mark Evans asked in his piping voice.

"The older vaults don't require keys." Lucius replied, "they require a goblin to open them."

"But how would he goblins know which vault the customer wants?" Dennis wondered.

"I'm not sure, but they probably know who's who, so they would automatically know which vault to go to, unless the customer asks for a certain vault by number." Lucius said.

"Oh." Dennis nodded in understanding, along with all the other muggle-borns in the hall.

**Hermione stepped forward.**

"**Madam Lestrange!" said the goblin, evidently startled. "Dear me! How – how may I help you today?"**

"Wow, even the goblins, a war-like race in their own right, are scared of her." Ernie said.

"That's probably why Voldemort has decided that he wants her in his bed." Snape snorted.

"I don't want to be anywhere near his bed." Bellatrix yelped, going slightly green, "besides, I would have thought that he would feel that he was above anything like sex."

"He may think he is above sex, but I would think that he would eventually realise that even his horcruxes won't keep him alive forever, and that he would need an heir if he wanted someone to continue with his 'mission' after he died." Caruso pointed out, "maybe he has realised that, and has chosen you as the one to carry his heir."

"Urgh." Bellatrix grimaced, managing to keep herself from retching, but she did look decidedly ill at the thought.

"**I wish to enter my vault," said Hermione. **

**The old goblin seemed to recoil a little. Harry glanced around. Not only was Travers hanging back, watching, but several other goblins had looked up from their work to stare at Hermione. **

"**You have … identification?" asked the goblin. **

"**Identification? I – I have never been asked for identification before!" said Hermione. **

"**_They know!_" whispered Griphook in Harry's ear, "_They must have been warned there might be an imposter!_"**

"Crap, we didn't think of that, but somehow I bet someone warned the goblins that her wand had been stolen, so they could make sure they did not let anyone in." Dean said.

"I was ordered to summon a goblin and tell him to refuse anyone entry into the vault, even me." Bellatrix sighed, "Voldemort held me at wand-point while I did so. It was part of my punishment for failing him."

"Merlin, now what are the trio going to do?" Lavender asked.

"I don't know about Ron and Hermione, but Harry will probably pull a miracle out of his arse." Seamus grinned.

"**Your wand will do, madam," said the goblin. He held out a slightly trembling hand, and in a dreadful blast of realization Harry knew that the goblins of Gringotts were aware that Bellatrix's wand had been stolen. **

"**_Act now, act now,_" whispered Griphook in Harry's ear, "_the Imperius Curse!_" **

"You'd better not." Lily said sternly.

"Sometimes people have to do things they find distasteful." Snape sighed, "besides, the Imperius isn't actually evil in its own right, what makes it evil is what it's used for. Someone could use it to get a murderer to turn himself in, or to get someone out of a burning building, neither of those uses is evil, so in those situations if nothing else works, then people shouldn't restrict themselves."

"But it's Dark magic." Justin said.

"Dark does not mean evil." Harry pointed out, "as professor Snape just mentioned, a spell that is considered to be Dark, can be used for good, while so-called Light spells can be used for evil. Dark and Light, they're just labels, what people should be more interested in is whether the use a spell is put to is good or evil."

"I get that the Imperius can be used for good purposes, but what about the Killing curse and Cruciatus?" Ernie asked.

"The Killing Curse can be used to give someone who is dying, a quick, painless and dignified death." Lucius replied, "and the Cruciatus, in very short bursts, can be the magical equivalent of defibrillation, which is a muggle healing procedure."

"Indeed." Pomfrey nodded, "and I have heard of healers in America using the Cruciatus for just that purpose."

"Oh." Ernie muttered.

**Harry raised the hawthorn wand beneath the cloak, pointed it at the old goblin, and whispered, for the first time in his life, "_Imperio!"_**

"Even if there are good uses for the Imperius, shouldn't he be arrested, since it is illegal?" Susan asked nervously.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have gone temporarily deaf." Kingsley grinned.

"Miss Bones, there are three reason why we cannot arrest him." Scrimgeour said, "the first reason is that this book is about the future, and these events haven't happened yet, the second is that the Imperius is only illegal when cast on a human, and unfortunately, goblins are not considered to be human, and the third is that in the book, Voldemort is in power, therefore the Imperius wouldn't be illegal, so in that climate, it would be a waste of time arresting him."

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that." Susan mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

**A curious sensation shot down Harry's arm, a feeling of tingling, warmth that seemed to flow from his mind, down the sinews and veins connecting him to the wand and the curse it had just cast. The goblin took Bellatrix's wand, examined it closely, and then said, "Ah, you have had a new wand made, Madam Lestrange!"**

"**What?" said Hermione, "No, no, that's mine –"**

"**A new wand," said Travers, approaching the counter again; still the goblins all around were watching. "But how could you have done, which wandmaker did you use?"**

"You're gonna have to hit him with it as well." James grimaced.

"Just don't let yourself get too used to casting it." Charlus said, "if that happens you'll probably forget that there are other ways of getting people to do what you want."

**Harry acted without thinking. Pointing his wand at Travers, he muttered, "_Imperio!_" once more. **

"**Oh yes, I see," said Travers, looking down at Bellatrix's wand, "yes, very handsome, and is it working well? I always think wands require a little breaking in, don't you?" **

"Oh that's nice, not even the Imperius can keep him quiet." Snape sighed.

"I don't think that man knows how to stop talking." Lucius said, "silencing charms seem to be the only thing that get him to shut up."

**Hermione looked utterly bewildered, but to Harry's enormous relief she accepted the bizarre turn of events without comment.**

"Of course I looked utterly bewildered." Hermione giggled, "I had no idea what the hell was going on."

"I'm not surprised." Bellatrix smiled, "I don't think I would have known either."

**The old goblin behind the counter clapped his hands and a younger goblin approached. **

"**I shall need the Clankers,"**

"WHAT?" Charlie roared with wide eyes.

"What's wrong Charlie?" Tonks asked.

"The only time Clankers would be used is for training dragons." Charlie growled, "but there shouldn't be any dragons in Gringotts, they can't live in tight enclosed spaces. That's why they don't nest in caves."

"So why would the goblins need Clankers?" Tonks wondered.

"I don't know." Charlie said, "I really don't know. Clankers aren't used for anything other than dragons, so I can't think why they would, unless they have no sense of right and wrong, and have got a dragon in the bank."

"Well, we'll just have to let Auntie Dorea read then." Tonks grinned, turning back to Harry's grandmother, who was waiting patiently for Charlie to calm down.

**he told the goblin, who dashed away and returned a moment later with a leather bag that seemed to be full of jangling metal, which he handed to his senior. "Good, good! S, if you will follow me, Madam Lestrange," said the old goblin, hopping down off his stool and vanishing from sight. "I shall take you to your vault."**

**He appeared around the end of the counter, jogging happily toward them, **

"Wow, you really do have a strong will." Tonks grinned, "I read somewhere that the ability to cast the Imperius is related to the ability to resist it, so someone who can resist, is able to cast it more easily."

"And of course, Harry resisted Voldemort's Imperius." Lucius nodded.

"We also practised a lot, to make sure that none of us would ever be caught unable to resist, and Harry was the only one who was able to resist without hesitating." Draco added.

"Who did you practise with?" James asked.

"During the training, all three of the teachers, but after the war, Nicholas decided that we needed even more practise." Harry replied, "he's far stronger than Voldemort, and it took me a while to be able to resist his Imperius, at full strength."

"Wow." Charlus whispered, "now, I heard that it was easier to learn to resist, when you were ordered to do rather embarrassing things, is that actually true, or was the person who told me that merely talking out their arse?"

"It's true." Hermione giggled, "it's a lot easier to resist when you're told do something like fart the national anthem, than when you're told to do something like eat a bar of chocolate."

"Fart the national anthem?" Lily squeaked, "I hope that's just an example that you chose, rather than something you were told to do."

"It was one of the things that Nicholas had Harry doing." Ron grinned.

"He also had me burping the alphabet backwards." Harry snorted, "the man has an extremely childish sense of humour."

"Oh dear." James sniggered.

**the contents of the leather bag still jingling. Travers was now standing quite still with his mouth hanging wide open. Ron was drawing attention to this odd phenomenon by regarding Travers with confusion. **

"**Wait – Bogrod!"**

**Another goblin came scurrying around the counter. **

"**We have instructions," he said with a bow to Hermione. "Forgive me, Madam, but there have been special orders regarding the vault of Lestrange."**

**He whispered urgently in Bogrod's ear, but the Imperiused goblin shook him off. **

"**I am aware of the instructions, Madam Lestrange wishes to visit her vault … very old family … old clients … this way, please …"**

"That doesn't sound good." Sprout fretted, "they're going to be suspicious."

"There's no way to back out now, the plan will have to continue." Flitwick sighed, "we'll just have to hope that they don't get too badly hurt."

**And, still clanking, he hurried toward one of the many doors leading off the hall. Harry looked back at Travers, who was still rooted to the spot looking abnormally vacant, and made his decision. With a flick of his wand he made Travers come with them, walking meekly in their wake as they reached the door and passed into the rough stone passageway beyond, which was lit with flaming torches. **

"**We're in trouble; they suspect," said Harry as the door slammed behind them and he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. Griphook jumped down from his shoulders: neither Travers nor Bogrod showed the slightest surprise at the sudden appearance of Harry Potter in their midst.**

"Of course they wouldn't." Regulus snorted.

"I'm still amazed that Travers is silent." Snape murmured, "damn fool loud-mouth that he is."

"**They're Imperiused," he added, in response to Hermione and Ron's confused queries about Travers and Bogrod, who were both now standing there looking blank. "I don't think I did it strongly enough, I don't know …"**

"You did it extremely well, actually." Moody said, startling several people, who had not expected him to do anything other than bellow. "The blankness in their expressions is a sign that neither has any control over themselves."

**And another memory darted through his mind, of the real Bellatrix Lestrange shrieking at him when he had first tried to use an Unforgivable Curse: "_You need to _mean _them, Potter!_"**

"When the hell was that?" Bellatrix asked, "I can't remember."

"At the Ministry last year." Harry replied, "after Sirius had managed to get himself tossed him through the gate to Volia."

"Oh." Bellatrix grimaced, "I still wish we hadn't been in that position. I really wish he hadn't manoeuvred us in that direction, so my Stunner would have knocked him unconscious, instead of through the gate."

"What's done is done, and I'm sure he will forgive you when we tell him the truth." Harry smiled.

"I hope so." Bellatrix murmured, "he is family, and I don't want him to hate me for being unable to resist Mother's orders."

"**What do we do?" asked Ron. "Shall we get out now, while we can?"**

"**If we can," said Hermione, looking back toward the door into the main hall, beyond which who knew what was happening. **

"**We've got this far, I say we go on," said Harry. **

"**Good!" said Griphook. "So, we need Bogrod to control the cart; I no longer have the authority. But there will not be room for the wizard."**

**Harry pointed his wand at Travers. **

"**_Imperio_!"**

**The wizard turned and set off along the dark track at a smart pace. **

"What on earth are you making him do?" Dean asked.

"Find himself a place to hide." Harry grinned, "it was the simplest thing I could do. I didn't want him found, nor did I want him getting out and being able to return to Voldemort."

"**What are you making him do?"**

"**Hide," said Harry**

"That really is the simplest thing to do." Flitwick nodded.

"Indeed." Caruso said, "and not embarrassing in the slightest."

"Or torturous for those who watch." Orion sniggered, "remember when Harry was teaching the kids to resist the Imperius?"

"I don't think I could ever forget the day my namesake butchered my favourite song." Abraxas laughed.

"Which namesake?" Cygnus grinned, "there are two?"

"AJ." Abraxas replied.

"And again I ask, which AJ?" Orion sniggered.

"The older one." Abraxas smirked.

"Ah, the one who likes to be called Rax, not the one whose favourite hair style makes him look like a hedgehog." Caruso realised.

"Yes, that one." Abraxas nodded.

"Rax was unlucky enough to not inherit his father's singing voice." Lucius said.

"Unlike all his brothers." Harry added.

"Oh dear, poor bloke." Lily giggled, "though I am curious, why are there two people with the same initials?"

"Because Harry and I named our oldest son Abraxas James, after both of his grandfathers, and my brother was lazy and decided to name his second son Abraxas John." Lucius smiled.

"It's better than what he named Dee's twin." Draco sniggered.

"I was the one who chose Scorpius' name." Bellatrix whined, "I felt that I had to follow Black family tradition and name at least one son after a constellation."

"Oh dear." Dorea muttered, "I'm going to continue reading now."

"Good idea." Charlus nodded.

**as he pointed his wand at Bogrod, who whistled to summon a little cart that came trundling along the tracks toward them out of the darkness. Harry was sure he could hear shouting behind them in the main hall as they all clambered into it, Bogrod in front with Griphook, Harry, Ron, and Hermione crammed together in the back. **

**With a jerk the cart moved off, gathering speed: they hurried past Travers, who was wriggling into a crack in the wall, then the cart began twisting and turning through the labyrinthine passages, sloping downward all the time. Harry could not hear anything over the rattling of the cart on the tracks: his hair flew behind him as they swerved between stalactites, flying ever deeper into the earth, but he kept glancing back. They might as well have left enormous footprints behind them; the more he thought about it, the more foolish it seemed to have disguised Hermione as Bellatrix, to have brought along Bellatrix's wand, when the Death Eaters knew who had stolen it – **

**There were a deeper than Harry had ever penetrated within Gringotts; they took a hairpin bend at speed and saw ahead of them, with seconds to spare, a waterfall pounding over the track. **

"The Thief's Downfall." Regulus whispered in horror, "it removes any disguise, and the only group that uses it are the goblins, when they know there's trouble."

"Did you have to tell us that?" Lily asked, panicking once more.

"Sorry." Regulus mumbled sheepishly.

**Harry heard Griphook shout, "No!" but there was no braking. **

**They zoomed through it. Water filled Harry's eyes and mouth: he could not see or breathe: then, with an awful lurch, the cart flipped over and they were all thrown out of it. **

**Harry heard the cart smash into pieces against the passage wall, heard Hermione shriek something, and felt himself glide back toward the ground as though weightless, landing painlessly on the rocky passage floor. **

"**C – Cushioning Charm," Hermione spluttered, **

"Good thinking Hermione." James smiled.

"Yeah, I'm glad we didn't go splat." Ron grinned.

**as Ron pulled her to her feet, but to Harry's horror he saw that she was no longer Bellatrix; instead she stood there in over-large robes, sopping wet and completely herself; Ron was red-haired and beardless again. **

"And now much better looking." Daphne smiled, "I didn't like the idea of him having his freckles and red hair hidden."

**They were realizing it as they looked at each other, feeling their own faces. **

"**The Thief's Downfall!" said Griphook, clambering to his feet and looking back the deluge onto the tracks, which, Harry knew now, had been more than water. "It washes away all enchantment, all magical concealment! They know there are imposers in Gringotts, they have set off defences against us!"**

"That's not good, but there's nothing you can do about it now." Cygnus said, "you have to keep going, despite that setback."

**Harry saw Hermione checking that she still had the beaded bag, and hurriedly thrust his own hand under his jacket to make sure he had not lost the Invisibility Cloak. **

**Then he turned to see Bogrod shaking his head in bewilderment: the Thief's Downfall seemed to have lifted his Imperius Curse. **

"**We need him," said Griphook, "we cannot enter the vault without a Gringott's goblin. And we need the clankers!"**

"What exactly _are_ clankers?" Lily asked.

"Bits of metal that when banged together make a really loud noise." Charlie replied, still angry at the fact that there was probably a dragon trapped in the caverns of Gringotts. "You'll probably hear about what they do, since they're being mentioned so much."

"**_Imperio!_" Harry said again; his voice echoed through the stone passage as he felt again the sense of heady control that flowed from brain to wand. Bogrod submitted once more to his will, his befuddled expression changing to one of polite indifference, as Ron hurried to pick up the leather bag of metal tools. **

"**Harry, I think I can hear people coming!" said Hermione, and she pointed Bellatrix's wand at the waterfall and cried, "_Protego!"_ They saw the Shield Charm break the flow of enchanted water as it flew up the passageway. **

"Evidently, even though you didn't win the wand, it still works for you." Flitwick said, "I don't know why though."

"Ron won it, and given how close those three are, wouldn't the wand realise that Ron trusted Hermione enough for it to work even though he has its allegiance?" Neville asked.

"That is a very good point, I really don't know." Flitwick sighed, "I'm not an expert in wand-lore."

"**Good thinking," said Harry. "Lead the way, Griphook!"**

"**How are we going to get out again?" Ron asked as they hurried on foot into the darkness after the goblin, Bogrod panting in their wake like an old dog.**

"I'm glad Sirius isn't here to hear that." James said with a grin.

"Yeah, he'd be offended on behalf of the canine population." Remus nodded.

"Aren't you offended, since you do turn into a canine creature once a month?" Tonks asked facetiously.

"A bit, but because I know that dogs do pant, quite often, the offence is lessened." Remus shrugged.

"**Let's worry about that when we have to," said Harry. He was trying to listen: he thought he could hear something clanking and moving around nearby. "Griphook, how much farther?"**

"**Not far, Harry Potter, not far …"**

**And they turned a corner and saw the thing for which Harry had been prepared, but which still brought all of them to a halt. **

**A gigantic dragon **

"WILLIAM WEASLEY!" Charlie bellowed angrily, "if you don't somehow set that dragon free, you will be in big trouble."

"It's not my fault the goblins like using dragons, I just work as a curse-breaker." Bill said, "I can't do anything to set that dragon free, no matter how much I want to."

"I DON'T CARE!" Charlie roared, jumping over the table and punching his older brother, before tackling the bigger red-head to the floor and wrestling him into submission.

Ron and Harry shared a look, seemingly holding an entire conversation with their eyes, before they too leaped up to haul Charlie off Bill, who was bleeding due to a split lip and broken nose.

"Calm down Charlie." Ron growled, holding his brother in a choke-hold, while Harry helped Bill mop up his face.

"That dragon should be set free." Charlie snarled, trying to get away from his younger, but taller and slightly stronger brother.

"We know, but right now there is nothing anyone can do, and I doubt the goblins will be pleased." Harry said calmly, "we are hoping that we can convince them to release all the dragons in the bank, but we do not need you causing a diplomatic incident. It will take diplomacy, not violence to get them to see it our way."

"All right fine, just as long as you get it done, fast." Charlie subsided, "I don't care what it takes, just do it."

**was tethered to the ground in front of them, barring access to four or five of the deepest vaults in the place. The beast's scales had turned pale and flaky during its long incarceration under the ground, **

"My God, what have they done to the poor thing." Charlie groaned sadly, resting his head on Narcissa's shoulder, unable to believe that anything as magnificent as a dragon could be in such poor condition.

**its eyes were milkily pink; both rear legs bore heavy cuffs from which chains led to enormous pegs driven deep into the rocky floor. Its great spiked wings, folded close to its body, would have filled the chamber if it spread them, and when it turned its ugly head toward them, it roared with a noise that made the rock tremble, opened its mouth, and spat a jet of fire that sent them running back up the passageway. **

"**It is partially blind," panted Griphook,**

"No bloody wonder." Charlie growled, "it's been trapped underground for most of its life."

"**but even more savage for that. However, we have the means to control it. It has learned what to expect when the Clankers come. Give them to me."**

**Ron passed the bag to Griphook, and the goblin pulled out a number of small metal instruments that when shaken made a long ringing noise like miniature hammers on anvils. Griphook handed them out: Bogrod accepted his meekly. **

"**You know what to do," Griphook told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "It will expect pain when it hears the noise. It will retreat, and Bogrod must place his palm upon the door of the vault."**

"The poor thing has been tortured." Hannah sobbed. Like Charlie, she believed that every creature, whether dragon or Flobberworm, deserved to live in its natural habitat, not trapped in a small cavern underground.

**They advanced around the corner again, shaking the Clankers, and the noise echoed off the rocky walls, grossly magnified, so that the inside of Harry's skull seemed to vibrate with the din. The dragon let out another hoarse roar, then retreated. Harry could see it trembling, and as they drew nearer he saw the scars made by vicious slashes across its face, and guess that it had been taught to fear hot swords when it heard the sound of the Clankers. **

"That is truly horrible." Lavender whispered, "I know that dragons are horribly vicious creature, but torturing anything like that is wrong."

Everyone looked at Charlie, wondering whether he was going to explode, but he didn't. Not long after his violent outburst, Snape had summoned a house-elf and requested a box of calming potions, one of which he practically forced down the stocky red-head's throat, then cast a silencing charm, making sure that even if the potion was not strong enough, there was no way Charlie would be able to start yelling and shouting again.

"**Make him press his hand to the door!" Griphook urged Harry, who turned his wand again upon Bogrod. The old goblin obeyed, pressing his palm to the wood, and the door of the vault melted away to reveal a cave-like opening crammed from floor to ceiling with golden coins and goblets, silver armour, the skins of strange creatures – some with long spines, other with drooping wings – potions in jewelled flasks, and a skull still wearing a crown. **

"**Search, fast!" said Harry as they all hurried inside the vault. He had described Hufflepuff's cup to Ron and Hermione, but if it was the other, unknown Horcrux that resided in this vault, he did not know what it looked like. **

"It's Hufflepuff's cup." Bellatrix whispered into the silence, "so it's small and has her symbol on it."

**He barely had time to glance around, however, before there was a muffled clunk from behind them: the door had reappeared, sealing them inside the vault, and they were plunged into total darkness.**

"That's not good." Minerva said.

"It doesn't matter." Bill said, glancing at his brother nervously, "Bogrod is there, and he can reopen the door when they've finished."

"I didn't mean that, I meant the fact that they're in the dark, and the Lumos charm isn't exactly good at lighting up large and cluttered spaces." Minerva sighed.

"**No matter, Bogrod will be able to release us!" said Griphook as Ron gave a shout of surprise. "Light your wands, can't you? And hurry, we have little time!"**

"**_Lumos!_"**

**Harry shone his lit wand around the vault: Its beam fell upon glittering jewels; he saw the fake sword of Gryffindor lying on a high shelf amongst a jumble of chains. Ron and Hermione had lit their wands too, and were now examining the piles of objects surrounding them. **

"**Harry, could this be –? Aargh!"**

"What now?" Lily moaned quietly.

"If you let me read, you'll find out." Dorea said, with a bite of impatience in her voice.

**Hermione screamed in pain, and Harry turned his wand on her in time to see a jewelled goblet tumbling from her grip. But as it fell, it split, became a shower of goblets, so that a second later, with a great clatter, the floor was covered in identical cups rolling in every direction, the original impossible to discern amongst them. **

"That's not good." Bellatrix grimaced, "it looks like they did add Gemino and Flagrante Curses on everything, to make sure that people who weren't Blacks or goblins couldn't take anything."

"Would that affect someone like Draco or his children, who are related to the Black family, but don't have the Black name?" Ernie asked.

"It wouldn't now, but evidently, the curses were modified, either to ensure that no one could touch anything without first taking the curses off, or to ensure that I and I alone could remove something from the vault." Bellatrix replied, "I wish I could remember which."

"**It burned me!" moaned Hermione, sucking her blistered fingers. **

"**They have added Gemino and Flagrante Curses!" said Griphook. "Everything you touch will burn and multiply, but the copies are worthless – and if you continue to handle the treasure, you will eventually be crushed to death by the weight of expanding gold!"**

"Did he have to say that?" Mrs Weasley groaned, "now I've have something else to worry about."

"Don't worry, we may have got a bit burned, but we survived and were successful." Ron grinned, wanting to keep his mother calm.

"**OK, don't touch anything!" said Harry desperately, but even as he said it, Ron accidentally nudged one of the fallen goblets with his foot, and twenty more exploded into being while Ron hopped on the spot, part of his shoe burned away by contact with the hot metal.**

"**Stand still, don't move!" said Hermione, clutching at Ron. **

"**Just look around!" said Harry. "Remember, the cup's small and gold, it's got a badger engraved on it, two handles – otherwise see if you can spot Ravenclaw's symbol anywhere, the eagle –"**

"Lady Ravenclaw felt that putting the eagle symbol on her possessions was in bad taste." The Grey Lady sighed, "the only things she put it on were her clothes, because it was her family crest, and she was the head of the family."

"That's going to make it more difficult for them to find out what of hers Voldemort turned into a Horcrux." Remus grimaced.

"There is only one item she owned that she did not have placed in her vault." The Grey Lady whispered.

"Where did she put it, and why wasn't it in her vault?" Padma asked.

"You'll see, Padma." Harry replied, watching the ghost hunch in on herself. "Just wait."

"All right." The Indian girl nodded.

**They directed their wands into every nook and crevice, turning cautiously on the spot. It was impossible not to brush up against anything; Harry sent a great cascade of fake Galleons onto the ground where they joined the goblets, and now there was scarcely room to place their feet, and the glowing gold blazed with heat, so that the vault felt like a furnace. Harry's wandlight passed over shields and goblin-made helmets set on shelves rising to the ceiling; higher and higher he raised the beam, until suddenly it found an object that made his heart skip and his hand tremble. **

"**_It's there, it's up there!_"**

"Now all you have to do is find a way to get it down from however high it is." Regulus said, "I doubt that will be easy."

"It wasn't, but we found a way." Harry smiled.

**Ron and Hermione pointed there wands at it too, so that the little golden cup sparkled in a three-way spotlight: the cup that had belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, which had passed into the possession of Hepzibah Smith, from whom it had been stolen by Tom Riddle. **

"How did she get it?" Smith asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"She inherited it." Albus replied softly, "she was the last living descendant of Helga Hufflepuff herself."

"Oh." Smith muttered, "so because she married my grandfather's brother and they didn't have any children, the line died out."

"Precisely." Albus nodded.

"How did she actually die?" Smith asked, "my grandfather told me that her house-elf had accidentally poisoned her, but Hokey wouldn't have been able to, and there were no poisons in the house."

"Tom poisoned her, and implanted the memories in Hokey's mind." Albus whispered, "he made it look like Hokey had been the one, when in fact, she had nothing to do with it."

"It wasn't the first time Voldemort had done something like that." Harry said, "he framed his uncle Morfin for the murders of Tom Riddle senior, William Riddle and Mary Riddle nee Cooper, his father and grandparents."

"Merlin." Narcissa murmured, "how old was he?"

"Fifteen, nearly sixteen." Harry replied, "it was the summer before his fifth year."

"My word, that's horrible." Andromeda grimaced.

"**And how the hell are we going to get up there without touching anything?" asked Ron. **

"**_Accio Cup!_" cried Hermione, who had evidently forgotten in her desperation what Griphook had told them during their planning sessions. **

"**No use, no use!" snarled the goblin. **

"**Then what do we do?" said Harry, glaring at the goblin. "If you want the sword, Griphook, then you'll have to help us more than – wait! Can I touch stuff with the sword? Hermione, give it here!"**

**Hermione fumbled insider her robes, drew out a beaded bag, rummaged for a few seconds, then removed the shining sword. Harry seized it by its rubied hilt and touched the tip of the blade to a silver flagon nearby, which did not multiply. **

"Why not?" Dean asked.

"The sword was goblin-made, and imbibes that which makes it stronger." Andromeda said, "and since Harry used it to kill a basilisk, it is likely to have imbibed basilisk venom."

"It did." Harry nodded, "that's why it was so good at destroying the Horcruxes."

"I would have expected you to need to dip it in the venom, rather than just sticking it into the body of the basilisk." Flitwick muttered.

"I don't know what dipping the sword into the venom would have done, but shoving it through the basilisk's brain worked perfectly." Harry grinned.

"Right." Flitwick nodded in understanding.

"**If I can just poke the sword through a handle – but how am I going to get up there?"**

**The shelf on which the cup reposed was out of reach for any of them, even Ron, who was tallest. The heat from the enchanted treasure rose in waves, and sweat ran down Harry's face and back as he struggled to think of a way up to the cup; and then he heard the dragon roar on the other side of the vault door, and the sound of clanking growing louder and louder. **

"Crap, you need to hurry now, you're out of time." Regulus grimaced.

"And we get to see just how crazy Harry's ideas can be." Ron grinned.

"I was not the one who suggested that we throw an active Stargate into a star." Harry sniggered.

"Of course not, that was Sam's idea, and she's just as crazy." Ron laughed.

"It worked didn't it?" Harry snorted, "it vaporised that Goa'uld fleet."

"Yeah, and sent both us and Aphophis' mothership careening into the Ida galaxy while frying the navigation system and the Hyperdrive." Ron grinned, "fortunately we were able to use the sublight engines to get to Orilla to hitch a lift on one of those nice new ships built by the Asgard."

"I do hope that when you explain what you know of the political structure of the known universe, you will also explain what you are talking about?" Minerva said, slightly irritably.

"Yes, we will." Lucius smiled.

**They were truly trapped now: there was no way out except through the door, and a horde of goblins seemed to be approaching on the other side. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and saw terror in their faces. **

"**Hermione," said Harry, as the clanking grew louder, "I've got to get up there, we've got to get rid of it –"**

**She raised her wand, pointed it at Harry, and whispered, "_Levicorpus_."**

"What spell is that?" Padma asked.

"I don't know, I've never heard of it." Lisa replied.

"That's because I designed it." Snape sighed, "it was one of the first spells I created, and only did it as a bit of a joke."

"Well we found a use for it." Hermione giggled.

"I can see that." Snape smiled.

**Hoisted into the air by his ankle, Harry hit a suit of armour and replicas burst out of it like white-hot bodies, filling the cramped space. **

**With screams of pain, Ron, Hermione, and the two goblins were knocked aside into other objects, which also began to replicate. Half buried in a rising tide of red-hot treasure, they struggled and yelled has Harry thrust the sword through the handle of Hufflepuff's cup, hooking it onto the blade. **

"**_Impervius!_" screeched Hermione in an attempt to protect herself, Ron, and the goblins from the burning metal.**

"That did help, but not much." Ron grimaced.

"It was the only spell that had a chance of working." Hermione sighed, "I know that it's not usually used to protect someone from being burned, but I couldn't think of any others that could be cast as quickly."

**Then the worst scream yet made Harry look down: Ron and Hermione were waist deep in treasure, struggling to keep Bogrod from slipping beneath the rising tide, but Griphook had sunk out of sight; and nothing but the tips of a few long fingers were left in view. **

**Harry seized Griphook's fingers and pulled. The blistered goblin emerged by degrees, howling.**

"**_Liberacorpus!_" yelled Harry, and with a crash he and Griphook landed on the surface of the swelling treasure, and the sword flew out of Harry's hand. **

"Don't lose it." Neville yelled, "you've gone to all that trouble, and it will all be wasted if you lose both the sword and the cup."

"**Get it!" Harry yelled, fighting the pain of the hot metal on his skin, as Griphook clambered onto his shoulders again, determined to avoid the swelling mass of red-hot objects. "Where's the sword? It had the cup on it!"**

**The clanking on the other side of the door was growing deafening – it was too late – **

"**There!"**

"Oh good, you had us worried there." Fred and George said in unison.

**It was Griphook who had seen it and Griphook who lunged, and in that instant Harry knew that the goblin had never expected them to keep their word. **

**One hand holding tightly to a fistful of Harry's hair, to make sure he did not fall into the heaving sea of burning gold, Griphook seized the hilt of the sword and swung it high out of Harry's reach. The tiny golden cup, skewered by the handle on the sword's blade was flung into the air. **

"Don't let the cup get lost, you can get the sword back later, but you have to keep the cup." Mr Weasley said.

"Yeah, I think the sword might just have to be considered collateral damage if it gets lost, but everything will be lost if you lose the cup." Bill nodded.

**The goblin astride him, Harry dived and caught it, and although he could feel it scalding his flesh he did not relinquish it, even while countless Hufflepuff cups burst from his fist, raining down upon him as the entrance of the vault opened up again and he found himself sliding uncontrollably on an expanding avalanche of fiery gold and silver that bore him, Ron, Hermione into the outer chamber. **

"Nice exit." Seamus laughed.

**Hardly aware of the pain from the burns covering his body, and still borne along the swell of replicating treasure, Harry shoved the cup into his pocket and reached up to retrieve the sword, but Griphook was gone. Sliding from Harry's shoulders the moment he could, he had sprinted for cover amongst the surrounding goblins, brandishing the sword and crying, "Thieves! Thieves! Help! Thieves!"**

"That cowardly little bastard." James snarled angrily.

"I bet Griphook wasn't popular after that, especially if you explained the importance of what you were doing." Bill said.

"He wasn't popular, at all." Harry sighed, "and apart from giving the goblins ten thousand galleons for every goblin that died during our escape, and five thousand for something that will be mentioned later, we weren't in too much trouble."

"I'm not surprised, I know how much the goblins hate people who attempt to cheat death by creating Horcruxes." Bill nodded, "and the fact that there was one in the bank, they would have practically begged you to take it off them, and then taken a fine from the owners of the vault the Horcrux was in."

"Ragnok didn't beg, but he did insinuate that he wanted it out of the bank as quickly as possible." Harry smiled, "and of course, after the events in the book, I did tell him exactly why we'd broken in, and that was what made him decide against banning us from ever doing business with Gringotts."

"Yeah, that does sound like typical goblin behaviour." Bill said.

"Shall we just continue reading and let you two get on with your conversation?" Dorea asked with a bit of a giggle.

"No, we've finished talking now." Harry grinned.

"Good." Dorea nodded.

**He vanished into the midst of the advancing crowd, all of whom were holding daggers and who accepted him without question. **

**Slipping on the hot metal, Harry struggled to his feet and knew that the only way out was through. **

"You'll find another way out, it may be a bit obscure, but you'll find it." Neville grinned.

"**_Stupefy_!" he bellowed, and Ron and Hermione joined in: Jets of red light flew into the crowd of goblins, and some toppled over, but others advanced, and Harry saw several wizard guards running around the corner.**

"Don't worry about the wizards, worry about the goblins." Flitwick said, "they're the ones who will be punishing you if they catch you, and I doubt they would let you live to explain."

**The tethered dragon let out a roar, and a gush of flame flew over the goblins; the wizards fled, doubled-up, back the way they had come, and inspiration, or madness, came to Harry.**

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound good." Seamus said with a slight grimace.

"Well the book did describe it as inspiration or madness." Dean snorted, "anything that is described like that is bound to be either bloody brilliant, or bloody insane, or both., especially when it's a Harry-idea."

**Pointing his wand at the thick cuffs chaining the beast to the floor, he yelled, "_Relashio!_" **

**The cuffs broken open with loud bangs. **

"**This way!" Harry yelled, and still shooting Stunning Spells at the advancing goblins, he sprinted toward the blind dragon. **

"You are crazy." Lily said, shaking her head.

"You are my new hero." Charlie grinned, "if you pull it off, you will have my undying devotion."

"You just made me fall even more in love with you." Lucius whispered, completely forgetting that they were in public and drawing Harry into a kiss much like the one they had shared before the reading began.

"Oh please, was making me want to gouge my eyes out three days ago not enough for you two?" Draco whined childishly.

"You didn't have to watch." Lucius smirked as he came up for air.

"**Harry – Harry – what are you doing?" cried Hermione. **

"I was there and I still can't believe we did that." Hermione mumbled to Draco.

"**Get up, climb up, come on –"**

**The dragon had not realized that it was free: Harry's foot found the crook of its hind leg and he pulled himself up onto its back. The scales were hard as steel; it did not even seem to feel him. He stretched out an arm; Hermione hoisted herself up; Ron climbed on behind them, and a second later the dragon became aware that it was untethered. **

**With a roar it reared: Harry dug in his knees, clutching as tightly as he could to the jagged scales as the wings opened, knocking the shrieking goblins aside like skittles, and it soared into the air. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, flat on its back, scraped against the ceiling as it dived toward the passage opening, while the pursuing goblins hurled daggers that glanced off its flanks. **

"**We'll never get out, it's too big!" Hermione screamed, **

"Never underestimate the survival instincts of a dragon." Charlie grinned, "he wants out, so he will find a way out."

"Actually it was a female." Harry grinned, "I found her later and directed her towards the Welsh reserve."

"That's the best place for her to recover." Charlie nodded.

**but the dragon opened its mouth and belched flame again, blasting the tunnel, whose floors and ceiling cracked and crumbled. By sheer force, the dragon clawed and fought its way through. Harry's eyes were shut tight against the heat and dust: deafened by the crash of rock and the dragon's roars, he could only cling to its back, expecting to be shaken off at any moment; then he heard Hermione yelling, "_Defodio!"_**

"Brilliant, that'll get you out more quickly." Minerva said with a smile aimed at Hermione.

**She was helping the dragon enlarge the passageway, carving out the ceiling as it struggled upward toward the fresher air, away from the shrieking and clanking goblins: Harry and Ron copied her, blasting the ceiling apart with more gouging spells. They passed the underground lake, and the great crawling, snarling beast seemed to sense freedom and space ahead of it, and behind them the passage was full of the dragon's thrashing, spiked tail, of great lumps of rock, gigantic fractured stalactites, and the clanking of the goblins**

"Those poor goblins." Luna whispered dreamily, causing everyone to stare at her as if she was mad, which she may well have been.

"Forgive me for not caring about them, they tried to kill my son." Lily said, slightly angrily.

"Besides, it's their own fault for keeping a dragon trapped underground in an environment that is completely unsuitable for such a magnificent creature." Charlie added.

**seemed to be growing more muffled, while ahead, the dragon's fire kept their progress clear – **

**And then at last, by the combined force of their spells and the dragon's brute strength, they had blasted their way out of the passage into the marble hallway. Goblins and wizards shrieked and ran for cover, and finally the dragon had room to stretch its wings: Turning its horned head toward the cool outside air it could smell beyond the entrance, it took off, and with Harry, Ron, and Hermione still clinging to its back, it forced its way through the metal doors, leaving them buckled and hanging from their hinges, as it staggered into Diagon Alley and launched itself into the sky.**

"CLASSIC! My son is AWESOME." James yelled happily.

"I bow to your greatness Harry." Charlie cheered.

"That was pretty amazing, but I think Voldemort may find out that someone broke into Gringotts." Susan said.

"Yes, there was a rather large hole left in the floor, and knowing what vault you broke into, I can't see any of them not telling Voldemort about it." Hannah nodded sadly.

"That was the end of the chapter." Dorea smiled, "who wants to go next?"

"I haven't read yet, so I might as well." Charlie grinned.

"Let's take a break first, to calm down from all the excitement of this chapter." Albus said.

"Good idea." Charlus nodded, "I could do with a trip to the bathroom."


	34. Chapter 34

**Break  
**

No one argued with the suggestion that they take a break, and there was almost a stampede as students rushed to leave the hall. Harry and those who were sat at the middle table didn't move, waiting until the doorway was clear before they stood up and left to do whatever they wanted.

Harry headed up to the seventh floor, intending to cleanse the locket Horcrux, having forgotten to do it the previous night, and as he had expected, his parents and grandparents wanted to watch, so he let them follow him.

The journey was silent, all five comfortable in the presence of the others, so none of them felt the need to talk. Harry had already explained to Charlus, Dorea, James and Lily, what he was going to do, so when he paced three times in front of the blank wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy, and the door appeared, none of them were surprised.

As they had all expected, the room had formed two distinct areas, one as small observation booth behind a protective barrier, while the other was plain stone with a pentagram in the middle, several candles and several dishes of herbs. Charlus, Dorea, James and Lily smiled before heading over to the observation area while Harry took the locket out of its lead-lined box and placed it in the centre of the pentagram.

Having placed the locket on the floor and stepped out again, Harry did the same thing he had done three days previously, pacing in a circle around the pentagram, lighting the candles and chanting: "Artefaktidega aegadel vana, vaba ise on pimedus hoiate!"*1

As before, it was only five minutes until there was a blinding flash of light and an unholy scream of pain, caused by the piece of soul being dragged out of the locket and exploding as soon as it was free. The locket was still in perfect condition, appearing as though it had only just been made.

"That was impressive." Charlus whispered, awed by what he had just seen.

"And so simple as well." Dorea nodded.

"I'd love to know how Harry found that spell." Lily commented, "it would be interesting to see the arithmetical calculations that were involved in its creation."

"I don't think you're going to be that lucky." James grinned, "I would bet that it was created hundreds of years ago, and the person who created it is probably long-dead by now."

"True." Lily sighed, "disappointing, but oh well."

Harry returned, and the small group left the room, James turning to watch as the door receded back into the wall, before heading back down to the main part of the castle.

"I need to send an owl." Harry said suddenly as they approached the main staircase, "I'll be back in a few minutes or so."

James, Lily, Charlus and Dorea watched in amazement as Harry winked at them and turned into his phoenix form, disappearing in a flash of lightning, while Charlus took the opportunity to find the nearest bathroom.

"He can become a storm phoenix." James whimpered, "I never thought I'd ever see one, they are even rarer than fire phoenixes, and the only one of those I've ever seen is Fawkes."

"Our son is rather unique." Lily giggled, a little hysterically as the surprise at seeing her son's magnificent form, and the emotions from what they had read finally became to much for her.

"I wonder what other forms he's actually used." Dorea murmured, "I mean, we've only seen him use two, but because he is a True Shape-Shifter there are no limits to what he can become."

"I did manage to overhear a bit of the conversation they had last night, when they freed Bellatrix and Rodolphus." James said, "I think I heard one of them mention that Harry had turned into a kangaroo at some point."

"That's a third form then." Dorea muttered, wondering how on earth a kangaroo could be useful.

"We'll have to ask him at some point, what other forms he's used." James grinned as they re-entered the great hall.

"Where are Harry and Charlus?" Lucius asked curiously when Dorea, James and Lily came within hearing distance.

"Harry's sending an owl." James replied, "he didn't tell us who he was sending it to, he just said that he needed to send it, then disappeared."

"In a flash of lightning." Lily added with a giggle.

"And Charlus went to find a bathroom." Dorea smiled.

"So Harry decided to use his phoenix form." Snape realised, "you know, I've never actually seen Harry in phoenix form, which is odd."

"What forms have you seen him in?" Dorea asked curiously.

"When he first transformed successfully, he was in the form of a black panther, I've seen him as a kestrel, when he was learning how to fly as a bird, then about two weeks before the champions were told about the third task in the Triwizard Tournament, I saw him having fun swimming around in the lake as an otter." Snape replied.

"Interesting." Charlus muttered, having returned and watching a big black wolf stalking up the middle table towards him, with its tongue lolling out.

"What the hell?" James yelped when he caught sight of the wolf, which looked, to him, to be hungry.

"Don't worry, he won't eat you." Lucius smirked, "he might drown you in slobber, but he's not the kind of wolf that eats people."

"Have you forgotten that I am a stag animagus?" James squeaked, "and he can probably smell that."

"He still won't eat you." Lucius grinned, "even if you transformed."

"It's Harry, isn't it?" Lily giggled.

"Yes, I don't know why he isn't in human form, but that is definitely him." Lucius nodded, watching the wolf give Dorea, Charlus, James and Lily sloppy licks as it passed.

"Urgh, I'm all slobbery now." Lily complained, conjuring a small towel and wiping her face with it, before passing the towel to James.

Once he came level with where he had sat before, the Harry-wolf leapt onto the bench and leant on Lucius, lowering his head to clean certain parts of his anatomy that he would have been unable to reach as a human.

"Lovely." Susan said sarcastically when she caught sight of what the Harry-wolf was doing. "Just what I wanted to see."

"It's typical canine behaviour." James sniggered, "Sirius is just as bad when he's Padfoot."

"I still don't think we want to see him doing that." Susan snorted, "can't he do it in private?"

"It's the canine in him." Lily pointed out, "dogs, and wolves, seem to enjoy the attention they get when they do that. His wolf-side is loving the fact that we're talking about him, that's why he's doing it in public."

While Lily had been talking, the hall had continued to fill up again, and as soon as she finished, Albus called for silence, so they could begin the next chapter.

"Is everyone ready?" Albus asked, scanning the hall.

"Well, apart from the fact that Harry's licking his bits, I think we are." Hermione giggled.

"Oh dear, so the large wolf sitting on poor Lucius is Harry rather than an actual wolf." Minerva muttered, "he's rather beautiful, for a creature with such large teeth and disgusting habits."

"All animals have fairly disgusting habits." Someone said from where they were standing just inside the great hall doors.

"And who are you?" Albus asked, looking at the man, who was wearing clothes that appeared to be even brighter and even more nausea-inducing than his own. The shirt was a swirling mixture of lime green and purple, while the trousers were orange with pink stripes, and the man's hair was bright blue. Everyone, even Albus, felt a bit sick when they saw that combination.

"Theodore Remus Lupin at your service." The man said with a rather flamboyant bow.

"Nice to meet you." Albus smiled.

"Teddy?" Tonks asked quietly, nervously.

"Yeah, that's me." Teddy grinned.

"I thought you were on board one of those ships that Dorea Christine, Caratacus and Andromeda Chloe were using?" Remus frowned.

"I was." Teddy smirked, "but we've finished launching the satellites, so brought the ships back. They're now in polar orbit. We are monitoring the satellite network, just making sure there's no hostile action in this sector of the galaxy, but there's nothing really for us to do now. Our part of the plan is now complete."

"So are you sticking around now, or is there anything you need to rush off and do?" Tonks asked.

"Either I stick around and listen to people read, or I go back to the ship and watch as Al inevitably sticks his foot in his mouth and ends up getting chased all over the ship by four hormonal pregnant women." Teddy grinned, "hmm, tough choice. I think I'll stick around down here."

"Well then, pull up a chair and let's begin." Remus smiled, gently nudging the twins down so Teddy could sit between himself and Tonks.

"How far had you got?" Teddy asked as he sat down and turned his hair turquoise.

"We finished chapter twenty-six, the one where the trio broke into Gringotts." Tonks grinned.

"Ah, so you haven't reached the battle yet." Teddy muttered, frowning pensively as he tried to remember when the break-in happened.

"No." Ron grinned, "that will be about four chapters away."

"Right." Teddy nodded, "why is Uncle Harry a wolf, and licking himself?"

"We don't know why he's a wolf, but he's licking himself because he's a wolf." Minerva smiled.

The wolf stopped cleaning himself, gave her a huge doggy-grin and wagged his tail so hard that everyone could hear it thumping each time it hit the bench. The wagging tail had the side-effect of sending the wolf slightly off-balance, and he ended up falling off the bench with a surprised yip, causing everyone who was watching, to burst out laughing at him, especially Teddy, who had never seen his godfather do something so ridiculous.

"That was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time." Bill chortled as he watched the slightly confused wolf give himself a shake.

"I did not expect him to knock himself over just by wagging his tail." Percy sniggered.

"I don't think he expected that either." Bill snorted as Harry turned back into his human form and sat down with a huff.

"Now that the fun is over for the moment, shall we continue with the book?" Albus suggested, trying to get the attention of Harry, who looked utterly mortified.

"A very good idea." Charlie nodded, holding the book open at the correct page, while also trying to keep his chuckles under control.

* * *

*1 for translation, see bottom of chapter 1


	35. Chapter 35

**The Final Hiding Place**

"It looks like we're going to find out what the last Horcrux is," Charlie grinned, "this chapter is called, **The Final Hiding Place**."

"Well, it would appear that you have done something not even I have been able to do." Albus smiled.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"I only suspected that Voldemort had created Horcruxes, and it wasn't until the end of your second year that I had proof, it took me three years to find the ring and evidently a further year to find the fake locket, and you three found the real locket, and the cup, in less than one." Albus replied.

"Wow." Lavender whispered in awe.

"Uncle Harry has always been awesome." Teddy grinned.

**There was no means of steering;**

"I'm not surprised." Seamus sniggered, "it's a dragon."

**the dragon could not see where it was going, and Harry knew that if it turned sharply or rolled in mid-air they would find it impossible to cling onto its broad back. **

"You have such lovely thoughts, Harry." Draco said sarcastically.

"I'm glad I don't think like that." Hermione nodded.

**Nevertheless, as they climbed higher and higher, London unfurling below them like a grey-and-green map, Harry's overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape that had seemed impossible. Crouching low over the beast's neck, he clung tight to the metallic scales, and the cool breeze was soothing on his burned and blistered skin, the dragon's wings beating the air like the sails of a windmill. Behind him, whether from delight or fear he could not tell, Ron kept swearing at the top of his voice, and Hermione seemed to be sobbing.**

"I would be too." Susan grimaced, "I like flying, but I wouldn't want to try riding something that could eat me if it wanted to."

"Dragons don't eat people." Charlie said, "they may be carnivores, and capable of eating something the size of a cow, but they would never eat humans."

"Well, that's fortunate." Hannah smiled, "so they don't have to worry about her eating them."

"Yes, but I don't know what variety she is, and there are some that are venomous." Charlie pointed out, "like the Norwegian Ridgeback and Peruvian Vipertooth."

"You'll be happy to know that that particular dragon was a Romanian Longhorn." Harry grinned, "one of the non-venomous varieties."

"Well that's a relief, but I cannot believe the goblins were so cruel as to trap her underground." Charlie sighed, "Romanian Longhorns don't do well in enclosed spaces."

"No dragon does well in enclosed spaces." Teddy snorted, "most animals don't, no matter the species."

**After five minutes or so, Harry lost some of his immediate dread that the dragon was going to throw them off, for it seemed intent on nothing but getting as far away from its underground prison as possible; but the question of how and when they were to dismount remained rather frightening. He had no idea how long dragons could fly without landing,**

"Quite a while, as long as they eat before taking off." Charlie said, "though they do need to practise and maintain the strength in their wings by flying occasionally, so I don't know how long she would be able to stay in the air."

**nor how this particular dragon, which could barely see, would locate a good place to put down. He glanced around constantly, imagining that he could feel his scar prickling …**

"I bloody hope not." Lily snapped, "I don't want to hear about my son falling off the dragon because he was dragged into Voldemort's head."

**How long would it be before Voldemort knew that they had broken into the Lestranges' vault?**

"Probably not long." Minerva sighed, "there's no way they would be able to hide it, not with the enormous hole that was left behind."

**How soon would the goblins of Gringotts notify Bellatrix? How quickly would they realize what had been taken? And then, when they discovered that the golden cup was missing? Voldemort would know, at last, that they were hunting Horcruxes. **

"Yes, but if you can get into his head, you can find out what and where the last two are." Kingsley said, "that would save you time and effort searching."

"Of course, they've also got to figure out a way to destroy the one they have, first." Flitwick pointed out.

"That should be easy, Fiendfyre, if they can cast it." Moody growled, "or they could try and find an erupting volcano to toss the cup into."

"I think conjuring Fiendfyre would be easier than finding a volcano." Hermione snorted, "despite the fact there are volcanic eruptions pretty much every day, finding one that would suit our purposes would be almost impossible."

"If you'd had the Valkyrie, or even a Goa'uld Tel'tak, you could have tossed it into either a black hole or a star." Teddy grinned.

"Yes, but the Valkyrie hadn't been built, and we didn't know what a Tel'tak was at that point." Harry smirked.

"True." Teddy muttered.

**The dragon seemed to crave cooler and fresher air. It climbed steadily until they were flying through wisps of chilly cloud, and Harry could no longer make out the little coloured dots which were cars pouring in and out of the capital. On and on they flew, over countryside parcelled out in patches of green and brown, over roads and rivers winding through the landscape like strips of matte and glossy ribbon. **

"**What do you reckon it's looking for?" Ron yelled as they flew farther and farther north. **

"Either signs of other dragons, or fresh water." Remus said, "though I don't know how she would find either, given that she's partially blind, and I don't know how good her sense of smell would be after her imprisonment."

"Dragons have an extremely acute sense of smell, and I don't think being trapped underground would cause too much damage to her nose." Charlie frowned.

"**No idea," Harry bellowed back. His hands were numb with cold but he did not dare attempt to shift his grip. He had been wondering for some time what they would do if they saw the coast sail beneath them, if the dragon headed for open sea:**

"Don't think like that." James groaned.

**he was cold and numb, not to mention desperately hungry and thirsty. When, he wondered, had the beast itself last eaten? Surely it would need sustenance before long? And what if, at that point, it realized it had three highly edible humans sitting on its back? **

"I'm so glad I don't have the same kind of thoughts as you." Hermione muttered.

**The sun slipped lower in the sky, which was turning indigo; and still the dragon flew, cities and towns gliding out of sight beneath them, its enormous shadow sliding over the earth like a giant dark cloud. Every part of Harry ached with the effort of holding on to the dragon's back. **

"**Is it my imagination," shouted Ron after a considerable stretch of silence, "or are we losing height?" **

"You probably are." Charlie said, "as the book has already mentioned, we don't know when the dragon last ate, so that will determine how long she can keep going. We don't even know how long you were flying for, or what time you got out of the vault."

"We were in the air for just over six hours." Harry sighed, "it was just gone seven in the evening at that point."

"So you entered the bank just after seven o'clock, and the cart journey would have taken about thirty minutes, so you were approaching the dragon at about quarter to eight in the morning." Bill mused.

"Yeah, it took us about two hours to find the cup, then another hour to get it down, we fought the goblins for about an hour before Harry decided we would ride the dragon out, then it took us fifteen minutes to get on and undo the chains." Hermione nodded, "three quarters of an hour after that, the dragon was able to take off and fly away."

"So you were beginning to fly at about quarter past one in the afternoon?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Yes." Hermione replied, "that was a long day, but very fruitful."

"I can imagine." Abraxas murmured.

**Harry looked down and saw deep green mountains and lakes, coppery in the sunset. the landscape seemed to grow larger and more detailed as he squinted over the side of the dragon, and he wondered whether it had divined the presence of fresh water by the flashes of reflected sunlight. **

**Lower and lower the dragon flew, in great spiralling circles, honing in, it seemed, upon one of the smaller lakes. **

"**I say we jump when it gets low enough!" Harry called back to the others. "Straight into the water before it realizes we're here!"**

"I'm glad I'm not you lot." Seamus laughed, "you wouldn't catch me riding a dragon, or jumping off one."

"Seamus, mate, they're insane." Dean sniggered.

**They agreed, Hermione a little faintly, and now Harry could see the dragon's wide yellow underbelly rippling in the surface of the water. **

"**NOW!"**

"Are you sure we were low enough?" Ron asked facetiously, "I could have sworn we were about fifty feet up."

"We may have been a bit high, but not by that much." Harry replied sheepishly, "we were only about thirty to forty feet up."

"That's still too high for my liking." Lily moaned.

**He slithered over the side of the dragon and plummeted feet first toward the surface of the lake; the drop was greater than he had estimated and he hit the water hard, plunging like a stone into a freezing, green, reed-filled world. He kicked toward the surface and emerged, panting, to see enormous ripples emanating in circles from the places where Ron and Hermione had fallen. The dragon did not seem to have noticed anything; it was already fifty feet away, swooping low over the lake to scoop up water in its scarred snout. As Ron and Hermione emerged, spluttering and gasping, from the depths of the lake, the dragon flew on, its wings beating hard, and landed at last on a distant bank. **

**Harry, Ron and Hermione struck out for the opposite shore. The lake did not seem to be deep. Soon it was more a question of fighting their way through reeds and mud than swimming, and at last they flopped, sodden, panting, and exhausted, onto slippery grass.**

"I would be exhausted too." Neville grinned, "especially if I'd been awake for as long as you."

"It wasn't just the number of hours we had been up, it was what we'd done during the day, and the amount of adrenaline we had had pumping through our bodies." Hermione sighed.

**Hermione collapsed, coughing and shuddering. Though Harry could have happily lain down and slept, he staggered to his feet, drew out his wand, and started casting the usual protective spells around them.**

"Good." Moody growled approvingly, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, I thought he'd got fed up of bellowing." Slughorn practically whined while Teddy and Remus massaged their ears.

"I think it'll take a lot more than just a few moments of extreme sadness to stop him." Sinistra sighed, "he'll probably die bellowing at someone."

"Oh so very true." Slughorn grimaced.

**When he had finished, he joined the others. It was the first time that he had seen them properly since escaping from the vault. Both had angry red burns all over their faces and arms, and their clothing was singed away in places. **

"Yep, Harry's bum was on show for everyone to see." Ron laughed.

"Well I did slide down a great pile of burning gold and silver, on my bum, so I'm not surprised my jeans suffered." Harry snorted.

"At least it was just one buttock that was showing, rather than everything." Hermione pointed out, "and at least I remembered a change of clothes, so he got covered up pretty quickly."

"Oh dear." Lily giggled, much calmer now that the danger was over for the time being.

**They were wincing as they dabbed essence of dittany onto their many injuries. Hermione handed Harry the bottle, then pulled out three bottles of pumpkin juice she had brought from Shell Cottage and clean, dry robes for all of them. They changed and then gulped down the juice. **

"Do you mean to say that you all just got undressed in front of each other?" Fred asked with a lecherous grin.

"Yes, by that point, there were far more important things to worry about than our modesty." Hermione shrugged, "besides, we'd already seen everything, the tent we'd shared didn't really give us much privacy."

"Oh, that makes sense." Fred nodded.

"**Well, on the upside," said Ron finally, who was sitting watching the skin on his hands regrow, "we got the Horcrux. On the downside –"**

"– **no sword," said Harry through gritted teeth, as he dripped dittany through the singed hole in his jeans onto the angry burn beneath.**

"You're going to have to find another way to destroy the Horcrux now, but you shouldn't have to worry about that too much." Cygnus grimaced.

"You should have at least a little bit of time to research now that you've got the cup." Caruso added.

"**No sword," repeated Ron. "That double-crossing little scab …"**

**Harry pulled the Horcrux from the pocket of the wet jacket he had just taken off and set it down on the grass in front of them. Glinting in the sun, it drew their eyes as they swigged their bottles of juice. **

"**At least we can't wear it this time, that'd look a bit weird hanging around our necks," said Ron,**

"You'd look like complete idiots." Ginny said plainly.

**wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.**

Narcissa and some of the other females in the hall grimaced at that, but knew that being on the run meant that the trio couldn't really afford to observe the social niceties and use napkins.

**Hermione looked across the lake to the far bank where the dragon was still drinking. **

"**What'll happen to it, do you think?" she asked, "Will it be all right?" **

"It's a dragon, it will be fine." Ernie snorted, "dragons can take care of themselves quite easily."

"**You sound like Hagrid," said Ron, "It's a dragon, Hermione, it can look after itself. It's us we need to worry about."**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**Well I don't know how to break this to you," said Ron, "but I think they _might_ have noticed we broke into Gringotts."**

"Der." Susan giggled, "you left the bank through the roof, leaving a massive great hole in it. I don't think they could avoid noticing that someone had broken in, and since the goblins have some sophisticated intruder detection systems, I'm sure they'd realise that it was you."

"I wonder." Teddy mumbled, grabbing a quill and parchment from inside one of his pockets and beginning to scribble something.

"What are you thinking about?" Remus asked curiously, peering over his son's shoulder.

"I'm wondering whether we could combine those systems with the sensors on the Valkyrie." Teddy replied absently, still scribbling away.

"What language is that?" Tonks wondered, going slightly cross-eyed as she tried to read his notes.

"My own." Teddy grinned.

"Oh Merlin, you're going to have to translate that, preferably into English, when you've finished." Hermione sighed.

"I won't finish for a while." Teddy said, "I need to see the goblin systems, in detail, before I can say whether they can be combined or not."

"Just don't cause a diplomatic incident by taking things apart without asking." Harry warned.

"It was only once." Teddy retorted, "and I put it back together again, better than it had been. Really, the Tollans should have been grateful."

"Yes, well, just because you improved the ion-cannon, and saved Tollana from complete destruction, does not mean that the Tollans were happy about it." Harry snorted.

"They should have been." Teddy grumbled.

"While I would like, at some point, to know what you are talking about, we ought to carry on reading." Minerva said sternly, "so if everyone could be quiet, we can continue."

**All three of them started to laugh, and once started, it was difficult to stop. Harry's ribs ached, he felt light-headed with hunger, but he lay back on the grass beneath the reddening sky and laughed until his throat was raw. **

"**What are we going to do, though?" said Hermione finally, hiccuping herself back to seriousness. "He'll know, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes!"**

"Yes, but you have some safety in the knowledge that of the six, three have been destroyed, you have a fourth, and there are only two left." Regulus said, "and when he does find out, he'll think of the locations, and probably decide to go and check on them, so depending one where the last two are, you might get lucky and be able to find them before he checks."

"Which one do you think he'll check first?" Orion wondered, "that will play a huge part in determining how much time they have."

"True, he'll probably check the ring, then the locket, because those two may well be the least secure." Regulus nodded, "he'll realise that the ring, if it was hidden in the Gaunt house, would be the one in most danger, since he probably knows that anyone who looks deeply enough, will be able to find out about his connection to that family, and be able to find it quite easily."

"Impressive deduction." Albus smiled, "if you were still a student, I would be awarding points."

"Thank you." Regulus mumbled, slightly embarrassed by the headmaster's praise.

"**Maybe they'll be too scared to tell him!" said Ron hopefully, "Maybe they'll cover up –"**

"I doubt it, someone will tell him as soon as possible, to prevent him killing them, which he would do if they hid the knowledge." Snape grimaced, "he'll probably kill the messenger anyway, but if he wasn't informed, anyone who knew would probably be tortured before dying, slowly and painfully. Telling him as soon as they can would mean a quick and painless death, rather than a long and drawn out one."

"That's not something anyone would be looking forward to." Remus winced.

"Exactly." Snape nodded, trying not to imagine the torture Voldemort would put anyone through if they hid the knowledge of something that important.

**The sky, the smell of the lake water, the sound of Ron's voice were extinguished: pain cleaved Harry's head like a sword stroke. He was standing in a dimly lit room, and a semicircle of wizards faced him, and on the floor at his feet knelt a small, quaking figure. **

"Oh lovely, just what was needed." Susan grumbled, "another trip to Voldemort's head."

"We knew it was going to happen sooner or later." Hannah sighed, "so at least we had some warning."

"True." Susan nodded, "I just wish Harry didn't have to see what that madman does all the time."

"I think he does too." Hannah giggled slightly.

"**What did you say to me?" His voice was high and cold, but fury and fear burned inside him. The one thing that he had dreaded – but it could not be true, he could not see how …**

**The goblin was trembling, unable to meet the red eyes high above his. **

"**Say it again!" murmured Voldemort. "_Say it again!_"**

"**M – my Lord," stammered the goblin, its black eyes wide with terror, "m – my Lord … we t – tried to st – stop them … im – impostors, my Lord … broke – broke into the – into the Lestranges' vault …"**

"**Impostors? What impostors? I thought Gringotts had ways of revealing impostors? Who were they?"**

"How would he know that?" Bill asked, "no Gringotts employee is allowed to inform anyone of what protections there are, so no one can try and find a way around them."

"He was the one who ordered the break-in just before the beginning of our first year, and Quirrell, who was able to escape without getting anything, probably told him what he had seen." Harry shrugged, "there's also the fact that Voldemort went on to possess Quirrell, and undoubtedly saw the man's memory of his attempt."

"That makes sense." Bill nodded, "I'll probably have to inform the goblins and they will want to revamp everything."

"**It was … it was … the P – Potter b – boy and t – two accomplices …"**

"**_And they took?_" he said, his voice rising, a terrible fear gripping him, "_Tell me! What did they take?_"**

"**A … a s – small golden c – cup m – my Lord …"**

"And let's watch as Voldemort goes into a killing frenzy." James said, trying to sound mysterious, but failing miserably.

**The scream of rage, of denial, left him as if it were a stranger's: he was crazed, frenzied, it could not be true, it was impossible, nobody had known. How was it possible that the boy could have discovered his secret?**

"Because he was a stupid idiot and had one of his followers hand one to one of Harry's fans, and it made its way to Dumbledore." Hermione snorted, slightly bitter about the fact that Ginny had suffered due to the diary. She knew that it wasn't necessarily Lucius' fault it had been given to the girl, he hadn't known what the diary was, but he should have at least made sure that she took it straight to the headmaster once she'd found it, instead of hoping that she would.

**The Elder Wand slashed through the air and green light erupted through the room; the kneeling goblin rolled over dead; the watching wizards scattered before him, terrified: Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy threw others behind them in their race for the door, and again and again his wand fell, and those who were left were slain, all of them, for bringing him this news, for hearing about the golden cup –**

**Alone amongst the dead he stomped up and down, and they passed before him in vision: his treasures, his safeguards, his anchors to immortality – the diary was destroyed and the cup was stolen. What if, _what if_, the boy knew about the others? Could he know, had he already acted, had he traced more of them? **

"Yep, and Mouldy's close to being dead as a dodo." Alicia giggled, remembering her mother's habit of using that phrase, and thinking that it was very apt for the situation.

"We weren't as close as you'd think." Harry said, "we still had to destroy the cup, Nagini still needed to be dealt with, and we still didn't know what the last one was, or even where it was."

"But three had already been destroyed, and you actually had the cup." Angelina pointed out, "he only made six, so you're half-way there."

"True." Hermione nodded.

**Was Dumbledore at the root of this? **

"Yes." Harry grinned.

**Dumbledore, who had always suspected him, Dumbledore, dead on his orders, **

"Wrong." Draco snorted.

**Dumbledore, whose wand was his now, **

"Still wrong." Harry smirked, "he didn't win the wand's allegiance, despite having it and using it."

**yet who reached out from the ignominy of death through the boy, _the boy_ –**

"Honestly, he's still underestimating you." Dean snorted.

"Or he's overestimating his own ability." Harry shrugged, "the first chapter said, that he thought his failure to kill me was more to do with my luck than his mistakes. Voldemort believes he is incapable of making mistakes, so he doesn't learn from them, which is why his plans are so easy to screw up."

"Glad I never met him." Teddy mumbled, still scribbling away on his parchment. "I'd have punched him or something if I had."

**But surely if the boy had destroyed any of his Horcruxes, he, Lord Voldemort, would have known, would have felt it? **

"Nope." Harry grinned.

**He, the greatest wizard of them all; **

"No he wasn't." Lucius snorted.

**he, the most powerful; he, the killer of Dumbledore **

"He's delusional." Draco laughed.

**and of how many other worthless, nameless men. **

"No life is worthless." Hermione snapped, glaring at the book, causing Charlie to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

**How could Lord Voldemort not have known, if he, himself, most important and precious, had been attacked, mutilated? **

"He'd already mutilated himself, and the pieces of his soul that he'd ripped off had been detached too long for him to feel their destruction." Ron sniggered.

"I believe that is correct, that he wouldn't feel it when a Horcrux was destroyed." Albus nodded, "I may be wrong, but evidently he didn't notice the destruction of the locket and ring."

"What about the diary?" Neville wondered, "would he have felt that one being destroyed?"

"Probably not." Albus said, "he did not have a corporeal body at that point."

"I don't think he did." Lucius agreed, "the first time he was aware that it had been destroyed, was when I told him what had happened, and he was furious."

**True, he had not felt it when the diary had been destroyed, but he had thought that was because he had no body to feel, being less than ghost … no, surely, the rest were safe … the other Horcruxes must be intact …**

"Well now he's going to think about where the last one is, so you can find it." James grinned.

"Yeah, he'll lead you right to it, without even realising it." Remus nodded.

**But he must know, he must be sure … He paced the room, kicking aside the goblin's corpse as he passed, and the pictures blurred and burned in his boiling brain: the lake, the shack, and Hogwarts –**

"I can't believe there really is one in the castle." Neville whispered into the shocked silence.

"Not any more." Harry smiled, "the one he hid here was one of the ones I cleansed before we started reading. The only one he has left that hasn't been destroyed, is Nagini, but she is currently inaccessible."

"You did mention that earlier." Minerva nodded, "I presume you cleansed the locket during the break."

"Yes." Harry grinned.

**A modicum of calm cooled his rage now: how could the boy know that he had hidden the ring in the Gaunt shack? **

"It's quite obvious that he would, especially for those who knew of his link to the Gaunts." Abraxas snorted.

**No one had ever known him to be related to the Gaunts, he had hidden the connection, the killings had never been traced to him. **

**The ring, surely, was safe. **

"Nope, that's been destroyed already." Seamus sniggered.

**And how could the boy, or anybody else, know about the cave or penetrate its protection? The idea of the locket being stolen was absurd …**

"Except the cave was breached twice." Regulus smirked, "once by the replica of me, and once by the headmaster and Harry."

**As for the school: he alone knew where in Hogwarts he had stowed the Horcrux, because he alone had plumbed the deepest secrets of that place …**

"No one knows all the secrets of Hogwarts." Flitwick squeaked, "only the founders would have known the castle inside and out, and that's only because they were the ones to design the school."

"Yes, there may have been parts of the city hidden under the illusion that they didn't know, but they truly were the ones who designed the illusion, so of course they would know everything there is to know about it." Harry nodded.

**And there was still Nagini, who must remain close now, no longer sent to do his bidding, under his protection …**

"How on earth are they going to destroy the snake if she stays with him?" James asked with a groan.

"We'll just have to wait to find out." Dorea smiled, "which we will do if you let young Charles read."

"For Merlin's sake, call me Charlie." The bulky redhead shuddered, "I feel like I'm in trouble if people use my full name."

"That's 'cos you generally are." Teddy smirked, finally putting the quill and parchment down.

**But to be sure, to be utterly sure, he must return to each of his hiding places, he must redouble protection around each of his Horcruxes … a job, like the quest for the Elder Wand, that he must undertake alone …**

"Which means that you have time to have a look around Hogwarts." Susan smiled.

"If they make sure they use the cloak they can be in and out without anyone noticing." Hannah agreed.

**Which should he visit first, which was in most danger? An old unease flickered inside him. Dumbledore had known his middle name … Dumbledore might have made the connection with the Gaunts … their abandoned home was, perhaps, the least secure of his hiding places, it was there that he would go first …**

**The lake, surely impossible … though was there a slight possibility that Dumbledore might have known some of his past misdeeds, through the orphanage.**

"I wouldn't call them mere misdeeds." Albus said darkly, "he was already torturing innocent victims before he even knew about magic."

"They weren't exactly innocent, despite being children." Harry pointed out, "they were bullies, and his philosophy back then was to bully them before they could bully him. He could have gone about it in a different way, but he did not see himself as anything other than a victim of bullying who fought back."

"Merlin, you really do understand him." Lily whispered.

"Unfortunately." Harry grimaced.

**And Hogwarts … but he knew that his Horcrux there was safe; it would be impossible for Potter to enter Hogsmeade without detection, let alone the school. Nevertheless, it would be prudent to alert Snape to the fact that the boy might try to re-enter the castle … **

"Well, if he did alert me, then I could try to help, but I don't know how much I would be able to do without blowing my cover." Snape sighed.

"You'd probably have to blow your cover." Minerva said, "while there were a few who knew about your true loyalty, there would be far more with no idea, and if you came across one of them and told them you wanted to help Harry, they would not believe you, and may try cursing you."

"That's true." Snape nodded, wondering what he would do if he was faced with the choice between maintaining his cover, and retaining his own sense of right and wrong.

**to tell Snape why the boy might return would be foolish, of course; it had been a grave mistake to trust Bellatrix and Malfoy: didn't their stupidity and carelessness prove how unwise it was ever to trust? **

"They're only human, and humans make mistakes." Bill snapped at the book in his brother's hands.

"He does think he's more than human, and therefore above making mistakes." Orion pointed out, "as has already been mentioned, he disregards his own mistakes, not learning from them, which is good for the Light side."

**He would visit the Gaunt shack first, then, and take Nagini with him. He would not be parted from the snake any more … And he strode from the room, through the hall, and out into the dark garden where the fountain played; he called the snake in Parseltongue and it slithered out to join him like a long shadow …**

**Harry's eyes flew open as he wrenched himself back to the present. He was lying on the bank of the lake in the setting sun, and Ron and Hermione were looking down at him. Judging by their worried looks, and by the continued pounding of his scar, his sudden excursion into Voldemort's mind had not passed unnoticed. **

"I hope you're not going to try lying to them." Lily said, glaring at Harry beadily.

"There was no time, we had to act fast, and get to Hogwarts as soon as possible." Harry sighed, "we didn't even have time to make a plan."

"That's not good." Mrs Weasley grimaced.

"Oh it is." Teddy grinned, "Uncle Harry works best when he's making it up as he goes along."

**He struggled up, shivering, vaguely surprised that he was still wet to his skin, and saw the cup lying innocently in the grass before him, and the lake, deep blue shot with gold in the falling sun. **

"**He knows." His own voice sounded strange and low after Voldemort's high screams. **

"Yeah, Voldemort really does have a high voice now." Bellatrix nodded, "it's quite disturbing how high his voice it."

"That makes me wonder if one of the rituals he went through in the seventies required him to sacrifice his genitals." Snape murmured, "and if that is the case, then he has lost the ability to produce an heir."

"Which is a good thing." Cygnus said.

"**He knows and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one," he was already on his feet, "is at Hogwarts. I knew it. _I knew it._"**

"Why did you two not believe him when he said he thought there was one here?" Lavender asked Hermione and Ron.

"We thought it was just too outlandish." Hermione sighed, "we didn't realise that Voldemort was not as intelligent as we had been led to believe."

"Oh." Lavender nodded, understanding what Hermione meant by that.

"**What?" Ron was gaping at him; Hermione sat up, looking worried.**

"**But what did you see? How do you know?"**

"**I saw him find out about the cup, I – I was in his head, he's –" Harry remembered the killings "– he's seriously angry, and scared too, he can't understand how we knew, and now he's going to check the others are safe, the ring first. He thinks the Hogwarts one is safest, because Snape's there, because it'll be so hard not to be seen getting in. I think he'll check that one last, but he could still be there within hours –"**

"**Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?" asked Ron, now scrambling to his feet too. **

"That would have been nice." Remus sighed, "as nice as if he'd thought about what it was."

"Yeah, if he'd thought about where he'd last seen it, you could have found out not only what it was, but also where it was so you wouldn't have to search too hard." Seamus agreed.

"**No, he was concentrating on warning Snape, he didn't think about exactly where it is –"**

"**Wait, _wait_!" cried Hermione as Ron caught up to the Horcrux and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak again. "We can't just _go_, we haven't got a plan, we need to –"**

"The time for planning is over, it's time to act." Regulus said.

"**We need to get going," said Harry firmly. He had been hoping to sleep, looking forward to getting into the new tent, but that was impossible now, "Can you imagine what he's going to do once he realizes the ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the Hogwarts Horcrux, decides it isn't safe enough?"**

"If you want to get to the Horcrux before he moves it, you have to act, you don't have the luxury of time to wait and make a plan." Snape stated sternly.

"**But how are we going to get in?"**

"**We'll go to Hogsmeade," said Harry, "and try to work something out once we see what the protection around the school's like. Get under the Cloak, Hermione, I want to stick together this time."**

"Using the cloak is a good idea, but you have to be careful, just in case a Death Eater decides to summon it." Andromeda said.

"It cannot be summoned." Harry smiled, "it is a Hallow, and therefore no spells will affect it."

"I had forgotten that." Andromeda muttered.

"Getting a bit forgetful in your old age Gran." Teddy snorted.

"Careful, you're not too old to be grounded." Remus said sternly.

"Damn." Teddy grumbled.

"**But we don't really fit –"**

"**It'll be dark, no one's going to notice our feet." The flapping of enormous wings echoed across the black water. The dragon had drunk its fill and risen into the air. They paused in their preparations to watch it climb higher and higher, now black against the rapidly darkening sky, until it vanished over a nearby mountain. Then Hermione walked forward and took her place between the other two, Harry pulled the Cloak down as far as it would go, and together they turned on the spot into the crushing darkness.**

"And that was the end of the chapter." Charlie grinned, "who wants to go next?"

"I will."


	36. Chapter 36

**The Missing Mirror**

"I will." Came the voice of an old man with a long grey beard and glasses upon his nose. "It seems I arrived just in time."

"Aberforth, how did you know to come?" Albus asked, shocked at the sight of his brother.

"Young Harry came to my pub and asked me to join in." Aberforth shrugged, "I'd have been here earlier, except I had to close the pub and kick some rag-tag ruffians out first."

"Well then, welcome to this rather crazy place." Albus smiled, though he knew his brother probably wasn't interested in being nice.

"Thanks." Aberforth nodded, accepting the book as Charlie gave it to him, and turning to the right page.

"What about those rumours that you couldn't read?" Colin asked.

"Rumours laddie." Aberforth snorted, "don't believe everything you read. Right, this chapter is called, **The Missing Mirror**."

"Does that mean we're gonna find out whose eye you've been seeing in the mirror, and therefore who sent Dobby to rescue you?" Seamus asked excitedly.

"Yes." Hermione smiled.

**Harry's feet touched the road. He saw the achingly familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop fronts, and the mist line of black mountains beyond the village and the curve in the road ahead that led off toward Hogwarts, and light spilling from the windows of the Three Broomsticks, and with a lurch of the heart, he remembered with piercing accuracy, how he had landed here nearly a year before, supporting a desperately weak Dumbledore, **

"It's hard to imagine someone so strong, so weak." Lily whispered.

"That's what happens when someone's forced to drink Dementor's Essence." Snape grimaced, "it is, effectively, a poison. I'm amazed that drinking that, while suffering the Egyptian curse that's already killing him, didn't kill him even faster."

"Merlin." Minerva whimpered.

"He would have been dead by the end of the night." Harry sighed, "he was anyway, but at least his death was painless and quick."

**all this in a second, upon landing – and then, even as he relaxed his grip upon Ron's and Hermione's arms, it happened.**

**The air was rent by a scream that sounded like Voldemort's when he had realized the cup had been stolen: **

"Oh crap, that's a Caterwauling Charm." Remus groaned, "set as loud as it will go."

"What does a Caterwauling Charm do, other than scream?" Dennis asked.

"It's an alarm." Remus replied, "it will alert anyone within hearing distance that something is happening. Usually, people will place that on areas that they want to keep secure, and if there's an intruder, then it will go off, and the intruder is likely to be captured."

"Oh." Dennis nodded, "so it's like a Muggle burglar alarm?"

"Yes, it is effectively the magical version of that." Remus smiled.

"The one drawback of the Caterwauling Charm is that it can't detect non-organic intruders." Teddy said, "like the Replicators."

"Fortunately, we don't really have to worry about them too much." Hermione pointed out.

"True." Teddy nodded.

**it tore at every nerve in Harry's body, and he knew that their appearance had caused it. Even as he looked at the other two beneath the Cloak, the door of the Three Broomsticks burst open and a dozen cloaked and hooded Death Eaters dashed into the streets, their wands aloft.**

**Harry seized Ron's wrist as he raised his wand; there were too many of them to fight. Even attempting it would have give away their position. **

"Good idea." Moody growled approvingly, "don't try and fight when you're outnumbered by that much. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Oh not-a-bloody-gain." Slughorn groaned.

**One of the Death Eaters raised his wand, and the scream stopped, still echoing around the distant mountains.**

"**_Accio Cloak_!" roared one of the Death Eaters**

"Won't work." James singsonged.

"Yes, we know." Charlus grinned.

**Harry seized its folds, but it made no attempt to escape. The Summoning Charm had not worked on it.**

"**Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?"**

"Of course he is, it's just completely resistant to your pathetic charms." Lily snorted.

**yelled the Death Eater who had tried the charm and then to his fellows. "Spread out. He's here."**

**Six of the Death Eaters ran toward them: Harry, Ron and Hermione backed as quickly as possible down the nearest side street, and the Death Eaters missed them by inches. They waited in the darkness, listening to the footsteps running up and down, beams of light flying along the street from the Death Eaters' searching wands.**

"**Let's just leave!" Hermione whispered. "Disapparate now!"**

"I doubt you'll be able to." Minerva sighed, "I'm sure they'll have put anti-Apparition wards up as soon as the alarm went off."

"**Great idea," said Ron, but before Harry could reply, a Death Eater shouted, "We know you are here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you!"**

"**They were ready for us," whispered Harry. "They set up that spell to tell them we'd come. I reckon they've done something to keep us here, trap us –"**

"**What about Dementors?" called another Death Eater. "Let'em have free rein, they'd find him quick enough!"**

"I hope they don't send Dementors after you." Susan whispered, "if they do you'll be forced to use your Patronus, which is highly recognisable."

"**The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hands but his –"**

"– **an' Dementors won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, not his soul. He'll be easier to kill if he's been Kissed first!"**

"Bloody bastards." Seamus growled. That was one of his friends they were talking about killing, and he didn't like that.

**There were noises of agreement. Dread filled Harry: to repel Dementors they would have to produce Patronuses which would give them away immediately.**

"**We're going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!" Hermione whispered.**

"I still don't think that will work." Minerva grimaced.

**Even as she said it, he felt the unnatural cold being spread over the street. Light was sucked from the environment right up to the stars, which vanished. In the pitch blackness, he felt Hermione take hold of his arm and together, they turned on the spot.**

**The air through which they needed to move, seemed to have become solid: they could not Disapparate; the Death Eaters had cast their charms well.**

"I thought so." Minerva sighed unhappily. She couldn't help but feel helpless; her lions were in danger and there was nothing she could do to help them. They had to find a way out themselves, though their only option was to conjure their Patronuses, which would lead the Death Eaters right to them and put them in even more danger.

**The cold was biting deeper and deeper into Harry's flesh. He, Ron and Hermione retreated down the side street, groping their way along the wall trying not to make a sound. Then, around the corner, gliding noiselessly, came Dementors, ten or more of them, visible because they were of a denser darkness than their surroundings, with their black cloaks and their scabbed and rotting hands. Could they sense fear in the vicinity?**

"I don't know whether they can sense your fear, but they can definitely sense something, since they know you're there despite the fact that you're under the cloak." Remus said.

**Harry was sure of it: they seemed to be coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, rattling breaths he detested, tasting despair in the air, closing in –**

**He raised his wand: he could not, would not suffer the Dementor's Kiss, whatever happened afterwards. It was of Ron and Hermione that he thought as he whispered, "_Expecto patronum!_"**

**The silver stag burst from his wand and charged: the Dementors scattered **

"Yeah, they would, they don't want to get hit by a solid Patronus." James snorted.

"I'm not surprised." Kingsley laughed, "the Dementors that were hit by it during the summer before last year, returned to Azkaban and not only were they pretty badly damaged, but they refuse to leave."

"So a Patronus can actually hurt Dementors." Susan whispered.

"Yes, but only when it is solid and actually touches them." Albus nodded, "a corporeal Patronus that isn't solid cannot touch a Dementor, therefore doesn't cause them as much pain."

"I understand." Susan said.

**and there was a triumphant yell from somewhere out of sight**

"**It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"**

"Are you sure about that?" Harry sniggered, "are you sure it wasn't a horse or some other large four-legged animal?"

"I'm pretty sure it was a stag." Lily grinned.

"We know it was, but the Death Eaters don't, they just think it was." Harry smirked, "so anyone who has a Patronus that is similar could, possibly, claim that it was their Patronus, not mine."

**The Dementors had retreated, the stars were popping out again and the footsteps of the Death Eaters were becoming louder; but before Harry in his panic could decide what to do, there was a grinding of bolts nearby, a door opened on the left-side of the narrow street, and a rough voice said: "Potter, in here, quick!"**

"Who is it?" Dorea asked nervously.

"You'll see." Harry replied, smiling mysteriously at Aberforth, who raised an eyebrow when he noticed.

**He obeyed without hesitation, the three of them hurried through the open doorway.**

"**Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!" muttered a tall figure, passing them on his way into the street and slammed the door behind him.**

**Harry had had no idea where they were, but now he saw, by the stuttering light of a single candle, the grubby, sawdust bar of the Hog's Head Inn. **

"Of course, it's him." James gasped, grinning at Aberforth, "he's currently reading about himself and his bar."

"That sounds weird." Teddy murmured.

**They ran behind the counter and through a second doorway, which led to a trickery wooden staircase, that they climbed as fast as they could. The stairs opened into a sitting room with a durable carpet and a small fireplace, above which hung a single large oil painting of a blonde girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of a vacant sweetness.**

"That must be poor Ariana." Lily whispered, as Aberforth choked up and Albus bowed his head, a few tears dripping off the end of his long nose.

"Yeah, I wish we'd been able to replace her." Hermione sighed.

"We couldn't." Harry grimaced.

"Why not?" Albus asked brokenly.

"The nanite bodies do not grow like a human, and we weren't sure we would have been able to produce a replica that could go for eight years without being discovered." Harry replied sadly, "we would have had to replace her at a very young age, and while we can produce nanite bodies that look that young, they will have that appearance until we either dismantle them or add more nanites, they cannot replicate themselves, we made sure of that."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Flitwick asked, "I would have thought that having one nanite-thing replicating itself would be a good thing."

"They are ridiculously dangerous if they are allowed to replicate themselves." Teddy sighed, "the Ancients created them as a weapon to destroy the Wraith, but something went wrong, and the Ancients were forced to attempt to destroy them. Their ability to replicate is how they survived when the Ancients bombarded their planet, and wiped out all bar a few. Those few replicated until the planet was full of them, with nothing natural left."

"When we first made contact with them, we thought they would be good allies, but they attempted to destroy us, so we were forced to find a way to wipe their programming, which we did, and were then able to reprogramme them for our use." Lucius added, "unfortunately, despite the attempts the Ancients had made to wipe all references to their creation of the nanites, they didn't quite manage to wipe everything from their database, and someone got hold of some of the data, the part that referenced the nanites' replication programme, and combined that with the design of the constructor bots, creating the Replicators. The problem with that, is the fact that the Replicators were also programmed to defend themselves against anything that was deemed a threat, which has led to them infesting the home galaxy of the Asgard."

"Why haven't the Asgard, with all their technology, stopped them?" Flitwick asked.

"They can't." Harry replied sadly, "the Asgard don't have the right kind of technology. They would need projectile weapons, and they don't know how to create things like that any more. They have been cloning themselves for so long that they have lost not only the ability to procreate, but also the ability to innovate and invent."

"You mean they're sterile?" Albus asked.

"It's worse than that." Lucius grimaced, "the genetic degeneration has progressed so far that they are asexual, having completely lost their reproductive organs."

"Merlin." Minerva muttered.

"Yeah." Teddy nodded, "cloning themselves seemed like a good idea when they started, but after a few centuries of doing so, they lost the original samples, so they've been cloning clones, which means that their bodies are now extremely frail. Where once they were seven foot tall, with huge muscles, they are now barely three feet tall, stick-thin, with disproportionately large eyes and heads."

"That truly does sound bad." Sprout whispered.

"It really is." Teddy sighed.

**Shouts reached from the streets below. Still wearing the Invisibility Cloak on, they hurried toward the grimy window and looked down. Their saviour, whom Harry now recognized as the Hog's Head's barman, was the only person not wearing a hood.**

"**So what?" he was bellowing into one of the hooded faces. "So what? You send Dementors down my street, I'll send a Patronus back at'em! I'm not having'em near me, I've told you that, I'm not having it!"**

"You tell 'em sir." Colin and Dennis cheered, eliciting laughter from those seated around them.

"He definitely has a way with words." Hannah giggled.

"**That wasn't your Patronus," said a Death Eater. "That was a stag. It was Potter's!"**

"**Stag!" roared the barman, and he pulled out a wand. "Stag! You idiot – _expecto patronum!_"**

**Something huge and horned erupted from the wand. Head down, it charged toward the High Street, and out of sight.**

"I do believe that might have been a goat." James grinned.

"Yep." Aberforth nodded with a smile.

"**That's not what I saw" said the Death Eater, though with less certainty.**

"**Curfew's been broken, you heard the noise," one of his companions told the barman. "Someone was out on the streets against regulations –"**

"**If I want to put my cat out, I will, and be damned to your curfew!"**

"Are they really stupid enough to believe that?" Padma asked incredulously.

"As I'm sure has already been mentioned, most of the Death Eaters are utter morons." Lucius sniggered, "they would believe anything if it sounded even remotely plausible."

"There are very few Death Eaters that have brains, and even fewer that use them." Snape agreed.

"I think the really intelligent ones are either dead or have defected." Bellatrix giggled.

"Very probably." Narcissa nodded.

"He has still got Dolohov, Rookwood, Yaxley and Parkinson." Snape grimaced, "but they are about the only ones left in his ranks who are intelligent. All the rest are either dunderheads who can't seem to recognise which end of the wand they're supposed to hold, or are just too bloodthirsty to be of any use to him."

"**_You_ set off the Caterwauling Charm?"**

"**What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven't pressed your little Dark Marks, and summoned him. He's not going to like being called here, for me and my old cat, is he, now?"**

"**Don't worry about us." said one of the Death Eaters, "worry about yourself, breaking curfew!"**

"**And where will you lot traffic potions and poisons when my pub's closed down? What will happen to your little sidelines then?"**

"If you are clever enough to say something like that, and are willing to make life very difficult for the Death Eaters, why didn't you apply yourself when you were a student?" Minerva asked Aberforth, pursing her lips.

"I don't know." Aberforth sighed, "I guess I just didn't think school was all that important in the grand scheme of things. Looking after my family was the most important thing to me at the time."

"I can understand that." Minerva nodded.

"**Are you threatening –?"**

"**I keep my mouth shut, it's why you come here, isn't it?"**

"**I still say I saw a stag Patronus!" shouted the first Death Eater.**

"**Stag?" roared the barman. "It's a _goat_, idiot!"**

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Abe." James sniggered.

"**All right, we made a mistake," said the second Death Eater. "Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient!"**

**The Death Eaters strode back towards the High Street. Hermione moaned with relief, wove out from under the Cloak, and sat down on a wobble-legged chair. Harry drew the curtains then pulled the Cloak off himself and Ron. They could hear the barman down below, rebolting the door of the bar, then climbing the stairs.**

**Harry's attention was caught by something on the mantelpiece: a small, rectangular mirror, propped on top of it, right beneath the portrait of the girl.**

"So it was his eye Harry kept seeing in the mirror." Blaise muttered, "glad that mystery has been solved at last."

**The barman entered the room.**

"**You bloody fools," he said gruffly, **

"Oh that's nice." Lily growled, glaring at Aberforth.

**looking from one to the other of them. "What were you thinking, coming here?"**

"**Thank you," said Harry. "We can't thank you enough. You saved our lives!"**

**The barman grunted. **

"And that's his way of saying no problem." Hermione giggled.

"I didn't know you could speak troll." Harry grinned.

"I can't, but I can understand the meaning of the various grunting noises men make." Hermione snorted.

"Fair enough." Harry nodded.

**Harry approached him looking up into the face: trying to see past the long, stringy, wire-grey hair beard. He wore spectacles. Behind the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant blue.**

"**It's your eye I've been seeing in the mirror."**

"I wonder how he got the other mirror." James murmured.

"I bought it off Dung a while ago." Aberforth said gruffly.

"And I tried strangling the little weasel just after he sold it." Harry grinned.

"I heard." Aberforth nodded.

**There was a silence in the room. Harry and the barman looked at each other.**

"**You sent Dobby."**

**The barman nodded and looked around for the elf.**

"**Thought he'd be with you. Where've you left him?"**

"**He's dead," said Harry, "Bellatrix Lestrange killed him."**

"Nice and blunt." Cygnus commented dryly.

**The barman face was impassive. After a few moments he said, "I'm sorry to hear it, I liked that elf."**

"That's because he's so sweet." Lily cooed, grabbing the little house-elf in another hug. She had fortunately let him go before the break, but because he was still in the great hall, listening to the story, Dobby didn't have any chance of escaping.

"Is Dobby a teddy-bear?" The little house-elf asked in a small voice.

"You are for now." Lily giggled, "and you need a hug."

"Oh." Dobby nodded, trying to relax, though he really had no idea how to cope with being hugged. He did enjoy it, but really felt that he should be the one providing the hugs.

**He turned away, lightning lamps with prods of his wand, not looking at any of them.**

"**You're Aberforth," said Harry to the man's back.**

**He neither confirmed or denied it, but bent to light the fire.**

"**How did you get this?" Harry asked, walking across to Sirius's mirror, the twin of the one he had broken nearly two years before.**

"**Bought it from Dung 'bout a year ago," said Aberforth. **

"He only had it because he'd stolen it." Harry growled, "along with pretty much everything else that wasn't bolted down, in that house."

"**Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you."**

**Ron gasped.**

"**The silver doe," he said excitedly, "Was that you too?"**

"Oh Merlin, Ron, he's already shown that his Patronus is a goat." Daphne sighed.

"And you should know the differences between goats and deer, one of your animagus forms is a goat." Hermione added.

"**What are you talking about?" asked Aberforth.**

"**Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!"**

"**Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son. Haven't I just prove my Patronus is a goat?"**

"**Oh," said Ron, "Yeah … well, I'm hungry!" he added defensively as his stomach gave an enormous rumble.**

"You're always hungry." Harry sniggered.

"**I got food," said Aberforth, and he sloped out of the room, reappearing moments later with a large loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug of mead,**

"A good solid meal." Kingsley grinned, "you can make a lot of cheese sandwiches out of a loaf of bread and a block of cheese."

"You really do like cheese sandwiches." Bill snorted.

"Of course." Kingsley said, sounding as though he couldn't believe that there were people who didn't like them.

**which he set upon a small table in front of the fire. Ravenous, they ate and drank, and for a while there was sound of chewing.**

"**Right then," said Aberforth when the had eaten their fill and Harry and Ron sat slumped dozily in their chairs. "We need to think of the best way to get you out of here.**

"Unlikely." Harry snorted, "even if we got out, we'd go back again, and again, and again. We weren't going to give up."

**Can't be done by night, you heard what happens if anyone moves outdoors during darkness: Caterwauling Charm's set off, they'll be onto you like Bowtruckles on Doxy eggs. I don't reckon I'll be able to pass of a stag as a goat a second time. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, then you can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and you'll be able to Disapparate there. Might see Hagrid. He's been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever since they tried to arrest him."**

"There's no way we were going to agree to that." Hermione said, "even if we wanted to, we couldn't."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd have been able to live with myself if I did agree and run." Harry nodded, "besides, we knew how to end the war, and were going to see it through to the end."

"**We're not leaving," said Harry. "We need to get into Hogwarts."**

"**Don't be stupid, boy," said Aberforth.**

"My son is not stupid." Lily snapped, glaring at Aberforth, "he's completing a mission for the headmaster."

"I wouldn't know that would I?" Aberforth growled, "my bastard brother probably didn't tell me what he'd got Potter doing."

"**We've got to," said Harry.**

"**What you've got to do," said Aberforth, leaning forward, "is to get as far from here as from here as you can."**

"No, I refuse to step back and let Voldemort completely destroy everything I care about." Harry said, "the time for hiding is over, it's time to fight."

"**You don't understand. There isn't much time. We've got to get into the castle. Dumbledore – I mean, your brother – wanted us –"**

Albus winced, knowing that his brother hated people mentioning him.

**The firelight made the grimy lenses of Aberforth's glasses momentarily opaque, a bright flat white, and Harry remembered the blind eyes of the giant spider, Aragog.**

Ron shuddered, remembering the night in their second year when he and Harry had come face-to-face with Aragog, and the spider had practically fed them to his children.

"**My brother Albus wanted a lot of things," said Aberforth, "and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans. You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. He's gone where none of this can hurt him, and you don't owe him anything."**

"I can't run, and I won't." Harry said, "that's not who I am."

"And we all owe him, he was the only one Voldemort ever truly feared." Neville added, "why else would Voldemort not try and take control of the school or the Ministry before killing the headmaster?"

"**You don't understand." said Harry again.**

"**Oh, don't I?" said Aberforth quietly. "You don't think I understood my own brother? Think you know Albus better than I did?"**

"You seem to think that he hasn't changed over the years." Remus said.

"That's because he hasn't." Aberforth growled.

"People do change, you may have known him when you were teenagers, but that does not mean that you know him now." Charlus sighed.

"**I didn't mean that," said Harry, whose brain felt sluggish with exhaustion and from the surfeit of food and wine. "It's … he left me a job."**

"**Did he now?" said Aberforth. "Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy? Sort of thing you'd expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without overstretching themselves?"**

"No, but that doesn't matter." Ron said.

"Besides, Uncle Harry is far too stubborn to give up when he gets overwhelmed." Teddy added.

**Ron gave a rather grim laugh. Hermione was looking strained.**

"**I – it's not easy, no," said Harry. "But I've got to –"**

"**Got to? Why '_got to'_? He's dead, isn't he?" said Aberforth roughly. "Let it go, boy, before you follow him! Save yourself!"**

"Honestly, don't even bother trying, he won't." Flitwick sighed, "you won't get anywhere."

"I don't know Potter as well as you, obviously." Aberforth grumbled, "and this is a book, so I can't change what I haven't done yet."

"**I can't."**

"**Why not?"**

"**I –" Harry felt overwhelmed; he could not explain, so he took the offensive instead. "But you're fighting too, you're in the Order of the Phoenix –"**

"**I was," said Aberforth. "The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different's kidding themselves. **

"You can't really believe that?" Pansy asked incredulously.

"From his point of view, it probably did look like that." Minerva said, "for anyone who didn't know about the Horcruxes, and Harry's mission to find and destroy them, the news would seem dire."

"I don't generally get out much, but I do hear the news in my pub, so while I wouldn't have seen anything, I do find out a bit about what goes on outside Hogsmeade." Aberforth added, "and with that snakey bastard controlling almost everything, things would look bad."

**It'll never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. Best take these two with you."**

"Voldemort won't let them get away that easily." Narcissa whispered sadly.

"He wants Harry dead, and I don't think he'll rest until he has Harry, dead at his feet." Snape grimaced, "and I don't think he'll let Ron and Hermione get away if he does find them."

**He jerked a thumb at Ron and Hermione. "They'll be in danger long as they live now everyone knows they've been working with you."**

"**I can't leave," said Harry. "I've got a job –"**

"**Give it to someone else!"**

"I can't." Harry snarled, "'neither can live while the other survives', that's what the prophecy says, and it's right, Voldemort is obsessed with seeing me dead, so he effectively can't live his life while I'm around, and until he's dead, I can't really live mine."

"**I can't. It's got to be me, Dumbledore explained it all –"**

"**Oh, did he now? And did he tell you everything, was he honest with you?"**

"One can't explain something they don't understand themselves." Albus sighed, "I explained what I knew, what I could figure out, but there's so much that I just don't understand myself that I can't explain."

**Harry wanted him with all his heart to say "yes," but somehow the simple word would not rise to his lips, Aberforth seemed to know what he was thinking.**

"**I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy at our mother's knee. Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, and Albus … he was a natural."**

"How else would we have kept Ariana safe from those who would want to lock her up?" Albus whimpered, "Aberforth, you know as well as I that if the authorities had found out about her illness, she would have been taken away and locked up in St Mungo's, probably without being able to see us. They would have thought she was too dangerous."

**The old man's eyes travelled to the painting of the girl over the mantelpiece. It was, now Harry looked around properly, the only picture in the room. There was no photograph of Albus Dumbledore, nor of anyone else.**

"**Mr Dumbledore?" said Hermione rather timidly. "Is that your sister? Ariana?"**

"**Yes." said Aberforth tersely. "Been reading Rita Skeeter, have you, missy?"**

"We read it, but we didn't believe it." Minerva hissed, "Skeeter's trash was mostly made up."

"How accurate was she?" Aberforth asked tersely.

"Accurate enough." Harry grimaced, "she got most of the information for her book, from Bathilda Bagshot."

"Bathilda wouldn't talk to someone like Skeeter." Aberforth growled.

"No, but she wouldn't have had a choice if she'd been dosed with Veritaserum and had her mind raped." Hermione snorted angrily, "and was then obliviated once Skeeter had finished with her."

"That's not good." Aberforth grimaced.

**Even by the rosy light of the fire it was clear that Hermione had turned red.**

"**Elphias Doge mentioned her to us," said Harry, trying to spare Hermione.**

"**That old berk," muttered Aberforth, taking another swig of mead. "Thought the sun shone out of my brother's every office, he did. Well, so did plenty of people, you three included, by the looks of it."**

"Did he really have to put it like that?" Daphne giggled.

"I think he wanted to make a point, but yeah, I've now got strange images running around my head." Hermione shrugged.

"Me too." Daphne nodded.

**Harry kept quiet. He did not want to express the doubts and uncertainties about Dumbledore that had riddled him for months now. He had made his choice while he dug Dobby's grave, he had decided to continue along the winding, dangerous path indicated for him by Albus Dumbledore, to accept that he had not been told everything that he wanted to know, but simply to trust. He had no desire to doubt again, he did not want to hear anything that would deflect him from his purpose. He met Aberforth's gaze, which was so strikingly like his brothers': the bright blue eyes gave the same impression that they were X-raying the object of their scrutiny, and Harry thought that Aberforth knew what he was thinking and despised him for it.**

"Well I do know Legilimency." Aberforth shrugged, wishing to either delay the reading so he didn't have to read what he knew would be coming up, or read as quickly as possible, so he could get it over and done with. "So yes, James Potter, I knew it was you who put that crushed Fizzing Whizbee in my Firewhisky during your last year."

"**Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry, very much," said Hermione in a low voice.**

"**Did he now?" said Aberforth. "Funny thing, how many of the people my brother cared about very much, ended up in a worse state than if he'd left 'em well alone."**

"And how many more are better off having had his help, than if he'd left them alone?" Minerva snapped.

"Or how many more Dark Lords would there have been if he hadn't been there to bring them back to the Light?" Snape sneered.

"**What do you mean?" asked Hermione breathlessly.**

"**Never you mind," said Aberforth.**

"How rude." Ginny said coolly, glaring at Aberforth, though she knew he hadn't said anything yet.

"**But that's a really serious thing to say!" said Hermione. "Are you – are you talking about your sister?"**

**Aberforth glared at her: his lips moved as if he were chewing the words he was holding back. Then he burst into speech.**

"**When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, by three Muggle boys. They'd seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge: she was a kid, she couldn't control it, no witch or wizard can at that age. **

"Voldemort could, he discovered his magic at five, and was using it." Harry muttered.

**What they saw, scared them, I expect. They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn't show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it."**

Lily flinched, remembering when her sister would call her a freak.

"Are you all right Mrs Potter?" Susan asked nervously.

"My sister called me a freak." Lily sighed, "she said I was abnormal, being able to do magic. That's partly why she and I didn't get on after I started Hogwarts, and why we didn't want Harry to be raised by her after our deaths."

**Hermione's eyes were huge in the firelight: Ron looked slightly sick. Aberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity of his pain.**

"**It destroyed her, what they did: she was never right again. She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it: it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless.**

"Merlin, that's awful." Hannah whispered.

"That's one of the reasons why trying to stamp magic out of someone is so dangerous." Flitwick murmured.

There wasn't a dry eye in the hall. Almost everyone was crying, even the few girls who wanted to join the Death Eaters. They were all trying not to imagine what they would have done in that position.

"**And my father went after the bastards that did it," said Aberforth, "and attacked them. And they locked him up in Azkaban for it.**

"I don't blame him." Cygnus said, "if that had happened to one of my daughters, I would have done the same thing."

"Any father would." Mr Weasley nodded.

**He never said why he'd done it, because if the Ministry had known what Ariana had become, she'd have been locked up in St. Mungo's for good. They'd have seen her as a serious threat to the International Statute of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn't keep it in any longer.**

"Wasn't there something someone could do to help her?" Lily asked in a hollow voice.

"No." Albus sobbed, "I spent many years trying to find something, but nothing worked."

"**We had to keep her safe and quiet. We moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after her, and tried to keep her calm and happy.**

"**_I_ was her favourite," he said, and as he said it, a grubby schoolboy seemed to look out through Aberforth's wrinkles and tangled beard. **

"**Not Albus, he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, reading his books and counting his prizes, keeping up with his correspondence with 'the most notable magical names of the day,'" Aberforth sneered.**

"What a prat." Smith sneered.

"Shut it Smith." Harry growled, "you know nothing."

"And I suppose you know more." Smith snorted.

"Actually, yeah." Harry smirked, "remember when I mentioned that he'd blood-adopted me as his grandson? I was asked to go through all the paperwork after the war, just to make sure that there were no outstanding debts or legal issues that needed to be dealt with, and I found quite a lot of that correspondence. Most of the letters, apart from a few, were practically begging for people to help him find a cure for Ariana. There were no names mentioned, it was all supposedly hypothetical, but I could sense the pleading in those letters. It was heartbreaking."

"So even if he did seem to be ignoring her plight, my brother really did care." Aberforth whispered, completely shocked by what he was hearing.

"Of course I did." Albus sobbed, "she was my sister too, I loved her just as much as you did, but I didn't know how to help her. I knew I wasn't very good at the emotional part, but I was good at magic, so I thought that I could find some spell, a potion, or something that would help."

"I'm sorry." Aberforth muttered, not particularly good at apologising, but he did realise that he had been wrong about his brother, so he knew that he would have to let go of his pride.

"**_he_ didn't want to be bothered with her. She liked me best. I could get her to eat when she wouldn't do it for my mother, I could calm her down, when she was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she used to help me feed the goats.**

Aberforth choked up, wishing he had known how much his brother had cared for their sister, and that he hadn't said any of what he was having to read, but he knew that he would have to continue, while feeling like he was being a self-centred idiot.

"Do you want someone else to read?" Luna asked dreamily.

"No, I'll be all right, I need to face my demons." Aberforth whispered, forcing himself to ignore the way the words were cutting into his chest like the sharpest of knives.

"**Then, when she was fourteen … see, I wasn't there." said Aberforth. "If I'd been there, I could have calmed her down. She had one of her rages, and my mother wasn't as young as she was, and … it was an accident. Ariana couldn't control it. But my mother was killed." **

"That's horrible." Dorea said, bursting into tears, like all the other adult women in the hall, who had tried to keep themselves under at least something resembling control.

Minerva and Flitwick were trying to comfort Albus, who had completely broken down, not only at the reminder of his mother's death and his sister's suffering, but also at the thought that his brother had thought him so heartless as to ignore Ariana.

**Harry felt a horrible mixture of pity and repulsion; he did not want to hear any more, but Aberforth kept talking, and Harry wondered how long it had been since he had spoken about this; whether, in fact, he had ever spoken about it.**

"I haven't." Aberforth murmured, "this is the first time I've ever spoken of it."

"Keeping it to yourself is not good." Charlus whispered, "it's not healthy to not talk about things like that."

"**So that put paid to Albus's trip round the world with little Doge. The pair of 'em came home for my mother's funeral and then Doge went off on his own, and Albus settled down as head of the family. Ha!"**

**Aberforth spat into the fire.**

"**I'd have looked after her, I told him so, I didn't care about school, I'd have stayed home and done it. He told me I had to finish my education and _he'd_ take over from my mother.**

"Well, you did have to finish your education." Minerva said, trying to be stern, but failing due to the tears still pouring down her cheeks. "Just because your sister was suffering did not mean you had to throw your education away."

**Bit of a comedown for Mr Brilliant, there's no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every other day. But he did all right for a few weeks … 'til he came."**

A lot of people were looking livid, each beginning to hate the headmaster for seemingly wanting to run away from his duty to his family.

**And now a positively dangerous look crept over Aberforth's face.**

"**Grindelwald. And at last, my brother had an _equal_ to talk to, someone just as bright and talented _he_ was. And looking after Ariana took a back seat then, while they were hatching all their plans for a new Wizarding order and looking for _Hallows_, and whatever else it was they were so interested in. Grand plans for the benefit of all wizardkind, and if one young girl neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for _the greater good_?**

"That's disgusting." Lavender said, "how dare you ignore the fact that your sister needed you to care for her?"

"I was blinded." Albus whimpered, sagging in the arms of the two seated on either side of him. "I fell in love, but Gellert used me, and I didn't notice. I had thought, when he first arrived and told me about the Hallows, that maybe they would be able to cure Ariana, but when I fell in love with him, he began to manipulate me into doing what he wanted, and I loved him so much, I would have done anything for him."

"**But after a few weeks of it, I'd had enough, I had. It was nearly time for me to go hack to Hogwarts, so I told 'em, both of 'em, face-to-face, like I am to you, now," and Aberforth looked down at Harry, and it took a little imagination to see him as a teenager, wiry and angry, confronting his elder brother. "I told him, you'd better give it up now. You can't move her, she's in no fit state, you can't take her with you, wherever it is you're planning to go, when you're making your clever speeches, trying to whip yourselves up a following. He didn't like that." said Aberforth, and his eyes were briefly occluded by the fireflight on the lenses of his glasses: they shone white and blind again. "Grindelwald didn't like that at all. He got angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant brother … didn't I understand, my poor sister wouldn't have to be hidden once they'd changed the world, and led the wizards out of hiding, and taught the Muggles their place?**

A lot of the girls in the hall looked as though they were about to explode at the headmaster, but Harry could see how much what Aberforth had said was hurting Albus, so he tried to stop them. "Don't blame him for finding it easier to hate all muggles for the actions of a mere few. He was eighteen, and had been thrown into a situation that he just wasn't prepared for."

"Put yourself in his position." Hermione advised, "an eighteen-year-old who's been learning as much as he can to try and cure a little girl who was the apple of his eye, and then he's stuck trying to look after her, keep his little brother on the straight and narrow, and he has no one he can turn to without running the risk of having that little girl taken away and locked up. Would you be able to do anything differently?"

No one had an answer to that, so they all just kept quiet, thinking about what they had been told, and wondering why they hadn't looked at the situation from all angles before reacting.

"**And there was an argument … and I pulled my wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus Curse used on me by my brother's best friend –**

"Oh Merlin, if that was what Grindelwald did to the headmaster's little brother, what would he have done if the headmaster had tried to go against him?" Padma wondered, now realising why professor Dumbledore had been afraid of arguing with his best friend.

**and Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us were duelling, and the flashing lights and the bangs set her off, she couldn't stand it –"**

**The colour was draining from Aberforth's face as though he had suffered a mortal wound.**

"– **and I think she wanted to help, but she didn't really know what she was doing, and I don't know which of us did it, it could have been any of us – and she was dead."**

"Oh God." Parvati whispered, "that's horrible, especially not knowing …"

**His voice broke on the last word and he dropped down into the nearest chair. Hermione's face was wet with tears, and Ron was almost as pale as Aberforth. Harry felt nothing but revulsion: he wished he had not heard it, wished he could wash is mind clean of it.**

"**I'm so … I'm so sorry," Hermione whispered.**

"**Gone," croaked Aberforth. "Gone forever."**

"She wouldn't want you to mourn her." Luna whispered, "you'll see her again, when it is your time. She's waiting for you, but she wants you to live your life first, as well as you can."

**He wiped his nose on hiss cuff and cleared his throat.**

"'**Course, Grindelwald scarpered. He had a bit of a track record already, back in his own country, and he didn't want Ariana set to his account too. And Albus was free, wasn't he? Free of the burden of his sister, free to become the greatest wizard of the –"**

"No one would be free to be anything after something like that." Orion snapped, "that's just a ridiculous idea."

"You two need to talk about this." Minerva said, "this has gone on too long, you need to clear the air, otherwise it will tear you both apart, even more than it already has."

"**He was never free," said Harry.**

"**I beg your pardon?" said Aberforth.**

"**Never," said Harry. "The night that your brother died, he drank a potion that drove him out of his mind. He started screaming, pleading with someone who wasn't there. _'Don't hurt them, please … hurt me instead.'_"**

"What?" Aberforth sputtered, unable to believe what he was reading.

"He drank Dementor's Essence, a potion that has the same effect as a Dementor." Harry said, "it forced him to relive his worst memory, just like a Dementor would."

Aberforth could not believe that his brother's worst memory was the same as his.

"It's true." Albus whispered, "that was the worst night of my life. It has been for the last ninety-seven years."

**Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry. He had never gone into details about what had happened on the island on the lake: the events that had taken place after he and Dumbledore had returned to Hogwarts had eclipsed it so thoroughly.**

"**He thought he was back there with you and Grindelwald, I know he did," said Harry, remembering Dumbledore whispering, pleading. "He thought he was watching Grindelwald hurting you and Ariana … it was torture to him, if you'd seen him then, you wouldn't say he was free."**

"Thank you Harry." Albus whispered, almost inaudibly.

**Aberforth seemed lost in contemplation of his own knotted and veined hands. After a long pause he said. "How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn't more interested in the greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren't dispensable, just like my little sister?"**

"No one is dispensable." Minerva snapped, "how you could say something like that is beyond me, and makes me wonder about your intelligence."

Aberforth didn't reply, knowing that she was right to wonder. He wondered why he would say that as well, but then realised that he wouldn't have known that his brother was in just as much pain as he was.

**A shard of ice seemed to pierce Harry's heart.**

"**I don't believe it. Dumbledore loved Harry," said Hermione.**

"**Why didn't he tell him to hide, then?" shot back Aberforth. "Why didn't he say to him, take care of yourself, here's how to survive?"**

"**Because," said Harry before Hermione could answer, "sometimes you've _got_ to think about more than your own safety! Sometimes you've _got_ to think about the greater good! This is war!"**

"And he says he's not a hero." Lucius teased.

"Seriously, Harry, if you're not a hero, I don't know who is." Hermione giggled.

"You, Neville, all those who chose to fight in the final battle." Harry shrugged, "I didn't have a choice, Voldemort would have come for me even if I refused to fight, you could have run."

"No, we couldn't." Ron said, "we didn't really have a choice either, not if we wanted to live free and without fear."

"**You're seventeen, boy!"**

"**I'm of age, and I'm going to keep fighting even if you've given up!"**

"**Who says I've given up?"**

"Er … you did." Ron snorted, "you were the one who told us that we should give up too."

"'**The Order of the Phoenix is finished,'" Harry repeated, "'You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different's kidding themselves.'"**

"**I don't say I like it, but it's the truth!"**

"No it's not." Harry smirked.

"**No, it isn't." said Harry. "Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge on to me. I'm going to keep going until I succeed - or I die. Don't think I don't know how this might end. I've known it for years."**

"Yeah, that's true." Hermione murmured, remembering back in first year when Harry told her and Ron that he would die before letting Voldemort take over.

**He waited for Aberforth to jeer or to argue, but he did not. He merely scowled.**

"**We need to get into Hogwarts," said Harry again. "If you can't help us, we'll wait till daybreak, leave you in peace, and try to find a way in ourselves. If you _can_ help us – well, now would be a great time to mention it."**

**Aberforth remained fixed in his chair, gazing at Harry with the eyes, that were so extraordinarily like his brother's. At last he cleared his throat, got to his feet, walked around the little table, and approached the portrait of Ariana.**

"**You know what to do," he said.**

"I don't understand." Fred muttered.

"You'll see." Ron grinned.

"I thought she was just a portrait." Bill frowned, remembering the few times he had been in the Hogshead and seen that picture.

"She is currently." Aberforth nodded.

**She smiled, turned, and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, one of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally she was swallowed by the darkness.**

"Well, that's different." Remus murmured.

"**Er – what –?" began Ron.**

"**There's only one way in now," said Aberforth. "You must know they've got all the old secret passageways covered at both ends, Dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies … **

"I can't believe you were forced to allow a pair of Death Eaters like them, into the school." Sprout hissed.

"I don't think I would have had a choice." Snape grimaced, "if I refused, Voldemort might have decided to put someone like Dolohov in charge, and had people like Travers or Yaxley taking the positions the Carrows were in."

"Yeah, that would have been even worse." Vector mumbled.

**well, that's your lookout, isn't it? You say you're prepared to die."**

"**But what …?" said Hermione, frowning at Ariana's picture.**

**A tiny white dot reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was somebody else with her now, someone taller than she was, who was limping along, looking excited. His hair was longer than Harry had ever seen. He appeared and torn. Larger and larger the two figures grew, until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait.**

**Then the whole thing swung forward on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. **

"There's no secret passageway there now." Remus frowned.

"There wasn't when we made the map, but who knows what has changed since then?" James pointed out.

"True." Remus sighed.

**And out of it, his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, clambered the real Neville Longbottom, **

"What the hell happened to you mate?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know." Neville grimaced, "but it doesn't sound good."

"You'll find out what happened in the next chapter." Harry smiled.

**who gave a roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece and yelled.**

"**I knew you'd come! _I knew it, Harry!_"**

"That was the end of the chapter." Aberforth said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I think it's time for the evening meal now." Albus smiled, "we can take a break and refuel, before diving back into the story."

"Good idea." A few of the staff agreed, smiling at the students whose stomachs had rumbled loudly.


	37. Chapter 37

**The Lost Diadem**

As soon as everyone had finished eating, Albus stood up and asked, "who would like to read next?"

"I will." The Grey Lady whispered, "I must face my demons, and if reading a chapter is one of the only ways for a ghost to do so, then I will, with all the fortitude my father gave me."

"Very well." Albus nodded, enchanting the book for her in the same way he had for the Bloody Baron.

"**The Lost Diadem**," The Grey Lady read in a soft but clear voice, wincing slightly, but forging ahead, knowing that her deepest secret would be revealed very soon, and that she would have to face the fallout when it came.

Some people, mainly students in Ravenclaw, were about to ask what the title meant, but the fact that Harry, Hermione and those at the middle table were glaring at them, and the fact that they saw how pale the young female ghost had become, meant that they kept quiet.

"**Neville – what the – how –?"**

**But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: one of his eyes was swollen yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face, and his general air of unkemptness suggested that he had been living rough. **

"What the hell happened to you, Neville?" Lily asked, horrified by the injuries she was hearing about.

"I dunno." Neville replied, grimacing slightly at his description.

"You'll see." Teddy smiled, "but I will say this, Neville, you got those injuries, proving that you were a true Gryffindor, refusing to back down from the Carrows."

**Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"**

"**Neville, what's happened to you?"**

"**What? This?" Neville dismissed his injuries with a shake of the head. **

"Merlin, I never thought I'd hear about Neville, the shy kid with low self-esteem, talking like that, and sounding as though he doesn't care about being hurt." Lavender whispered, gazing at the brunette in awe.

"**This is nothing, Seamus is worse. **

"What the hell have the Carrows been doing to our students?" Sprout and Minerva hissed, both utterly furious that people could be injured that badly while in the so-called safest place in Britain.

"You'll see." Hermione sighed, "Neville told us all about what he and all the students who didn't want to support Voldemort, suffered."

**You'll see. Shall we get going then? Oh," he turned to Aberforth, "Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."**

"How?" Neville wondered.

"We had given you our DA coins just before we got to King's Cross at the beginning of summer." Harry grinned, "we knew that we wouldn't be returning, and we thought you would have more use for them than we would."

"Merlin, I'm honoured." Neville whispered, "I'm honoured that you would trust me that much."

"You've earned it." Harry smiled.

"I'm sorry, what coins are you talking about?" Sprout asked.

"Fake galleons that Hermione, who somehow had more time available than the rest of us, had enchanted with a Protean charm." Ron grinned, "they were how we organised DA meetings last year."

"Everyone in the DA has one, but the three of us had the master coins, the ones that could be used to alter the dates and times on the others." Harry added.

"Impressive." Scrimgeour murmured.

"**Couple more?" repeated Aberforth ominously. "What d'you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!"**

"**I know, that's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar," said Neville. "Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot."**

**Neville held out his hand to Hermione and helped her to climb up onto the mantelpiece and into the tunnel; Ron followed, then Neville. Harry addressed Aberforth.**

"**I don't know how to thank you. You've saved our lives twice."**

"**Look after 'em, then," said Aberforth gruffly. "I might not be able to save 'em a third time."**

"Honestly, can't you accept it when someone thanks you for something?" Flitwick sighed, looking at Aberforth, who looked a little uncomfortable.

**Harry chambered up onto the mantelpiece and through the hole behind Ariana's portrait. There were smooth stone steps on the other side: It looked as though the passageway had been there for years. Brass lamps hung from the walls and the earthy floor was worn and smooth; as they walked, their shadows rippled, fan-like, across the wall.**

"**How long's this been here?" Ron asked as they set off. "It isn't on the Marauder's Map, is it Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of school?"**

"We only found seven, but since we never found the Room of Requirement, or the Chamber of Secrets, there may be other things we missed." Remus said.

"There's also the possibility that that passage wasn't there when we were making the map." James pointed out.

"I can't believe there are seven passages out of the school." Dennis said with a mischievous grin.

"Yep, we'll show you them at some point." James smirked.

"Four of them are useless now, so there are actually only three." Fred sighed.

"That's a shame." Remus said.

"They're only useless because they weren't built at the same time as the rest of the castle." Harry smiled, "do remember that the castle is just an illusion, created by the Founders, who decided to add secret passages, so people could escape in case of attack. The three secret passages that are still intact, were part of the original city-ship, and since the Ancients used a lot of Naquadah in all of their creations, those three passages are far more stable than anything that wasn't built using Naquadah."

"Merlin." Minerva whispered, finding that she was learning a lot more about the school from Harry and his friends, than she had ever learned as either a student or a teacher.

"**They sealed off all of those before the start of the year," said Neville. "There's no chance of getting through any of them now, not with the curses over the entrances and Death Eaters and Dementors waiting at the exits." **

"They didn't put curses or Dementors on one of the passageways." Hermione giggled.

"Of course not, they didn't need to." Harry snorted, "it's already guarded, by the tree that seems to be training for the American baseball championship, or Wimbledon."

"Yeah, and no one is stupid enough to go near it if they can help it." Ron nodded.

**He started walking backward, beaming, drinking them in. **

"I wonder if that quenched his thirst." Charlus said.

"What?" Harry snorted.

"It was a joke." Charlus whined, "he was drinking you in, and I wondered if he thought you were a substitute for water."

"I worry about your sanity, Dad." James commented.

"What sanity?" Dorea giggled.

"**Never mind that stuff … Is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? **

"Yes they did." Seamus grinned, "and it was fecking awesome."

"Mr Finnigan, while I do agree that it was, as you said, awesome, I do not like your language." Minerva snapped, "five points from Gryffindor."

"Sorry." Seamus muttered, chastened.

**It's everywhere, everyone's talking about it, Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner!"**

"Merlin, why would you allow such a thing to happen, Sev?" Lily asked, horror-struck.

"I doubt I would have been able to stop it." Snape sighed, "I don't know what I would do in that situation, but I do know that I would never allow a student to be beaten up."

"I wouldn't have expected Carrow to want to get his hands dirty, and would leave things like beating students up to others." Kingsley frowned.

"Terry was one of a few Carrow wanted to punish himself." Draco grimaced, "any other students, and Carrow left it to his so-called teaching assistant."

"Who was that then?" Sprout asked nervously.

"Bletchley." Daphne growled, "and he seemed to enjoy doing it. From what I heard, he considered himself to be Dolohov's apprentice, but also took lessons from Greyback."

"Did he take the Dark Mark?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Yes, he was part of the same group I was." Draco sighed, "but unlike me, and maybe a few of the others, he was eager to accept it, and boasted that he was going to be one of Voldemort's most loyal."

"I remember seeing the fanatical gleam in Bletchley's eyes when he was branded." Bellatrix murmured, "it was truly disturbing to see someone so gleeful about being bound to a monster like Voldemort."

"Who else was in that group, who didn't want to be there?" Kingsley asked, making a list, to make sure he and the Aurors could try and find a way to protect those who were unwilling followers.

"Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey, Lucian Bole, Peregrine Derrick and Terence Higgs." Draco listed, "Warrington was there as well, but I'm not sure whether he wanted to be or not, though I don't think so. I never actually got a chance to ask, he died in a broom accident about a week after the war was over."

"Merlin, they're all recent graduates." Sprout whispered, "those poor boys."

"**Yeah, it's true," said Harry.**

**Neville laughed gleefully.**

"**What did you do with the dragon?"**

"**Released it into the wild," said Ron. "Hermione was all for keeping it as a pet –"**

"Ron, you just made me sound like a lunatic." Hermione said.

"You don't need Ron to make you sound completely loony." Teddy smirked, "you do that just fine by yourself."

"Third year comes to mind." Harry grinned, "and the spectacular explosion after Ron returned."

"Then there was the birds she set on me." Ron added.

"Oh yes, can't forget them." Harry nodded, "so Hermione, you are perfectly capable of sounding like a lunatic, without help."

"Oh all right." Hermione smiled.

"**Don't exaggerate, Ron –"**

"**But what have you been doing? People have been saying you've just been on the run, Harry, but I don't think so. I think you've been up to something."**

"We were." Ron grinned.

"**You're right," said Harry, "but tell us about Hogwarts, Neville, we haven't heard anything."**

"**It's been … well, it's not really like Hogwarts any more," said Neville, the smile fading from his face as he spoke. **

"That's such a shame." Sprout whispered, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. She couldn't help feeling a deep sorrow for all the students, who were supposed to enjoy their years at the school, but couldn't because there were Death Eaters terrorising them.

"**Do you know about the Carrows?"**

"**Those two Death Eaters who teach here?"**

"**They do more than teach," said Neville. "They're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."**

"That doesn't sound good." Flitwick said, slightly nervously.

"No it doesn't." Snape frowned, wondering whether he would be able to stop the Carrows if they got too exuberant in their punishments.

"**Like Umbridge?"**

"**Nah, they make her look tame. **

"They must be truly awful then." George growled.

"Yeah, especially if they're worse than the toad that liked making us use Blood Quills in our detentions with her." Fred nodded.

"A lot of people could be worse than her." Lucius sighed, "and unfortunately, most of them are Death Eaters."

"If I had my way, neither of the Carrows would be anywhere near Hogwarts, and none of the other truly bloodthirsty Death Eaters would ever set foot within the grounds." Snape snarled, "but undoubtedly, I wasn't given a choice."

**The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do."**

"I'm not bloody surprised." Minerva hissed.

"I would never refer a student to someone like them, I'd taken those students myself." Sprout agreed, "either that, or assign them to someone else I could trust."

"No matter how much I hate the thought, some would have to be referred to the Carrows, otherwise they would be suspicious." Albus winced, "I think they would know that no student would be the model of best behaviour, so they would expect at least a few to earn detention, and especially with so many who do not support Voldemort, they would be very suspicious if they didn't need to punish some students."

"**Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions –"**

"How on earth could they ever justify that?" Lily shrieked angrily.

"I don't know." Hermione sighed.

"They felt that we needed the practise." Daphne said, sneering at the book.

"But what did the students do for the Carrows to think they deserved to be cursed?" Minerva asked faintly.

"Anything the Carrows didn't like." Draco grimaced, "even simple things like getting a P or lower on a piece of homework."

"That's … that's …" Sprout spluttered, unable to think of a word strong enough to describe how horrible the Carrows' regime sounded.

"I know." Draco sighed.

"**_What_?"**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione's united voices echoed up and down the passage.**

"**Yeah," said Neville. "That's how I got this one," he pointed at a particularly deep gash in his cheek, "I refused to do it. **

"Good for you, Neville." James cheered over the round of applause the students gave. Neville sank slightly deeper into his seat, overwhelmed by the show of support, and Luna, who really did like him, ran over to the Gryffindor table to give him a hug.

**Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect."**

Everyone glared at the two, who had sat at the Slytherin table, utterly silent, since the beginning of the book. Even the wannabe Death Eaters were glaring, but that was because they felt that the two bulky Slytherins were too stupid to even think they could be top of the class.

"Sorry." Crabbe muttered, hunching in on himself, to try and get away from the glares. Everyone was so shocked that he had spoken that they were unable to speak, so just stared, like statues.

"We don't wanna be like that." Goyle grunted quietly, "but we daren't not. Our fathers won't let us escape that easily."

"We'll protect you." Lucius smiled, happy to know that at least a few of the Slytherins were changing. "I don't think your fathers will want to anger us."

"Thanks." Crabbe nodded, glad to know that at least they would be allowed a chance to fulfil their, admittedly modest, ambitions without being forced to kill and torture innocents.

"**Alecto, Amycus's sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. **

"Don't tell me, she's going to tell you that you should torture and kill Muggles, because they're supposedly, '_filth_'." Orion growled, using his fingers to put quotation marks around the last word.

"Yep." Draco nodded disgustedly, "I don't know how anyone could consider muggles to be filth, when they can create things as wonderful as Harley Davidsons and jet planes."

"Those people who think like that have no idea of the many things the muggle world has accomplished." Albus sighed, "they don't understand how ingenious most muggles truly are."

**We've all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drive wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the natural order is being re-established. I got this one," he indicated another slash to his face, "for asking her how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got."**

"Not exactly the best time to get a smart mouth." Sprout winced.

"Someone has to stand up to those monsters." Flitwick said.

"That may be, but I still think that there is a time and a place for doing so." Sprout sighed.

"Not saying something when you have the opportunity is almost as bad as just letting monsters like that get away with murder." Neville said, gaining courage from what Teddy had said about him proving that he was a true Gryffindor. "There's no way I would ever lie down and take whatever they throw at me. That would be like letting them win."

"There's the professor Longbottom I know." Teddy cheered.

"Professor?" Neville squeaked.

"Yep." Teddy nodded with a grin. "You became one of the Herbology professors when I was starting my sixth year."

"What happened to me?" Sprout asked nervously.

"You got promoted." Teddy smirked, "you became the head of the Herbology department for the Empire, when almost everyone was moved off Earth, and all the magical schools were combined to make one big school."

"Impressive." Minerva murmured.

"That is one thing we will be wanting to discuss with the board, as well as the senior staff of all the major magical schools." Lucius said, "the Empire's education system that we want to set up."

"That can be arranged." Albus nodded.

"**Blimey, Neville," said Ron, "there's a time and a place for getting a smart mouth."**

"**You didn't see her," said Neville. "You wouldn't have stood it either. The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry."**

"Yeah Harry, you're my inspiration, you gave me the confidence to believe in myself." Neville shrugged, "if you hadn't invited me to join the DA, then I would still be that cowardly wimp that cried over a broken wrist in first year."

"**But they've used you as a knife sharpener," said Ron, wincing slightly as they passed a lamp and Neville's injuries were thrown into even greater relief.**

**Neville shrugged.**

"**Doesn't matter. They don't want to spill too much pure blood, so they'll torture us a bit if we're mouthy but they won't actually kill us."**

"Lucky us." Ginny said sarcastically.

**Harry did not know what was worse, the things that Neville was saying or the matter-of-fact tone in which he said them.**

"I think both are about equal." James muttered.

"Though the fact that it was all true was the worst part." Daphne snarled.

"**The only people in real danger are the ones whose friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. They get taken hostage. Old Xeno Lovegood was getting a bit too outspoken in _The Quibbler_, so they dragged Luna off the train on the way back for Christmas."**

"**Neville, she's all right, we've seen her –"**

"**Yeah, I know, she managed to get a message to me."**

"So you gave one of the master coins to Luna as well." Lily surmised.

"Yeah." Harry nodded, "Neville got mine, Luna got Hermione's and Ron gave Ginny his. They were really the only ones we trusted, being the only ones who told us they kept looking at theirs, wondering if we would be calling for another meeting."

**From his pocket he pulled a golden coin, and Harry recognized it as one of the fake Galleons that Dumbledore's Army had used to send one another messages.**

"**These have been great," said Neville, beaming at Hermione. "The Carrows never rumbled how we were communicating, it drove them mad. We used to sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: _Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting_, stuff like that. Snape hated it."**

"I'm not surprised, it would just make my job harder." Snape sighed, "how am I supposed to keep you lot safe from the Carrows when you do things like that?"

"It may have made your job harder, but it gave us all hope, especially those of us who wanted nothing to do with Voldemort, and yet couldn't speak out, purely because we were Slytherins." Daphne said, "the Death Eaters kept a closer eye on us than any of the other houses, almost as if they were waiting for someone to crack and go against them, so they could make an example."

"The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs may think that with Voldemort in control, the Slytherins would be allowed to get away with anything, up to and probably including murder, and maybe that was true, but the punishments for those who spoke out, were twice as bad." Draco added, "even our letters weren't safe from the Carrows. Every sentence was read, and if there was something that they didn't like, we were forced to rewrite the whole letter to conform to their standards. Not even those of us whose parents were in the Inner Circle were safe, in fact, we were under even more scrutiny."

"The whole damn school was turned upside down, and even the Slytherins hated it." Daphne grimaced, "so while professor Snape may not have liked the things the DA were doing, they gave the rest of the students hope."

"**You _used_ to?" said Harry, who had noticed the past tense.**

"**Well, it got more difficult as time went one," said Neville. "We lost Luna at Christmas, and Ginny never came back after Easter, and the three of us were sort of the leaders. **

"I cannot imagine a better group of leaders to take over for us." Hermione smiled.

**The Carrows seemed to know I was behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me hard, and then Michael Corner went and got caught releasing a first-year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off."**

"No bloody wonder." Remus growled.

"Even Filch hated the Carrows, it was that bad." Draco sighed, "Daph, Pansy and I did our best to help, occasionally pretending we hadn't seen any DA members, when we would have had a hard job missing them."

"Yeah, I remember one night when I was forced to go on patrol with Amycus Carrow, I caught sight of Seamus sneaking a sack of dragon dung from the greenhouses, and distracted Carrow to give Seamus a chance to get out of sight." Daphne nodded, "the following day, the DA came out of one of the secret passages and dropped a load of balloons filled with dragon dung and a few other substances, up to and including their own piss, down the main staircase at the same moment as the Carrows led a group of younger Death Eaters out of the dungeons."

"She'd warned both myself and Pansy the night before, that something was going to happen, so we were able to get small shields up, protecting ourselves and a few of the others that we knew didn't want to be Death Eaters." Draco added, "but we left the Carrows and the true believers to fend for themselves."

"Merlin." Snape murmured, wondering whether he could get away with awarding points.

"I know exactly what you are thinking Severus Snape, and while I do think it would be nice to award points, I think doing so for something that hasn't even happened yet, and probably won't happen now, is a little excessive." Minerva said, slightly disappointed.

"**No kidding," muttered Ron, as the passage began to slope upward.**

"**Yeah, well, I couldn't ask people to go through what Michael did, so we dropped those kinds of stunts. But we were still fighting, doing underground stuff, right up until a couple of weeks ago. That's when they decided there was only one way to stop me, I suppose, and they went for Gran."**

"Merlin, I hope she's all right." Lily whispered, never having met the formidable Augusta Longbottom, so she didn't know what the woman was capable of.

"I pity whoever they send after that woman." Minerva snorted, "she can be rather violent when the mood strikes her."

"She is a rather temperamental woman." Charlus agreed.

"You mean she's a tough old bat." Dorea grinned.

"**They what?" said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.**

"**Yeah," said Neville, panting a little now, because the passage was climbing so steeply, "well, you can see their thinking. It had worked really well, kidnapping kids to force their relatives to behave. I s'pose it was only a matter of time before they did it the other way around. Thing was," he faced them, and Harry was astonished to see that he was grinning, "they bit off a bit more than they could chew with Gran. **

"Of course they did." Minerva smirked, "that crazy woman does like the 'little old lady who can't take care of herself' ruse."

**Little old witch living alone, they probably thought they didn't need to send anyone particularly powerful.**

"They probably didn't." Montague sneered, "she's what? Ninety?"

"She's actually seventy, and I would never want to face her on a field of combat." Snape snorted, "that would be suicidal. Augusta Longbottom may be elderly, but that does not impede her at all. She could wipe the floor with almost anyone in this hall. I think only Albus, Lucius and Harry could hold their own against her, and only Albus would able to beat her. That is how good she is, so do not assume that just because she isn't twenty, she isn't a force to be reckoned with."

"Even I would be hard-pressed to defeat her." Flitwick added, "I trained her myself. She would have been one of the most famous duellers on the world duelling circuit if she hadn't had Frank, and taken the position of Regent Longbottom after William's death."

**Anyway," Neville laughed, "Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's **

"Somehow, I feel sorry for Dawlish." Kingsley said, "he doesn't have much luck."

"I'm wondering if we need to retire him soon." Scrimgeour sighed, "he can't seem to handle even the simplest of missions, but the problem is that we need as many experienced Aurors as we can get to help against Voldemort."

**and Gran's on the run. She sent me a letter," he clapped a hand to the breast pocket of his robes, "telling me she was proud of me, that I'm my parent's son, and to keep it up."**

"She should be proud." James said, "Frank was like you in some ways. He was shy in first year, but had shed that shyness by seventh year, and apart from the fact that he got extremely clumsy and tongue-tied around Alice, he was one of the strongest and bravest people I ever knew."

"Alice, too, was clumsy at times, especially in first year." Lily added, "she was one of my dorm-mates, and I've forgotten how many times she melted her cauldron, or tripped over something."

"She also exploded her cauldron a few times in first and second years." Remus grinned, "once or twice, turning it into a ballistic missile."

"Yes, unfortunately, her son has inherited her inability to brew potions." Snape sighed.

"She wasn't too bad when we were in fifth year." Lily pointed out, "I think she'd grown up a bit by then. She did get Exceeds Expectations on her Potions O.W.L."

"True." Snape nodded.

"**Cool," said Ron.**

"**Yeah," said Neville happily. "Only thing was, once they realized they had no hold over me, they decided Hogwarts could do without me after all. I don't know whether they were planning to kill me or send me to Azkaban, either way, I knew it was time to disappear."**

"So where did you hide?" James asked curiously, not having figured it out. There were very few people in the hall not curious. The only ones who weren't were the ones who had either been there, or those who had guessed.

"You'll see." Teddy grinned.

"**But," said Ron, looking thoroughly confused, "aren't – aren't we heading straight back for Hogwarts?"**

"'**Course," said Neville. "You'll see. We're here."**

"What's the betting they hid in the Room of Requirement?" Regulus asked suddenly.

"No bet, there is no way they didn't hide there." Remus replied, "we never found it, and I don't think there are many people who know the true capability of that room, so it is one of the safest places to hide while still being in the school."

**They turned a corner and there ahead of them was the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Neville pushed it open and climbed through. As Harry followed, he heard Neville call out for unseen people:**

"**Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"**

**As Harry emerged into the room behind the passage, there were several screams and yells – **

"**HARRY!"**

"**It's Potter, it's POTTER!"**

"**Ron!"**

"**_Hermione_!"**

"I think they were a bit happy to see you." James grinned.

"We would be." The members of the DA, the loyal members anyway, cheered.

**He had a confused impression of coloured hangings, of lamps and many faces. The next moment, he, Ron, and Hermione were engulfed, hugged, pounded on the back, their hair ruffled, their hands shaken, by what seemed to be more than twenty people. They might have just won a Quidditch final.**

"I thought that too." Ron grinned, "it was brilliant."

"**Okay, okay, calm down!" Neville called, and as the crowd backed away, Harry was able to take in their surroundings.**

"Wow, they actually listened to me." Neville muttered.

"Nev, you were a brilliant leader. You, Ginny and Luna, took the reins of the DA, and turned it into more than a mere student club." Hermione smiled, "with you, the DA really did become like an Army."

"Incredible." Sprout whispered.

**He did not recognize the room at all. It was enormous, and looked rather like the interior of a particularly sumptuous tree house, or perhaps a gigantic ship's cabin. Multicoloured hammocks were strung from the ceiling and from the balcony that ran around the dark wood-panelled and windowless walls, which were covered in bright tapestry hangings. Harry saw the gold Gryffindor lion, emblazoned on scarlet; the black badger of Hufflepuff, set against yellow; and the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw, on blue. The silver and green of Slytherin alone were absent. **

"They wouldn't have been if we hadn't been under such close scrutiny." Daphne said sadly, "if we'd had a chance to go into hiding, and help the DA, quite a few would have done so, but we couldn't."

**There were bulging bookcases, a few broomsticks propped against the walls, and in the corner, a large wood-cased wireless.**

"**Where are we?"**

"**Room of Requirement, of course!" **

"I thought so." Regulus nodded.

"I think we all did, those of us who knew about the room." Remus said.

"I didn't." James muttered.

"Yes, well, while you may have been one of the smartest students in our year, you have always had a habit of missing the blindingly obvious." Remus snorted.

**said Neville. "Surpassed itself, hasn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found! Well, it wasn't exactly like this when I arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it's expanded as more and more of the D.A. have arrived."**

"**And the Carrows can't get in?" asked Harry, looking around for the door.**

"**No," said Seamus Finnigan, whom Harry had not recognized until he spoke: Seamus's face was bruised and puffy. **

"Merlin, what the hell happened to me?" Seamus wondered.

"You were beaten up by Carrow and Bletchley, two days before we arrived." Ron replied, "they seemed to have used you as a punching bag."

"Blimey." Seamus grimaced.

"Why didn't he come to me for help?" Pomfrey asked, completely forgetting that Draco had already explained that, back during the chapter that mentioned Snape's appointment as headmaster.

"He wasn't allowed." Teddy sighed, "no student who didn't support Voldemort, and refused to change their opinion, was allowed to be healed. The only students who were allowed to go to the hospital wing, were the children of Death Eaters, or those who agreed to support Voldemort."

"Merlin." Pomfrey murmured.

"**It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. He really gets this room. You've got to ask for exactly what you need – like, 'I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in' – and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes. Neville's the man!"**

"**It's quite straightforward, really," said Neville modestly. **

"You should be proud of that achievement, the Room of Requirement is extremely complicated, and it would probably take me years to figure out." Hermione smiled.

"Who created the Room, and how?" Minerva wondered.

"The Ancients, when they built the city. It was originally a room that the Ancients used to create holographic images of anything they were designing or wanting to build, and while Salazar was making sure that the ZPM room, which holds the power centre, was inaccessible to those who didn't know it was there, the other three Founders were programming the holographic projectors to allow anything anyone could think of, to be projected anywhere in the room." Harry replied, "I don't quite know how they did it, but once they'd done that, they hid the room, and inserted a small programme into the huge Artificial Intelligence that controls pretty much everything in all Ancient vessels, which would allow it to create a temporary link with the minds of anyone who wanted to access the room."

"It is rather impressive, what the founders were able to do with that room." Hermione added, "unfortunately, they weren't able to make the room capable of producing anything that would not disappear outside the room."

"Incredible." Flitwick whispered.

"**I'd been in here about a day and a half, and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get something to eat, and that's when the passage to Hog's Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He's been providing us with food, because for some reason, that's the one thing the room doesn't really do."**

"**Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," said Ron to general astonishment.**

"Of course they'd be astonished." Ginny giggled, "Transfiguration has never been Ron's strongest subject."

"I can do some things, but no, I prefer Defence and Charms." Ron nodded.

"I think I know why Ron remembered that particular rule." Hermione said, "it's to do with food, and Ron seems to have a black hole for a stomach."

"That's a good point." Bill grinned, "he does seem to be hungry, all the time."

"Most boys are." Tonks giggled, "were you Teddy?"

"Not that I noticed, but Rax definitely was." Teddy laughed, "he challenged Ron to a contest, to see who could eat the most bowls of sticky toffee pudding in one sitting, and they both ate about a dozen, each."

"My word." Dorea whispered, "how were they not completely round?"

"I don't know." Teddy shrugged, "I really don't know."

"Merlin." James whistled.

"**So we've been hiding out here for nearly two weeks," said Seamus, "and it just makes more hammocks every time we need room, and it even sprouted a pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up –"**

"– **and thought they'd quite like to wash, yes,"**

"This begs the question, what did they do before the girls started arriving?" Regulus asked.

"They used buckets." Draco sniggered, "and mixed the contents with dragon dung, and probably dung from other creatures, then filled balloons and chucked them at the Carrows and the junior Death Eaters."

"I did mention the fact that they did that one day." Daphne giggled, "it stank, but it was hilarious."

"It does sound rather disgusting." Tonks grinned.

**supplied Lavender Brown, whom Harry had not noticed until that point.**

**Now that he looked around properly, he recognized many familiar faces. Both Patil twins were there, as were Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner.**

Everyone who was mentioned nodded, thankful that they were safe, if they hadn't been before.

"**Tell us what you've been up to, though," said Ernie. "There've been so many rumours, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch." He pointed at the wireless. "You didn't break into Gringotts?"**

"**They did!" said Neville. "And the dragon's true too!"**

"Of course, he would bow." Percy mumbled, shaking his head slightly, though he knew that his baby brother had always felt overshadowed, so wasn't too surprised that Ron would be happy about doing something that none of the other Weasley males had ever done, or even thought about doing.

**There was a smattering of applause and a few whoops; Ron took a bow.**

"**What were you after?" asked Seamus eagerly.**

**Before any of them could parry the question with one of their own, Harry felt a terrible, scorching pain in the lightning scar. As he turned his back hastily on the curious and delighted faces, the Room of Requirement vanished, and he was standing inside a ruined stone shack, and the rotting floorboards were ripped apart at his feet, a disinterred golden box lay open and empty beside the hole, and Voldemort's scream of fury vibrated inside his head.**

"Merlin, Voldemort's found out that the ring is missing." Susan whispered.

"That's not good." Hannah agreed.

"I can imagine that that would drive home the fact that you don't have much time." Padma said.

"It did." Hermione nodded, "when he turned back around, Harry was acting far more serious than before."

"I almost expected him to start barking out orders like a general." Ron grinned.

"Yes, well, it was a rather painful reminder that time was running out." Harry sighed, "there were only two other Horcruxes that he could check on, and there was the possibility that he would head straight for Hogwarts, which would have hindered our efforts to find the one he'd hidden in the castle."

**With an enormous effort he pulled out of Voldemort's mind again, back to where he stood, swaying, in the Room of Requirement, sweat pouring from his face and Ron holding him up.**

"**Are you all right, Harry?" Neville was saying. "What to sit down? I expect you're tired, aren't –?""**

**No," said Harry. He looked at Ron and Hermione, trying to tell them without words that Voldemort had just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. **

"Yeah, we got that." Hermione nodded, "it wasn't difficult. It was obvious that Voldemort was furious about something, and the only thing that we knew he would be angry about, was his Horcruxes going missing."

**Time was running out fast: if Voldemort chose to visit Hogwarts next, they would miss their chance.**

"**We need to get going," he said, and their expressions told him that they understood.**

"**What are we going to do, then, Harry?" asked Seamus. "What's the plan?"**

"**Plan?" repeated Harry. He was exercising all his willpower to prevent himself succumbing again to Voldemort's rage: his scar was still burning. "Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione, and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."**

"I cannot imagine any of us liking that idea." Padma said.

"No, we would feel as though we were being abandoned." Anthony agreed.

"We did not want the battle to be at Hogwarts." Harry sighed, "we didn't even want to have the battle that day. All we wanted was to get the Horcrux, destroy it and the cup, then get out and try to make a plan for the final battle to happen at some other point, somewhere else."

**Nobody was laughing or whooping any more. Neville looked confused.**

"**What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"**

"**We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain. "There's something important we need to do –"**

"**What is it?"**

"**I – I can't tell you."**

"That doesn't matter now, we know everything, so trying to keep it secret won't help." Ernie grinned.

"True, but we do need to make sure that no one reveals this to Voldemort or his truly fanatical followers." Hermione said, "we had thought about enchanting the book to make sure that anything within it could not be talked about within hearing of those not in the know, but that would stall any attempts to get anything done."

"Understandable." Ernie nodded.

"I think we just have to make sure that anyone we do tell is not a Voldemort supporter, or won't go and make things difficult for us by trying to stop us." Harry grimaced.

"Unfortunately, that is the only thing you can do, especially if you want everyone in the magical world to be involved in your plans for restoring the Empire of the Ancients." Minerva sighed.

**There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracted.**

"**Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"**

"**Well, yeah –"**

"**Then we'll help you."**

"Let us help, you'll get it done faster." Neville cajoled, "unless you can't trust us."

"It's not about trust. It's more about how much more danger would you be in if Voldemort discovered that you knew about what we were doing?" Hermione said, "of course we trust you, but you would be safer not knowing, so that even if you were captured and tortured for information, you wouldn't be able to reveal anything, so they wouldn't get any answers."

"Ah." Seamus nodded, knowing that very few people would be able to withstand prolonged torture.

**The other members of Dumbledore's Army were nodding, some enthusiastically, others solemnly. A couple of them rose from their chairs to demonstrate their willingness for immediate action.**

"Impressive, the DA seem to be a junior version of the Order." Kingsley said.

"We are." Ginny nodded, "at least part of the reason the DA was set up, was so we could feel more involved in the war."

"But you're too young." Mrs Weasley whimpered.

"That may be, but I don't think any of us would be willing to sit back and let others deal with everything." Neville sighed, "that's just not who we are."

"I get itchy if I can't be involved in a fight." Ginny added, "hardly anyone is good at sitting around doing nothing while their friends and family are in danger. That's why I'll be really annoyed if I have to go somewhere when the final battle comes around."

"Let's think about planning the final battle after the book has been finished." Harry suggested, "that way we don't have to concentrate on several different things at once."

"**You don't understand," Harry seemed to have said that a lot in the last few hours. "We – we can't tell you. We've got to do it – alone."**

"**Why?" asked Neville.**

"That's a damn good question." Susan growled.

"I can see both sides of the argument." Hannah said, "but I am leaning more towards the side of, let people fight if they want to."

"**Because …" In his desperation to start looking for the missing Horcrux, or at least have a private discussion with Ron and Hermione about where they might commence their search. Harry found it difficult to gather his thoughts. His scar was still searing. "Dumbledore left the three of us a job," he said carefully, "and we weren't supposed to tell – I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us."**

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Angelina sighed, "you're going around in circles almost. Stop arguing and let them help."

"**We're his army," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own –"**

"**It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate," said Ron.**

"I don't think that was what he meant, but he does have the right idea." James said, "no matter how much I hate it, but nowhere has been truly safe, and those in Hogwarts have been fighting just as much as the rest of you, even if their fights have been different."

"**I never said it had, but I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore – loyal to you."**

"Impressive." Scrimgeour murmured to himself.

"**Look," Harry began, without knowing what he was going to say, but it did not matter. The tunnel door had just opened behind him.**

"**We got your message, Neville! Hello you three, I thought you must be here!"**

**It was Luna and Dean. Seamus gave a great roar of delight and ran to hug his best friend.**

Seamus and Dean whooped happily, glad that even though they had been separated, they had been able to find each other again and continue to be friends.

"I can understand how happy someone would be when reuniting with their best friend." James said.

"Yeah, no one truly knows what they've got until it's gone." Remus nodded.

"That must be why you went a little bananas when we got Sirius off Volia last time." Hermione giggled.

"Oh dear." Remus sighed, "I can imagine a few of the things I would do."

"You'll have to wait for a while this time." Harry said, "we will go and get him, but we want to make sure that we can give the Aschen something to think about at the same time. We will unfortunately have to wait until we've got more than three combat vessels, so it'll probably take us a few months."

"How many will you need?" Flitwick queried.

"We want to wait until we've got six." Draco said, "so when the shipyards have completed two more warships, of the same style as the two that DC and her group brought, as well as another fast-attack craft."

"Right." Flitwick nodded.

"It shouldn't take too long." Teddy said, "it only takes about two weeks to build a Warrior Class vessel, and the fast-attack craft only take one, so you'll only have to wait about four weeks, to complete the construction, then run systems tests on the ships."

"It all depends on when we start building." Harry nodded.

"True." Teddy grinned.

"**Hi, everyone!" said Luna happily. "Oh, it's great to be back!"**

"**Luna," said Harry distractedly, "what are you doing here? How did you –?"**

"**I sent for her," said Neville, holding up the fake Galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them know. **

"I'm sure that if you hadn't let us know, we would have been less-than pleased." Ginny grinned.

"I think you said you would have bat-bogeyed him if he hadn't warned you." Hermione giggled.

"Good." Ginny smirked.

**We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."**

"Did you have to say it like that?" Snape whined, rather uncharacteristically, but the simple fact that he was no longer going to be spying, and could shed his greasy git persona, was doing wonders for his personality. "I'm sure I did my best to protect you all, and that's how you repay me?"

"No one knew that you were not a Voldy-Flunky." Daphne pointed out, "all everyone knew was that you had been made headmaster, and that you were strongly suspected as the one to have killed professor Dumbledore."

"Severus, you do have to admit, that you made yourself look like one of the bad guys." Lucius said gently, "I too thought you were a loyal Death Eater, so you can't really blame them for not knowing."

"True." Snape mumbled.

"**Of course that's what it means," said Luna brightly. "Isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"**

"**Listen," said Harry with a rising sense of panic, "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then –"**

"So you're going to grab the thing, then leave us to suffer." Michael sighed, "that's nice."

"Of course not, but we didn't think we were ready for the final battle." Hermione snapped, "and don't forget, we didn't want to have it at Hogwarts at all."

"**You're going to leave us in this mess?" demanded Michael Corner.**

"**No!" said Ron. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who –"**

"**Then let us help!" said Neville angrily. "We want to be a part of it!"**

"Hear hear." A lot of the DA yelled, glaring at Harry, Ron and Hermione for seemingly trying to keep them out of the battle.

**There was another noise behind them, and Harry turned. His heart seemed to fail: Ginny was now climbing through the hole in the wall, closely followed by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. **

"Uh oh." Mr Weasley mumbled, quickly silencing his wife, though she still tried to rant and rave about her children being in danger.

"I'm surprised she was able to stay quiet, without a silencing charm." Orion commented.

"I think what Lily and Dorea said, actually got through to her." Cygnus said, "I think she might have finally realised that treating her offspring like defenceless five-year-olds, even when they're adults, is pushing them away."

"If she really has come to realise that, it's happened a lot quicker than it did last time around." Teddy whistled, "the first time she was allowed to meet Vic was at our wedding."

"Who are her parents?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Bill and Fleur." Hermione giggled, "which might explain why Vic ended up with pink hair."

"Naturally pink hair?" Tonks wondered.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "that was the result of Fleur's Veela heritage combined with Bill's Weasley genes."

"Wow." Bill grinned, "and are you saying that I didn't introduce my daughter to her grandparents until she was old enough to look after herself?"

"Well, her grandpa knew her, it was just your mother you didn't want around." Hermione nodded, "that wedding was the first time they met, and in fact, the first time any of your children met their grandmother."

"Merlin." Bill muttered, "I understand, and I can see why I didn't let her anywhere near them. I wouldn't want her to interfere."

**Ginny gave Harry a radiant smile: He had forgotten, or he had never fully appreciated, how beautiful she was, but he had never been less pleased to see her.**

"**Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," said Fred, raising his hand in answer to several cries of greeting. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."**

"I'm not surprised." Ginny giggled.

"It was worse later that night." Hermione snorted.

"I don't want to know what my pub will look like after hundreds of people have been tramping through it." Aberforth said flatly.

**Harry's mouth fell open. Right behind Lee Jordan came Harry's old girlfriend, Cho Chang. She smiled at him.**

"**I got the message," she said, holding up her own fake Galleon and she walked over to sit beside Michael Corner.**

"**So what's the plan, Harry?" said George.**

"**There isn't one," said Harry, **

"Well, our original plan was to grab the Horcrux, get out and then destroy it." Harry sighed, "but we all know, no plan survives first contact with the enemy."

**still disoriented by the sudden appearance of all these people, unable to take everything in while his scar was still burning so fiercely.**

"**Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind," said Fred.**

"Oh no, Fred, you think like Sirius." Remus sighed, "that's not a good thing."

"Isn't it?" Fred whined, "why not?"

"Because Sirius is a bit of an idiot." Regulus said, "he may have been regularly hitting the top spot in their year, but his plans were always rather slapdash and rarely ever worked."

"**You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane –"**

"**We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though –"**

"**You haven't got a wand –?" began Seamus.**

**Ron turned suddenly to Harry.**

"**Why can't they help?"**

"Thank Merlin for Ron." Neville grinned, "I hope we do get to help."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be left out of something like that." Angelina nodded, staring fixedly at Harry, hoping he would understand that she would not be happy if he didn't let others help out.

"**What?"**

"**They can help." He dropped his voice and said, so that none of them could hear but Hermione, who stood between them, "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."**

"Listen to him." Lily implored, "you can't do it all on your own."

**Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, who murmured, "I think Ron's right. We don't even know what we're looking for, we need them." And when Harry looked unconvinced, "You don't have to do everything alone, Harry."**

**Harry thought fast, his scar still prickling, his head threatening to split again. Dumbledore had warned him against telling anyone but Ron and Hermione about the Horcruxes. _Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, and Albus … he was a natural …_ Was he turning into Dumbledore, keeping his secrets clutched to his chest, **

"I hope not." Aberforth sighed.

**afraid to trust? But Dumbledore had trusted Snape, and where had that led? To murder at the top of the highest tower …**

"Not murder, as we've said before, it was more like assisted suicide." Hermione clarified.

"**All right," he said quietly to the other two. "Okay," he called to the room at large, and all noise ceased: Fred and George, who had been cracking jokes for the benefit of those nearest, **

"Do you two ever _not _crack jokes?" Katie asked.

"There have been times when we haven't." George said.

"But not often. We like to keep the mood light, and what better way, than to joke around?" Fred grinned.

**fell silent, and all of the looked alert, excited.**

"**There's something we need to find," Harry said. "Something – something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"**

"The Lost Diadem." Terry shrugged, "that's the only thing I know was associated with Ravenclaw, but unfortunately, that hasn't been seen for centuries, which is why it's known as the Lost Diadem."

Unseen by most, The Grey Lady went a little paler than she had, knowing that her deepest secret was close to being revealed. She gave herself a mental shake before continuing to read, so she didn't reveal anything too soon.

**He looked hopefully toward the little group of Ravenclaws, to Padma, Michael, Terry, and Cho, but it was Luna who answered, perched on the arm of Ginny's chair.**

"**Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."**

"And as I have already said, several times, Lady Ravenclaw would never have worn something like the ludicrous thing your father seems to have created." The Bloody Baron said, "I know what the real diadem looks like, and it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen."

"**Yeah, but the lost diadem," said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is _lost,_ Luna. That's sort of the point."**

"I don't think it will be lost for long." Padma said shrewdly, "since it is the title of this chapter, I think it'll be found."

"If it is found, it's probably been turned into a Horcrux, and from what we've seen in the book, the objects Voldemort used were badly damaged after they destroyed the soul pieces." Anthony sighed.

"True." Padma grimaced.

"**When was it lost?" asked Harry.**

"**Centuries ago, they say," said Cho, and Harry's heart sank. "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but," she appealed to her fellow Ravenclaws. "Nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?"**

**They all shook their heads.**

"Of course, if Voldemort had found it, he wouldn't reveal that he had, especially if he turned it into a Horcrux." Lisa pointed out, "that would sort of defeat the purpose of keeping his Horcruxes safe."

"**Sorry, but what is a diadem?" asked Ron.**

"**It's a kind of crown," said Terry Boot. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."**

"**Yes, Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons –"**

**But Harry cut across Luna.**

"Awww, I like listening to Luna's opinion." Dennis whined.

"We didn't have time." Harry said apologetically, "the metaphorical clock was ticking."

"**And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?"**

"There is a statue of her in our common room." Terry pointed out, "and if you want to know what the thing looks like, that's the best place to look. She's wearing it in the statue."

**They all shook their heads again. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and his own disappointment was mirrored back at him. An object that had been lost this long, and apparently without trace, did not seem like a good candidate for the Horcrux hidden in the castle … before he could formulate a new question, however, Cho spoke again.**

"**If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry. Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."**

"Yeah, no need to repeat what I've just said." Terry grinned at the Asian girl.

"Well, I'm sorry." Cho sighed, "I did not know that you were going to say that, nor did I know that what I haven't even said yet would be put into a book."

**Harry's scar scorched again: for a moment the Room of Requirement swam before him, and he saw instead the dark earth soaring beneath him and felt the great snake wrapped around his shoulders. Voldemort was flying again, whether to the underground lake or here, to the castle, he did not know: either way, there was hardly any time left.**

"He's heading to the lake first." Charlie said, "he probably thinks the one in Hogwarts is not going to be found, so it's safer."

"**He's on the move," he said quietly to Ron and Hermione. He glanced at Cho and then back at them. "Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know – the other one – safe."**

**Cho had got to her feet, but Ginny said rather fiercely, "No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"**

"Jealous." Someone singsonged, but no one really knew who it was.

"I'm not, but given her track-record, I think I'd trust Luna more." Ginny shrugged.

"She's right." Cho murmured, "I'm not good under pressure, and I think that would be a fairly tough situation."

"**Oooh, yes, I'd like to," said Luna happily, as Cho sat down again, looking disappointed.**

"**How do we get out?" Harry asked Neville.**

"**Over here."**

**He led Harry and Luna to a corner, where a small cupboard opened onto a steep staircase. "It comes out somewhere different every day, so they've never been able to find it," he said. "Only trouble is, we never know exactly where we're going to end up when we go out. **

"You should have given one of us the Map." Ginny said, "that way we would have had an idea."

"We didn't think of that." Harry muttered sheepishly.

**Be careful, Harry, they're always patrolling the corridors at night."**

"**No problem," said Harry. "See you in a bit."**

**He and Luna hurried up the staircase, which was long, lit by torches, and turned corners in unexpected places. At last they reached what appeared to be solid wall.**

"**Get under here," Harry told Luna, pulling out the Invisibility Cloak and throwing it over both of them. He gave the wall a little push.**

"There's another reason I chose Luna." Ginny grinned, "she's smaller than Cho, and could fit under the cloak with Harry, much better and without risking a foot being seen, than anyone bigger."

"True." Cho nodded, surprisingly less disappointed than she thought she would be, though the explanations actually made sense. She knew she probably wouldn't be able to think or act quickly enough to help if she had gone with Harry and they got into trouble, and she was a little too tall to be able to fit comfortably under the cloak with him, so they would have been more likely to get into trouble than if someone small like Luna had gone.

**It melted away at his touch and they slipped outside. Harry glanced back and saw that it had resealed itself at once. They were standing in a dark corridor. Harry pulled Luna back into the shadows, fumbled in the pouch around his neck, and took out the Marauder's Map. Holding it close to his nose he searched, and located his and Luna's dots at last.**

"I think, Mr Lupin, that I would like to know how you created that map." Albus said, "it might help, especially if we can create one that shows other places as well."

"Of course sir." Remus nodded, "and if I can find it, I'll give you my copy. The one Harry has was James'."

"You each had a copy?" Flitwick asked.

"Yeah, for ease." James nodded, "my copy fell out of my pocket one day during our last year, and got confiscated before I could get it back, Sirius ate his, I don't know why, and I don't know what happened to Peter's. Obviously, Remus managed to hold onto his copy."

"Yeah, I think Peter managed to chuck his in the fire in the common room." Remus mused, "I can't really remember."

"Impressive." Flitwick said.

"**We're up on the fifth floor," he whispered, watching Filch moving away from them, a corridor ahead. "Come on, this way."**

**They crept off.**

**Harry had prowled the castle at night many times before, but never had his heart hammered that fast, never had so much depended on his safe passage through the place. Through squares of moonlight upon the floor, past suits of armour whose helmets creaked at the sound of their soft footsteps, around corners beyond which who knew what lurked. Harry and Luna walked, checking the Marauder's Map whenever light permitted, twice pausing to allow a ghost to pass without drawing attention to themselves. He expected to encounter an obstacle at any moment; his worst fear was Peeves, and he strained his ears with every step to hear the first, telltale signs of the poltergeist's approach.**

"Peeves wouldn't have bothered you." Daphne said, "he hated the Carrows just as much, if not more, than Filch and the students. If he had noticed that something was going on, he would have gone elsewhere and created one of the noisiest and most attention attracting distractions possible."

"Peeves is great." Teddy sniggered.

"**This way, Harry," breathed Luna, plucking his sleeve and pulling him toward a spiral staircase.**

**They climbed in tight, dizzying circles; Harry had never been up here before. At last they reached a door. There was no handle and no keyhole: nothing but a plain expanse of aged wood, and a bronze knocker in the shape an eagle.**

"That sounds pretty." Parvati whispered.

**Luna reached out a pale hand, which looked eerie floating in mid-air, unconnected to arm or body. She knocked once, and in the silence it sounded to Harry like a cannon blast. At once the beak of the eagle opened, but instead of a bird's called, a soft, musical voice said, "Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"**

"Ooh, I love logic puzzles." Lily grinned, "do you always have to answer questions to get into your common room?"

"Yes, and if you get it wrong, you have to wait for someone to come along, who can get it right." Luna nodded.

"That sounds brilliant." Lily moaned jealously.

"It also sounds really insecure." Dorea said.

"It can be, but sometimes it's far more secure than a password would be." Flitwick smiled.

"**Hmm … what do you think, Harry?" said Luna, looking thoughtful.**

"**What? Isn't there a password?"**

"**Oh no, you've got to answer a question," said Luna.**

"**What if you get it wrong?"**

"**Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right," said Luna. "That way you learn, you see?"**

"I'd hate to be a Ravenclaw." Parvati murmured. She did not like the thought of having to answer completely random questions every time she wanted to enter the common room.

"**Yeah … trouble is, we can't really afford to wait for anyone else, Luna."**

"**No, I see what you mean," said Luna seriously. "Well then, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."**

"**Well reasoned," said the voice, and the door swung open.**

"Good." Flitwick smiled at his favourite student. He knew that the teachers weren't supposed to have favourites, but he honestly couldn't help liking the little blonde, who was always helpful to those who needed it, and who was so kind and gentle, despite being picked on and teased.

**The deserted Ravenclaw common room was a wide, circular room, airier than any Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue-and-bronze silks. By day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs, and bookcases, and in a niche opposite the door stood a tall statue of white marble.**

"That does sound beautiful." Lily said wistfully, "and the colours sound a lot more soothing than the bright red of the Gryffindor common room."

"Yeah, it really is soothing." The Ravenclaws agreed happily.

**Harry recognized Rowena Ravenclaw from the bust he had seen at Luna's house. The statue stood beside a door that led, he guessed, to dormitories above. He strode right up to the marble woman, and she seemed to look back at him with a quizzical half smile on her face, beautiful yet slightly intimidating.**

"That does sound like Lady Ravenclaw, she could be intimidating, but she was always willing to help anyone who asked." The Bloody Baron sighed wistfully.

**A delicate-looking circlet had been reproduced in marble on top of her head. It was not unlike the tiara Fleur had worn at her wedding. There were tiny words etched into it. Harry stepped out from under the Cloak and climbed up onto Ravenclaw's plinth to read them.**

"'**_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'_"**

"**Which makes you pretty skint, witless," said a cackling voice.**

"Oh bugger, who's that then?" Seamus asked.

"It's probably Alecto Carrow." Snape grimaced.

**Harry whirled around, slipped off the plinth, and landed on the floor. The sloping-shouldered figure of Alecto Carrow was standing before him, and even as Harry raised his wand, she pressed a stubby forefinger to the skull and snake branded on her forearm. **

"Bollocks." James groaned, "Voldemort knows you're there now."

"That was the end of the chapter." The Grey Lady said in her soft voice.

"I'll go next, I haven't read yet." Lily smiled.


	38. Chapter 38

**The Sacking of Severus Snape**

Lily took the book and turned to the next page, grimacing in Snape's direction when she caught sight of the title, "This chapter is called, **The Sacking of Severus Snape**."

"I suspected that something would happen and warrant its own chapter." Snape sighed.

**The moment her finger touched the Mark, Harry's scar burned savagely, the starry room vanished from sight, and he was standing upon an outcrop of rock beneath a cliff, and the sea was washing around him and there was a triumph in his heart – _they have the boy._**

"They don't actually have you, they just know you're there, which might be some consolation." James said.

**A loud bang brought Harry back to where he stood. Disoriented, he raised his wand, but the witch before him was already falling forward; she hit the ground so hard that the glass in the bookcases tinkled.**

"Well done Luna." Remus grinned, already knowing that Luna had been the one to Stun the female Carrow.

"**I've never Stunned anyone except in our D.A. lessons," said Luna, sounding mildly interested. "That was noisier than I thought it would be."**

"Good one." Seamus grinned, while Neville smiled at Luna.

**And sure enough, the ceiling had begun to tremble. Scurrying, echoing footsteps were growing louder from behind the door leading to the dormitories. Luna's spell had woken Ravenclaws sleeping above.**

"**Luna, where are you? I need to get under the Cloak!"**

**Luna's feet appeared out of nowhere; **

"Interesting phrasing." James grinned, "did she just lift the bottom of the cloak?"

"Yeah, I did wonder if she'd take the hood off, but that would have been even weirder." Harry nodded.

"Yes, floating heads do look a little odd." James laughed.

"I was going to say creepy." Draco sniggered.

**he hurried to her side and she let the Cloak fall back over them as the door opened and a stream of Ravenclaws, all in their nightclothes, flooded into the common room. there were gasps and cries of surprise as they saw Alecto lying there unconscious. Slowly they shuffled in around her, a savage beast that might wake at any moment and attack them. **

"Unfortunately, that is a risk, especially with her." Snape sighed.

**Then one brave little first-year darted up to her and prodded her backside with his big toe.**

"Don't tell me, his name was Matthew Boot." Terry groaned. He just knew that that was his kid brother, though he hoped young Matty would have more sense.

"Yeah, it was him." Harry nodded.

"My brother is a moron." Terry sighed, "he doesn't seem to have any self-preservation instincts, though I do think that that was extremely brave of him."

"**I think she might be dead!" he shouted with delight.**

"If that had been the Gryffindor common room, the Gryffs would have blown the roof off." Dean grinned.

"I doubt that." Teddy said, "for one thing, that roof has survived I don't know how many raucous Quidditch parties, and for another, half the house wasn't there."

"They were only raucous because the Marauders smuggled Firewhiskey into them." Minerva snorted.

"I think it was more to do with them dragging more than just our house into their partying." Lily giggled, "the party after winning the Quidditch Cup in our last year, springs to mind."

"Yes, that party, started in the Lions' den, crashed the Ravens' nests, turned the snake pit into a swamp, then turned the badgers' sett upside down." Flitwick sighed.

"That was not fun to clear up after." Sprout grimaced, "and is the reason we banned alcohol at parties."

"Did you also ban stripping?" Lily asked with a giggle.

"We couldn't, there was no real point after we banned alcohol." Minerva replied.

"I have fond memories of that party." Lily sighed.

"Of course you do." James sniggered, "I don't think there was a single boy who wasn't drooling and horny after that show you and Octavia put on. It was the hottest thing I'd ever seen."

"It was not my idea." Lily snorted, "she dragged me into it."

"That does sound like Octavia." Abraxas said sadly, "she was a self-confessed nymphomaniac."

"Let's continue, so we don't scar the first years." Orion suggested.

"**Oh look," whispered Luna happily, as the Ravenclaws crowded in around Alecto. "They're pleased!"**

"**Yeah … great …"**

**Harry closed his eyes, and as his scar throbbed he chose to sink again into Voldemort's mind … he was moving along the tunnel into the first cave … he had chosen to make sure of the locket before coming … but that would not take him long …**

"Less than an hour." Hermione grimaced, "it wouldn't take him long to get across the lake to find the missing locket."

"I still wonder, would he have been able to tell the difference between the real one and the fake?" Harry muttered.

"Probably." Regulus sighed, "the fake was one I bought, it was extremely cheap, there was no way I would have spent huge amounts of money on something that wasn't going to be worn by anyone, and I didn't know what the original actually looked like, so I couldn't get one that looked exactly the same."

**There was a rap on the common room door and every Ravenclaw froze. From the other side, Harry heard the soft, musical voice that issued from the eagle door knocker: "Where do Vanished objects go?"**

"Into non-being, which is to say, everything." Minerva and Lily said in unison.

"Wow, Hermione and Harry aren't the only ones who think like Minnie." James grinned.

"Great minds do think alike, and don't call me Minnie." Minerva said, starting off proudly, but then turning stern at the end.

"**I dunno, do I? Shut it!"**

"Well that's not going to get him in." Flitwick said, with a very uncharacteristic smirk on his face.

"Amycus Carrow is the very definition of dunderheaded stupidity." Snape sneered.

**snarled an uncouth voice that Harry knew was that of the Carrow brother, Amycus, "Alecto? _Alecto?_ Are you there? Have you got him? Open the door!"**

**The Ravenclaws were whispering amongst themselves, terrified. Then without warning, there came a series of loud bangs, as though somebody was firing a gun into the door.**

"What's a gun?" One little first year pureblood in Slytherin asked nervously.

"It's a muggle weapon of war." Hermione replied, "there are several different types, from short-range small guns that won't do much, to larger long-range weapons that can be used to kill a man. I've never actually been shot, but from seeing gunshot wounds, I can say that it is painful."

"Guns are incredibly dangerous, being designed to kill." Lucius added, "but they are also incredibly useful, especially when spells don't work on the enemy."

"Yes, it was rather annoying when we discovered that the Wraith were able to withstand almost every spell we threw at them." Draco sighed, "the only spell that actually worked properly on them, was the Killing Curse."

"Wouldn't that be considered illegal?" Charlus frowned.

"The Wraith aren't human, despite having evolved from a mixture of human and insect DNA." Teddy said, "so no, it's not illegal to use the Killing Curse on them."

"Interesting." Charlus nodded.

"**ALECTO! If he comes, and we haven't got Potter – d'you want to go the same way as the Malfoys? ANSWER ME!" **

"I dread to think what would have happened to us." Narcissa whimpered. She didn't really care what Voldemort would do to her, but she wasn't sure if she could cope with him harming her son.

"He Crucioed all of us, everyone who was there, on and off for about six hours." Lucius sighed, "he switched targets every few minutes or so, but at the end of that six hours, none of us was capable of standing, or moving much without twitching. Greyback got the worst of it, Voldemort seemed to want to know how long it would take to almost completely incapacitate a werewolf, just using the Cruciatus."

"Merlin." Narcissa grimaced.

"No one who was there that night, got away unscathed." Bellatrix murmured, "it took about two weeks for most of the trembling to stop."

"That's horrible." Dorea whispered, hating the fact that her great-nieces had had to go through something like that.

**Amycus bellowed, shaking the door for all he was worth, but still it did not open. The Ravenclaws were all backing away, and some of the most frightened began scampering back up the stair case to their beds. Then, just as Harry was wondering whether he ought not to blast open the door and Stun Amycus before the Death Eater could do anything else, a second, most familiar voice rang out beyond the door.**

"**May I ask what you are doing, Professor Carrow?"**

"Go professor M." James cheered.

"How do you know it's me?" Minerva asked sharply.

"It's pretty obvious." James grinned.

"I really don't think Carrow deserves to be called a professor." Sprout snarled, "not when he tortures the students."

"**Trying – to get – through this damned – door!" shouted Amycus. "Go and get Flitwick! Get him to open it, now!"**

"**But isn't your sister in there?" asked Professor McGonagall. **

"I thought so." James smirked at his favourite teacher.

"**Didn't Professor Flitwick let her in earlier this evening, at your urgent request? Perhaps she could open the door for you? Then you needn't wake up half the castle."**

"**She ain't answering, you old besom! You open it! Garn! Do it, now!"**

"How rude." Sinistra sniffed, irritated on the behalf of her colleague. She felt she owed a lot to the older woman, who had helped her when she first started teaching in seventy-one, and couldn't bear to hear someone insult a woman like Minerva, who had been able to look passed the fact that she had been in Slytherin, the so-called house of evil.

"**Certainly, if you wish it," said Professor McGonagall, with awful coldness. There was a genteel tap of the knocker and the musical voice asked, again, "Where do Vanished objects go?"**

"**Into non being, which is to say, everything," replied Professor McGonagall.**

"No need to repeat yourself." Fred and George grinned.

"**Nicely phrased," replied the eagle door knocker, and the door swung open.**

**The few Ravenclaws who had remained behind sprinted for the stairs as Amycus burst over the threshold, brandishing his wand. Hunched like his sister, he had a pallid, doughy face and tiny eyes, which fell at once on Alecto, sprawled motionless on the floor. He let out a yell of fury and fear.**

"**What've they done, the little whelps?" he screamed. "I'll Cruciate the lot of 'em till they tell me who did it – **

"He wouldn't, they're only children." Andromeda gasped, horrified that anyone could be so cruel as to blame children for something they didn't do, and then use the Cruciatus on them.

"He would have." Draco sighed, "he didn't care that they were only children. He had done a lot worse than use the Cruciatus on a few first years. He liked whipping students, locking them up in windowless rooms without food for a few days, then Crucioing them when they were let out, and some were even chained up naked, on the Quidditch pitch, for a few hours, in December. That was the kind of thing Carrow was cruel enough to do. Using the Cruciatus on a few first years was a minor thing to him."

"Merlin, why couldn't I put a stop to it?" Snape asked, "there's no way I would have let him get away with that if I could help it."

"He knew that, which is why he made sure he did it when you were called away." Daphne grimaced, "after the three students he'd left chained on the Quidditch pitch were brought back in, they were nearly frozen to death, and when you found out, you practically ordered Carrow to explain to Voldemort why three pureblood students had been sent to St Mungo's, in comas."

"I'm not surprised." Snape said, "even if I had to pretend to be a loyal Death Eater, I would never willingly allow a sadistic bastard like Carrow to punish students in such a brutal way. Detention is supposed to teach students the consequences of foolish actions, but no one would be able to learn anything by being tortured."

After Snape trailed off, utterly disgusted with Carrow's actions, there was complete silence in the hall, not one person feeling capable of speech. They were all shocked by what Draco and Daphne had mentioned, though they didn't really want to believe it, but the horror in their voices was proof enough. The students knew that Draco and Daphne were actually speaking from experience, so had to believe it.

Eventually, Lily felt able to continue, so cleared her throat and carried on reading shakily.

**and what's the Dark Lord going to say?" he shrieked, standing over his sister and smacking himself on the forehead with his fist, "We haven't got him, and they've gorn and killed her!"**

"**She's only Stunned," said Professor McGonagall impatiently, who had stooped down to examine Alecto. "She'll be perfectly all right."**

"Maybe you should have cursed her a bit more, to make sure that she won't be perfectly all right." Remus growled, his eyes flashing, showing that he was once again close to losing control.

"I don't think I would have got away with it." Minerva sighed, "not with Carrow there. He might have seen something, and he sounds as though he was in a bad enough mood without a target. I dread to think what he would have done if he had had someone to accuse."

"**No she bludgering well won't!" bellowed Amycus. "Not after the Dark Lord gets hold of her! She's gorn and sent for him, I felt me Mark burn, and he thinks we've got Potter!"**

"Oh please, can we shut this idiot who butchers the English language so badly, up?" Lisa groaned. She, like almost all the Ravenclaws who actually cared about that sort of thing, disliked his inability to use proper grammar.

"'**Got Potter'?" said Professor McGonagall sharply, "What do you mean, 'got Potter'?"**

"**He told us Potter might try and get inside Ravenclaw Tower, and to send for him if we caught him!"**

"That proves it." Susan sighed, "Voldemort found the diadem, and turned it into a Horcrux."

"**Why would Harry Potter try to get inside Ravenclaw Tower? Potter belongs in my House!"**

**Beneath the disbelief and anger, Harry heard a little strain of pride in her voice and affection for Minerva McGonagall gushed up inside him.**

"Of course I would be proud." Minerva said with a smile, "you are a remarkable young man Harry."

"**We was told he might come in here!" said Carrow. "I dunno why, do I?"**

The Ravenclaws began keening in slight distress.

"His grasp of the English language is getting worse." Lisa whined.

"I am so glad Dominique isn't here right now." Teddy mumbled, "I do not want to know how crazy she would be if she heard his awful grammar."

"I presume Dominique is one of your friends?" Bill asked with a grin.

"Yep, she's actually one of Vic's siblings." Teddy nodded, "she flies off the handle every time someone doesn't split an infinitive correctly, or makes some other small mistake when speaking. Her obsession with correct grammar and spelling caused a shop assistant to have a mental breakdown when she was buying her school supplies in the summer before her fourth year."

"Oh dear." Tonks muttered.

**Professor McGonagall stood up and her beady eyes swept the room. Twice they passed right over the place where Harry and Luna stood.**

"One thing I am curious about is, does the cloak work on cats?" James wondered.

"Yes, but cats do have an extremely acute sense of smell, and a cat animagus would gain that, even in human form, so I could probably smell them." Minerva replied, "I may not have known who was there, but I would know that someone was."

"Ah, I understand." James nodded.

"**We can push it off on the kids," said Amycus, his pig like face suddenly crafty. "Yeah, that's what we'll do. We'll say Alecto was ambushed by the kids, them kids up there," he looked up at the starry ceiling toward the dormitories,**

"I certainly would never allow them to do that." Minerva spat, looking angrier than anyone had ever seen her.

"I would not allow that either." Snape agreed, "of course, it might not have been my choice, but if Carrow had tried something like that, I would have blown my cover quite happily. There is no way I would want to sit and watch as a group of kids was blamed for something they did not do."

"**and we'll say they forced her to press her Mark, and that's why he got a false alarm … he can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what's the difference?"**

Minerva and the rest of the staff were silently seething, knowing that in the book they were all pretty much impotent with two Death Eaters in the castle. None of them wanted to believe that they would just sit back and let Voldemort get his hands on the students in their care, but they couldn't see another option, unless, as Harry and Hermione had said, the final battle really was close, and cursing the Death Eaters wouldn't cost them the ability to protect the children.

"**Only the difference between truth and lied, courage and cowardice," said Professor McGonagall, who had turned pale, "a difference, in short, which you and your sister seem unable to appreciate. But let me make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass off your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts. I shall not permit it."**

Everyone, even the Slytherins, cheered for the Transfiguration professor, who had truly earned their respect. Even the ones who had planned to join the Dark Lord, who had held on to their belief that purebloods were superior, even when faced with a lot of proof otherwise, were beginning to realise that the Dark Lord was truly going to lose, and began to admit, if only to themselves, that maybe he was wrong.

"It's about time." Dorea muttered to Charlus, watching the thoughtful expressions on some of the more outspoken of Voldemort's former supporters.

"Indeed." Charlus agreed quietly, "maybe the wizarding world has a chance to survive without needing to be utterly destroyed and rebuilt form the ground up."

"**Excuse me?"**

**Amycus moved forward until he was offensively close to Professor McGonagall, his face within inches of hers. She refused to back away, but looked down at him as if he were something disgusting she had found stuck to the lavatory seat.**

"Good one." James grinned, trying to alleviate some of the tension in the hall, but there was still a hard edge to his voice.

"**It's not a case of what _you'll_ permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge here now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price."**

"I'd rather die than back him up." Minerva hissed.

**And he spat in her face.**

The silence was deafening. No one spoke, the Gryffindors, past and present, unable to give voice to their anger, while the rest of the houses were too worried to dare open their mouths. Suddenly, there was a crash, as all the glass in the hall shattered, the Gryffindor table cracked, and the pumpkin juice jugs burst, sending their orange contents all over everywhere. And it wasn't just the Gryffindors who were furious, the other students, former students and staff were also incensed, but very few managed to lose control like the Gryffindors had. Lucius had even had the presence of mind to cast a quick quenching charm over the candles, because he knew that if Harry lost control, he would start playing with the flames, and consequently scare everyone. Teddy already was scaring everyone who saw him. His hair and facial features were flickering between his favoured appearance, his natural appearance, and many non-human appearances, never sticking with one for more than a few seconds.

"Calm down." Minerva yelled, snapping everyone back to reality. The cracks in the Gryffindor table stopped spreading, the broken glass fell to the floor harmlessly and the Gryffindors relaxed, all looking sheepish at the destruction they had wrought.

**Harry pulled the Cloak off himself, raised his wand and said, "You shouldn't have done that."**

**As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, "_Crucio!_"**

"Oh yes, scare the living daylights out of her." Seamus grinned, remembering what had been said during the chapter about the trio breaking into Gringotts, that there were times when people ended up doing things they felt were distasteful.

"If Harry hadn't got there first, I'm sure I would have done the same thing." Luna said in a hard voice. "That pathetic Death Eater does not deserve to be called human."

**The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor.**

"**I see what Bellatrix meant," said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, "you need to really mean it."**

"**Potter!" whispered Professor McGonagall, clutching her heart. **

"Oh dear, I hope you didn't give her a heart attack." Dorea whispered worriedly.

"Don't worry, I think it would have taken a lot more than me appearing out of thin air to give her a heart attack." Harry smiled, "she's not that fragile."

"She's more likely to be the one causing heart attacks than having them." Teddy sniggered.

"**Potter – you're here! What –? How –?" She struggled to pull herself together. "Potter, that was foolish!"**

"**He spat at you," said Harry.**

"**Potter, I – that was very – _gallant_ of you – but don't you realise –?"**

"He knows what he's doing." Hermione said, "you don't need to worry too much."

"**Yeah, I do," Harry assured her. Somehow her panic steadied him.**

"And again, someone loses their head, so Harry finds his." Neville laughed.

"**Professor McGonagall, Voldemort's on the way."**

"**Oh, are we allowed to say the name now?" asked Luna with an air of interest, pulling off the Invisibility Cloak. The appearance of a second outlaw seemed to overwhelm Professor McGonagall, who staggered backward and fell into a nearby chair, clutching at the neck of her old tartan dressing gown.**

"Well done Luna." James sniggered, "shock the poor woman even more."

"Besides, it's not like it matters that he said the name." Angelina shrugged, "Voldemort already knows that he's there."

Hardly anyone flinched any more, they had all got used to hearing and using the name, though there were some who were still stubbornly refusing to get used to it.

"Pathetic." Teddy muttered when he saw the flinching.

"**I don't think it makes any difference what we call him," Harry told Luna. "he already knows where I am."**

"See." Angelina giggled.

**In a distant part of Harry's brain, that part connected to the angry, burning scar, he could see Voldemort sailing fast over the dark lake in the ghostly green boat … he had nearly reached the island where the stone basin stood …**

"**You must flee," whispered Professor McGonagall, "Now Potter, as quickly as you can!"**

"Not after going all that way." Harry sighed, "I was there to stay, I was not going to flee again. I'm not the kind of person who can leave when others are in danger, if I have a chance of being able to save them."

"**I can't," said Harry, "There's something I need to do. Professor, do you know where the diadem of Ravenclaw is?"**

"**The d – diadem of Ravenclaw? Of course not – hasn't it been lost for centuries?"**

"No, not exactly." The Grey Lady whispered, closing her eyes in pain. She knew that her secret would be revealed very soon, and everyone would know what a stupid little girl she had been, daring to want to be as wise and intelligent as the great Rowena Ravenclaw had been.

"It is not your burden to bear alone." The Bloody Baron murmured to her, always regretful of his part in the disappearance of the diadem.

"Yes it is." She sighed, "I was the one who stole it, you were just doing what you had been asked to do, and if I had not been so stubborn, neither of us would be ghosts."

"We're only ghosts because I lost my temper." He pointed out sadly, "if I had been able to maintain control, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"We'll see." She muttered, drifting away from him and returning to the end of the Ravenclaw table, where she had taken up a position as a sort of sentinel. The Baron, too, returned to the position he had taken up at the end of the Slytherin table.

No one had heard their conversation, so their secret had not been revealed yet, and they could brace themselves for the moment it was revealed.

**She sat up a little straighter. "Potter, it was madness, utter madness, for you to enter this castle –"**

"**I had to," said Harry. "Professor, there's something hidden here that I'm supposed to find, and it _could_ be the diadem – if I could just speak to Professor Flitwick –"**

"I wouldn't have had a clue." Flitwick sighed, "I'm sorry."

**There was a sound of movement, of clinking glass. Amycus was coming round. Before Harry or Luna could act, Professor McGonagall rose to her feet, pointed her wand at the groggy Death Eater, and said, "_Imperio._"**

"Wow, she's using an Unforgivable now." Dean grinned.

"Remember, with Voldemort in charge, those spells are perfectly legal." Alicia pointed out, "there's no way Voldemort would want to punish someone for using spells he himself uses, so he would erase any restrictions on them."

**Amycus got up, walked over to his sister, picked up her wand, then shuffled obediently to Professor McGonagall and handed it over along with his own. Then he lay down on the floor beside Alecto. Professor McGonagall waved her wand again, and a length of shimmering silver rope appeared out of thin air and snaked around the Carrows, binding them tightly together.**

"**Potter," said Professor McGonagall, turning to face him again with superb indifference to the Carrows' predicament. "if He Who Must Not Be Named does indeed know that you are here –"**

"He who hates his name so much he must have many ridiculous nicknames." Harry snorted.

"Oh, and what about your string of ridiculous nicknames?" Hermione giggled.

"Mouldy wanted his nicknames, that's why he made the first one up then got everyone so afraid of him that they gave him the rest." Harry grinned, "I never wanted any of those stupid names the world has landed me with."

**As she said it, a wrath that was like physical pain blazed through Harry, setting his scar on fire, and for a second he looked down upon a basin whose potion had turned clear, and saw that no golden locket lay safe beneath the surface –**

"**Potter, are you all right." said a voice, and Harry came back: he was clutching Luna's shoulder to steady himself.**

"Merlin, and because I've never actually seen what you look like during a trip into Voldemort's head, I wouldn't know what was going on?" Minerva muttered, slightly disappointed that she hadn't been allowed to see how truly debilitating those visions were for Harry.

"**Time's running out, Voldemort's getting nearer, Professor, I'm acting on Dumbledore's orders, I must find what he wanted me to find! But we've got to get the students out while I'm searching the castle – it's me Voldemort wants, but he won't care about killing a few more or less, not now –" _Not now he knows I'm attacking Horcruxes,_ Harry finished the sentence in his head.**

"Well, mentioning my name in conjunction with what you're doing, is certain to convince her to help." Albus smiled.

"Yes, though I am still annoyed that you didn't tell us about what Harry's mission was, so we had to hear it mentioned in the book." Minerva huffed, "I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to not know what those three were up to, to be stuck here, while those three got into all that danger."

"I'm sorry." Albus sighed, "I felt that the more people who knew would increase the risk that the knowledge would get back to Voldemort."

"We know that, but put yourself in our position, and tell me you wouldn't want to be able to help." Minerva said.

"I can't." Albus whispered.

"**You're acting on _Dumbledore's_ orders?" she repeated with a look of dawning wonder. Then she drew herself up to her fullest height.**

"**We shall secure the school against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named while you search for this – this object."**

"Can that be done?" A little Hufflepuff first year asked nervously.

"There a many defences we can use." Minerva smiled, "we will be able to hold him off, long enough to get those who either can't or won't fight, out."

"Are there shields on the ship under the illusion, that can be put up?" Colin wondered.

"Yes, but I think we'd have to dismantle the illusion to have them at full power." Harry nodded, "we didn't use those shields during the final battle, because we didn't know about Hogwarts being a city-ship until about a month after finding Atlantis, and even then, the only time we needed to use the shields, was when we were moving it."

"So you wouldn't be able to keep the illusion up, if you wanted to use the shields at full power?" Minerva mused.

"That's right." Harry nodded, "the shield emitters would not be able to handle both at the same time, because they are what produce the illusion. The Founders didn't find a way to have both in use, and they had help from Merlin, who taught them everything he knew about the technology."

"What about the wards that are currently up though?" Albus asked.

"They are not at full power." Harry replied, "they are very basic shields that the shield emitters can cope with. on top of the illusion."

"So what is the difference between having the shields at full power and just having basic shields up?" Sprout wondered.

"At full power, the shields can withstand a hell of a lot more than the basic shields." Teddy grinned, "for example, this city-ship holds drone weapons which are exceptionally powerful. If the shields were at full power, they would be able to withstand at least three dozen volleys of drones, whereas the basic shields would fall after just one drone explosion."

"However, the drones are more powerful than anything Voldemort can throw at us, so we shouldn't be too concerned." Hermione pointed out.

"Ah." Sprout nodded.

"**Is that possible?"**

"**I think so," said Professor McGonagall dryly, "we teachers are rather good at magic, you know. I am sure we will be able to hold him off for a while if we all put our best efforts into it. Of course, something will have to be done about Professor Snape –"**

"Nice." Snape mumbled sarcastically, wondering what he and his wife would have to do to keep their marriage a secret, while also maintaining his cover as a loyal Death Eater.

"**Let me –"**

"– **and if Hogwarts is about to enter a state of siege, with the Dark Lord at the gates, it would indeed be advisable to take as many innocent people out of the way as possible. With the Floo Network under observation, and Apparition impossible within the grounds –"**

"**There's a way," said Harry quickly, and he explained about the passageway leading into the Hog's Head.**

"That's a very good idea." Flitwick said, "the younger years wouldn't stand a chance if they didn't get out. The first years especially, since they don't learn much beyond a few very simple spells. The curriculum mainly focuses on the theory, not the actual spell-casting."

"**Potter, we're talking about hundreds of students –"**

"**I know, Professor, but if Voldemort and the Death Eaters are concentrating on the school boundaries they won't be interested in anyone who's Disapparating out of Hog's Head."**

"Very true." Sprout nodded, "and people can come in as well, so we wouldn't have to rely on just the staff and those who volunteered."

"Yes, as the fact that some former students arrived while the trio were in the room showed, we could bring a lot more people in to fight on our side." Vector agreed.

"We also have access to a Vanishing cabinet, and some of us know where its pair is." Draco said, "if we can get the other one somewhere safe, and repair the one here, that would provide us with another secure route in."

"How long would it take to repair?" Bill wondered.

"I don't know." Draco grimaced, "I've been working on it, on my own, in whatever spare time I've had, and I'm nowhere near finished, but if more people were involved, then it shouldn't take too long."

"So that was the plan." Albus realised, "to bring the Death Eaters into Hogwarts through the cabinets. We might be able to turn it in our favour."

"That's what I was thinking." Draco nodded, "if I can stall a bit more, then we can set the date, and be prepared so that we can deal with any Death Eaters that are sent through."

"It might just work." Albus nodded, "we'll have to think about it, and plan to set up traps, but not right now, we must continue to read, and then make our plans once the book is over."

"**There's something in that," she agreed. She pointed her wand at the Carrows, and a silver net fell upon their bound bodies, tied itself around them, and hoisted them into the air, where they dangled beneath the blue and gold ceiling like two large, ugly sea creatures. "Come. We must alert the other Heads of House. You'd better put that Cloak back on."**

**She marched toward the door, and as she did so she raised her wand. From the tip burst three silver cats with spectacle markings around their eyes. **

"I didn't know that someone's Patronus would have the same shape as their animagus form." Justin said.

"Sometimes it happens that way." Minerva nodded, slipping into teaching mode. "Animagus forms are dependant on the personality of the person, whereas the Patronus depends on what the person feels represents safety and happiness. Besides, as I'm sure some of the older students are already aware, everyone who has the potential to become an animagus, has up to four forms, each representing one aspect of their personality, though many don't bother training more than one form."

"What happens if someone doesn't train more than one?" Susan asked.

"Then the other forms will stay dormant." Minerva replied, "no one loses an animal form, even if they don't use it. The animal form is part of you, and you won't lose whatever part of your personality the form represents, so you can either train just one form, and just use that, or you can train all of them, and use them all. It is best to train all the forms, because you never know when one might be more useful in any situation, than the others."

"Interesting." Justin muttered.

**The Patronuses ran sleekly ahead, filling the spiral staircase with silvery light, as Professor McGonagall, Harry, and Luna hurried back down.**

**Along the corridors they raced, and one by one the Patronuses left them.**

"I wonder who the Head of Slytherin is." Tracy murmured.

"Unless Voldemort decided that he liked giving poor Professor Snape even more paperwork, then I would guess that Slughorn took the position once Professor Snape was made headmaster." Blaise shrugged.

"I doubt even Voldemort would be able to put the same person in both positions." Pansy said, "even if he is as powerful as he seems, even he wouldn't go against the Board. I would bet that they only let him put the Carrows within the school if he agreed not to interfere in the running of the school, so yeah, Slughorn got the job, unless he retired and one of the other former-Slytherin staff members got it."

"True." Tracy and Blaise nodded.

**Professor McGonagall's tartan dressing gown rustled over the floor, and Harry and Luna jogged behind her under the Cloak.**

**They had descended two more floors when another set of quiet footsteps joined theirs. **

"Oh no, who is it?" Hannah whispered.

**Harry, whose scar was still prickling, heard them first: he felt in the pouch around his neck for the Marauder's Map, but before he could take it out, McGonagall too seemed to become aware of their company. She halted, raised her wand ready to duel, and said, "Who's there?"**

"**It is I," said a low voice.**

"Well that's not helpful." Dean sniggered, "it could be anyone."

**From behind a suit of armour stepped Severus Snape.**

"Fabiola's Unca Sev'wus." Teddy sniggered.

"That's better than Sevvie." Snape muttered, "but still pretty bad."

"She _was_ only four when she came up with that." Harry grinned, "and hated using the letter R."

"Well, I think I can forgive her for not saying my name properly." Snape sighed, "though if she'd come up with that horrible nickname at fourteen, I wouldn't be quite as lenient."

**Hatred boiled up in Harry at the sight of him. **

"What the hell was she thinking when she wrote that?" Harry wondered.

"She thought you hated me." Snape sighed, "you did mention that you had told her to edit out the training when she wrote this book, so maybe she wanted to make it seem like we wouldn't be seen dead talking to each other."

"Maybe." Harry sighed, "I mean, there was a little bit of hatred, but that was due to how gaunt and tired you looked. To be perfectly honest, you looked like shit that night, and I hated what the stress had done to you, but I didn't hate you. I haven't hated you since the first day of our training, when you explained just what you had to do."

"Merlin." Snape murmured.

**He had forgotten the details of Snape's appearance in the magnitude of his crimes, forgotten how his greasy black hair hung in curtains around his thin face, how his black eyes had a dead, cold look. He was not wearing nightclothes,**

"I suspect that I wouldn't be able to sleep much, with the Carrows there, and the likely-hood that Voldemort would occasionally call me for some reason or another." Snape sighed.

**but was dressed in his usual black cloak, and he too was holding his wand ready for a fight.**

"If you're on the same side, why are you about to attack each other?" Dennis asked.

"Because I would still have to maintain my cover, and there could have been people watching and waiting to report to Voldemort." Snape grimaced, "neither of us would want to risk blowing my cover if the war lasted longer than that night, just in case I would need to continue to act as a spy."

"Even if it means attacking your wife?" Susan asked quietly.

"Unfortunately, but we would not be aiming to kill or permanently maim, just inconvenience each other, or break a few bones." Snape replied, wishing that he was not put in that position.

"**Where are the Carrows?" he asked quietly.**

"**Wherever you told them to be, I expect, Severus," said Professor McGonagall.**

**Snape stepped nearer, and his eyes flitted over Professor McGonagall into the air around her, as if he knew that Harry was there.**

"I probably did know, having figured that you'd be using the cloak, and I've known about that cloak since I was a student." Snape nodded.

**Harry held his wand up too, ready to attack.**

"**I was under the impression," said Snape, "That Alecto had apprehended an intruder."**

"**Really?" said Professor McGonagall. "And what gave you that impression?"**

**Snape made a slight flexing movement of his left arm, where the Dark Mark was branded into his skin.**

"Not any more." Harry singsonged, smirking at the ones who he knew had already taken the Mark and were sitting at the Slytherin table.

"But isn't it impossible to remove it?" Scrimgeour wondered.

"No, not to someone who's touch is like poison to Voldemort." Harry smiled, "for some reason, my blood is able to destroy the magic in the mark, which causes the thing to disintegrate."

"So you removed the professor's Mark?" Tracy grinned.

"Yep." Harry nodded.

"Wow, did you remove any others?" Pansy asked.

"Mine, Draco's, Bella's and Rodolphus'." Lucius said.

"Merlin." Theo murmured, remembering the few times he'd caught sight of the Marks on the arms of Crabbe an Goyle, and wondering whether the two boys would be brave enough to ask Harry to remove them.

"**Oh, but naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "You Death Eaters have your own private means of communication, I forgot."**

**Snape pretended not to have heard her. His eyes were still probing the air all about her, and he was moving gradually closer, with an air of hardly noticing what he was doing.**

"**I did not know that it was your night to patrol the corridors Minerva."**

"**You have some objection?"**

"**I wonder what could have brought you out of our bed at this late hour?"**

"**I thought I heard a disturbance," said Professor McGonagall.**

"**Really? But all seems calm."**

**Snape looked into her eyes.**

"I hope you weren't using Legilimency on her." Remus said, using a gentle tone of voice, thought some could still tell that he wasn't as calm as he tried to portray.

"I don't know whether I was or not." Snape grimaced, "but there are more reasons to use it, than just fishing for information in someone's mind."

"As I mentioned seven chapters ago, it can be used as a method of silent communication, so if Severus was using it, that was why." Bellatrix added.

Harry could see Remus getting close to losing control again, even with that reasonable and logical answer, so, to forestall any violent reactions, he grabbed Remus' left wrist and used a nail to piece the soft skin, injecting the werewolf with a single drop of venom from one of the many animal forms he had.

"Harry, what did you just do?" Remus asked, slumping in his seat lethargically.

"Gave you a dose of a very mild paralytic." Harry sighed, "you needed to calm down, and that was the fastest way. Don't worry, it will wear off in a few minutes, but until then, you're mostly paralysed."

"Oh." Remus murmured, noticing that he had indeed lost the ability to move all but his head.

"I am so jealous right now." Teddy said, "I wish I had that ability, 'cos then it would be easier to calm Vic down when she loses control."

"**Have you seen Harry Potter, Minerva? Because if you have. I must insist –"**

**Professor McGonagall moved faster than Harry could have believed. Her wand slashed through the air and for a split second Harry thought that Snape must crumple, unconscious, but the swiftness of his Shield Charm was such that McGonagall was thrown off balance. She brandished her wand at a torch on the wall and it flew out of its bracket. Harry, about to curse Snape, was forced to pull Luna out of the way of the descending flames, which became a ring of fire that filled the corridor and flew like a lasso at Snape –**

"That was truly impressive." Harry smiled, "about as impressive as the battle between Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore at the end of last year."

"Well thank you." Minerva said, "I just hope that we were able to make it look real to anyone who believed we weren't on the same side."

**Then it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent that McGonagall blasted to smoke, which re-formed and solidified in seconds to become a swarm of pursuing daggers. Snape avoided them only by forcing the suit of armour in front of him, and with echoing clangs the daggers sank, one after another, into its breast –**

"**Minerva!" said a squeaky voice, **

"There's only one person in the entire school who has a voice like that." Padma grinned.

"Professor Flitwick." Lisa nodded, "at least he's alive in the book."

**and looking behind him, still shielding Luna from flying spells, Harry saw Professors Flitwick and Sprout sprinting up the corridor toward them in their nightclothes, with the enormous Professor Slughorn panting along at the rear.**

"**No!" squealed Flitwick, raising his wand. "You'll do no more murder at Hogwarts!"**

"Evidently they still think there might be Death Eaters or Voldemort's spies hanging around." Susan sighed.

**Flitwick's spell hit the suit of armour behind which Snape had taken shelter. With a clatter it came to life. Snape struggled free of the crushing arms and sent it flying back toward his attackers. Harry and Luna had to dive sideways to avoid it as it smashed into the wall and shattered. When Harry looked up again, Snape was in full flight, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout all thundering after him. He hurtled through a classroom door and, moments later, he heard McGonagall cry, "Coward! COWARD!"**

"Those aren't the actions of a coward." Moody growled, "those are the actions of a man who knows when he's outnumbered and outclassed."

"So says the bloke who used to take on dozens of Death Eaters at once." Tonks snorted.

"Death Eaters aren't in the same league as Minerva, Filius and Pomona." Moody shrugged, "they're nothing more than thugs, while those three have finesse and talent, in spades. I'd be hard pressed to win if I got into a duel against all three of them. Do remember that Filius was a duelling champion."

"**What's happened, what's happened?" asked Luna.**

**Harry dragged her to her feet and they raced along the corridor, trailing the Invisibility Cloak behind them, into the deserted classroom where Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were standing at a smashed window.**

"**He jumped," said Professor McGonagall as Harry and Luna ran into the room.**

Lily paused, gaping at the book, before she turned to Snape and, slightly hysterically, shrieked, "are you daft? That's just plain crazy."

"I'm sure I had a good reason." Snape mumbled, cowering slightly from his red-haired friend's temper. He didn't know why, but she scared him far more than Voldemort ever had, and Voldemort liked throwing Unforgivables around like confetti.

"**You mean he's _dead_?" Harry sprinted to the window, ignoring Flitwick's and Sprout's yells of shock at his sudden appearance.**

"And where am I?" Slughorn wondered quietly, "I thought I was there too."

"You were, but you couldn't keep up." Harry smirked, sending a glance at the rotund man's large stomach, which seemed to be straining to escape its tweed prison.

"**No, he's not dead," said McGonagall bitterly. "Unlike Dumbledore, he was still carrying a wand …**

"Are you saying that Professor Dumbledore was thrown out of a window when he died?" Susan asked, horrified.

"Not quite, but he did fall from the top of the Astronomy tower." Harry sighed.

"Merlin." Hannah murmured.

**and he seems to have learned a few tricks from his master."**

**With a tingle of horror, Harry saw in the distance a huge, bat like shape flying through the darkness toward the perimeter wall.**

The muggle-borns burst out laughing at that description, all thinking of Batman, the superhero who could fly and was disguised as a bat. A few even began humming the theme tune.

**There were heavy footfalls behind them, and a great deal of puffing. Slughorn had just caught up.**

"**Harry!" he panted, massaging his immense chest beneath his emerald-green silk pyjamas. "My dear boy … what a surprise … Minerva, do please explain … Severus … what …?"**

"Keep up Horace." Lily giggled.

"**Our headmaster is taking a short break," said Professor McGonagall, pointing at the Snape-shaped hole in the window.**

"That hole did not look like a person." Hermione snorted.

"**Professor!" Harry shouted his hand on his forehead. He could see the Inferi-filled lake sliding beneath him, and he felt a ghostly green boat bump into the underground shore, and Voldemort leapt from it with murder in his heart –**

"That's nothing new, he always has murder in his heart." Regulus said.

"**Professor, we've got to barricade the school, he's coming now!"**

"**Very well. He Who Must Not Be Named is coming," she told the other teachers. Sprout and Flitwick gasped. Slughorn let out a low groan. "Potter has work to do in the castle on Dumbledore's orders. We need to put in place every protection of which we are capable while Potter does what he needs to do."**

"**You realize, of course, that nothing we do will be able to keep out You Know Who indefinitely?" squeaked Flitwick.**

"That's a fairly typically Ravenclaw thing to say." Lisa smiled.

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." Luna said dreamily.

"Indeed." The Grey Lady nodded, forcing herself to maintain her composure.

"**But we can hold him up." said Professor Sprout.**

"And that is a typically Hufflepuff thing to say." James grinned.

"**Thank you, Pomona." said Professor McGonagall, and between the two witches there passed a look of grim understanding. "I suggest we establish basic protection around the place, then gather our students and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, though if any of those who are over age wish to stay and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance."**

"That sounds like a good idea." Remus said.

"What about those who aren't yet seventeen, who want to stay and fight?" Ginny asked in a hard voice, glaring at anyone who looked likely to tell her that they wouldn't be allowed.

"No." Mrs Weasley said, "you're too young. Anyone under seventeen would have to be evacuated as well, and I think many of the seventeen and eighteen-year-olds should also go."

"There is no way you'd be able to stop me fighting." Ginny growled, "no matter what, I'm a fighter."

"We will discuss this later." Minerva said sternly, "we were given this book to change the future, which means that we will be able to make a solid plan for the final battle, when it comes, and we can decide who does what then, not right now, we have a book to read."

"**Agreed," said Professor Sprout, already hurrying toward the door. "I shall meet you in the Great Hall in twenty minutes with my House."**

**And as she jogged out of sight, they could hear her muttering, "Tentacula. Devil's Snare. And Snargaluff pods … yes, I'd like to see the Death Eaters fighting those."**

"That would be brilliant fun." Neville grinned.

"I think we'll also want to toss some Mandrakes at them." Sprout mused.

"And maybe you'll need to teach the students who want to fight, how to deal with everything you want to use, to make sure that you don't have anyone accidentally getting hurt by so-called friendly fire." Teddy added.

"Yes, but as I said, we will discuss this later." Minerva sighed.

"**I can act from here," said Flitwick, and although he could barely see out of it, he pointed his wand through the smashed window and started muttering incantations of great complexity. Harry heard a weird rushing noise, as though Flitwick had unleashed the power of the wind into the grounds.**

"Merlin, you could actually hear that?" Albus whispered.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"Minerva, have you been teaching those six how to sense magic, or is that one of the things you couldn't teach them?" Albus asked.

"It was one of the things we couldn't teach, since none of us have that ability." Minerva grimaced, "Harry, Hermione, and to a lesser extent, young miss Parkinson, have the ability, but we have not found a way to help them train it."

"Interesting." Albus murmured, "I think it may be a good idea if I were to try contacting someone who can help them."

"But who?" Minerva asked, "it is one of the rarer talents, and I don't actually know anyone who has it."

"Perenelle does, and I think Nicholas does as well." Albus mused, "if I, or one of that lot, asks Perenelle, then she might be willing."

"Maybe." Minerva nodded, "let's continue with the book first, and then think about that."

"Yes, yes, a very good idea." Albus smiled.

"**Professor," Harry said, approaching the little Charms master. "Professor, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is important. Have you got any idea where the diadem of Ravenclaw is"**

"… **_Protego Horribillis_ – the diadem of Ravenclaw?" squeaked Flitwick. "A little extra wisdom never goes amiss, Potter, but I hardly think it would be much use in this situation!"**

"Does it really make someone smarter?" Terry asked.

"It gives someone knowledge." The Grey Lady whispered, "when someone wears it, all Lady Ravenclaw's knowledge gets put in their head."

"Interesting." Padma muttered.

"**I only meant – do you know where it is? Have you ever seen it?"**

"**Seen it? Nobody has seen it in living memory! Long since lost, boy."**

"So how did Voldemort find it?" Anthony wondered.

"That is the million-galleon question." Michael sighed.

**Harry felt a mixture of desperate disappointment and panic. What, then, was the Horcrux?**

"**We shall meet you and your Ravenclaws in the Great Hall, Filius!" said Professor McGonagall, beckoning to Harry and Luna to follow her.**

**They had just reached the door when Slughorn rumbled into speech.**

"**My word," he puffed, pale and sweaty, his walrus moustache aquiver. "What a to-do! I'm not at all sure whether this is wise, Minerva. He is bound to find a way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay him will be in the most grievous peril –"**

"Are you saying that everyone should just _give up_ and let _that monster_ kill _my son_?" Lily shrieked at the large potions professor, who shrank back slightly nervously.

"**I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes also." said Professor McGonagall. "If you wish to leave with your students, we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to sabotage our resistance or take up arms against us within this castle, then, Horace, we duel to kill."**

"GO MINNIE!" The Weasley twins, along with James, cheered.

"How many times have I told you lot not to call me that?" Minerva huffed.

"Too many to count." James grinned roguishly.

"It's definitely in the thousands by now." Fred nodded.

"Something like three thousand five hundred and eleven." George smirked.

"Very well, for the three thousand five hundred and twelfth time, don't call me Minnie." Minerva said sternly.

"**Minerva!" he said, aghast.**

"**The time has come for Slytherin House to decide upon its loyalties," interrupted Professor McGonagall. **

"Professor, I can't speak for the seventh years, but almost everyone in sixth year and below will follow Harry, and fight for the light." Pansy said after the Slytherins had made their decision, "there are a few who want to stay neutral, but most of us are with Harry."

Everyone else in the hall clapped and cheered, glad that the Slytherins wouldn't be continuing on the Dark path their parents and grandparents had followed.

"**Go and wake your students, Horace."**

**Harry did not stay to watch Slughorn splutter. He and Luna ran after Professor McGonagall, who had taken up a position in the middle of the corridor and raised her wand.**

"**_Piertotum_ – oh, for heaven's sake, Filch, not _now_ –"**

"Oh Merlin, I'd forgotten that he would be in the story." James whined.

"You're not the only one." Fred and George groaned.

**The aged caretaker had just come hobbling into view, shouting, "Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!"**

"**They're supposed to be you blithering idiot!" shouted McGonagall. **

"Yes, someone actually called him what he is." Pomfrey grinned, "I've wanted to do that for years."

"**Now go and do something constructive! Find Peeves!"**

"**P – Peeves?" stammered Filch as though he had never heard the name before.**

"Yes Mr Moron. Peeves, the one you complain about every damn day." Sprout snapped, losing her normal cheerfulness. She really did not like the caretaker, and couldn't quite hide that fact.

"**Yes, _Peeves,_ you fool, _Peeves!_ Haven't you been complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once."**

**Filch evidently thought Professor McGonagall had taken leave of her senses,**

"Of course I would, Peeves is a blasted menace." Filch growled, before subsiding into angry mutters.

**but hobbled away, hunch-shouldered, muttering under his breath.**

"**And now – _piertotum locomotor_!" cried Professor McGonagall.**

"I've always wanted to use that spell." Minerva whispered to Sprout.

"You'll get your chance, but not right now." Sprout giggled.

**And all along the corridor the statues and suits of armour jumped down from their plinths, and from the echoing crashes from the floors above and below, Harry knew that their fellows throughout the castle had done the same.**

"That is so cool." Teddy whispered in awe.

"**Hogwarts is threatened!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"**

**Clattering and yelling, the horde of moving statues stampeded past Harry, some of them smaller, others larger than life. There were animals too, and the clanking suits of armour brandished swords and spiked balls on chains.**

"How is that possible though, I didn't think that parts of an illusion could move like that?" Lisa asked, already used to the idea that the castle was not actually real.

"Those statues and the suits of armour are real, they aren't part of the illusion." Harry said, "they were added after big events or the deaths of the people they commemorate."

"Oh." Lisa nodded, understanding.

"**Now, Potter," said McGonagall., "you and Miss Lovegood had better return to your friends and bring them to the Great Hall – I shall rouse the other Gryffindors."**

"She said other." Seamus grinned.

"She must have known that most Gryffs would be hiding in the Room of Requirement." Neville shrugged.

"Of course she would." Teddy sniggered, "while she may not have known about the Room, she's not thick, and would have realised that most of the Gryffs had gone into hiding. It's not difficult to notice something like that."

**They parted at the top of the next staircase: Harry and Luna running back toward the concealed entrance to the Room of Requirement. As they ran, they met crowds of students, most wearing travelling cloaks over their pyjamas, being shepherded down to the Great Hall by teachers and prefects.**

"**That was Potter!"**

"**_Harry Potter!_"**

"**It was him, I swear, I just saw him!"**

"Still as famous as ever I see." Snape smirked.

"Irritatingly enough." Harry sighed.

**But Harry did not look back, and at last they reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Harry leaned against the enchanted wall, which opened to admit them, and he and Luna sped back down the steep staircase.**

"**Wh –?"**

**As the room came into view, Harry slipped down a few stairs in shock. It was packed, far more crowded than when he had last been in there. Kingsley **

"Good to know that the Order has been informed." Kingsley nodded.

**and Lupin were looking up at him, as were Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, **

"Woohoo." The three girls and Oliver cheered, "we're in it now."

"Oh Merlin." Hermione groaned.

**Bill and Fleur, and Mr and Mrs Weasley.**

"Where are we then?" Percy and Charlie asked.

"Percy, you were stuck trying to find a way out of the Ministry, while Charlie was en route from Romania." Ron grinned, "so while neither of you was there at that particular point, you were on your way."

"Good." The two redheads nodded, glad that they would not be ignoring the battle.

"**Harry, what's happening?" said Lupin, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.**

"**Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading he school – Snape's run for it – what are you doing here? How did you know?"**

"**We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."**

"That's good, we won't be so badly outnumbered." Flitwick said.

"The numbers were still heavily in Voldemort's favour, but that was only when we were counting those who were already there, not those who were making their way." Hermione sighed, "besides, there were a few Death Eaters who weren't fighting, and one of that little group was one of the ones who would have been extremely tough to beat."

"I wonder why not." Minerva muttered.

"He was too worried about his son's safety." Harry smiled.

"Ah." Minerva nodded.

"**What first, Harry?" called George. "What's going on?"**

"**They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."**

**There was a great roar and a surge toward the stairs, he was pressed back against the wall as they ran past him, the mingled members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and Harry's old Quidditch team, all with their wands drawn, heading up into the main castle.**

"Yep, it was a veritable flood of people." Harry grinned.

"**Come on, Luna," Dean called as he passed, holding out his free hand, she took it and followed him back up the stairs.**

Neville frowned, slightly jealous of Luna's friendship with the black boy, though he knew that they were only friends, and nothing more would come of it.

**The crowd was thinning. Only a little knot of people remained below in the Room of Requirement, and Harry joined them. Mrs Weasley was struggling with Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur.**

Ginny growled, glaring at her adoptive mother for ever thinking that she would be able to sit back and watch everyone else fight.

"Even if you aren't my biological daughter, you're still too young to fight." Mrs Weasley said sternly, hoping that Bellatrix would be able to talk some sense into the girl.

"I'm fifteen, and there's no way I'd not want to fight." Ginny snarled, not backing down.

"You're too young to die." Mrs Weasley sighed, "and that's what could happen if you fight."

"So could everyone else." Ginny pointed out sadly, "there's no guarantee that everyone will survive."

"I may not like the idea, but if she wants to fight, let her." Bellatrix whispered, "she's already involved, and has been since I don't know when, and if I was in her position, I'd want to fight too, age be damned."

"I was involved in the battle at the end of last year, and have been part of the DA since Hermione came up with the idea." Ginny added, "nothing you say will convince me to hide."

Mrs Weasley subsided, knowing that she had lost that battle, but she wasn't going to give up, and hoped that she would be able to convince everyone else who was under seventeen that they were too young to fight.

"**You're under-age!" Mrs. Weasley shouted at her daughter as Harry approached "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"**

"Even though I don't know you all that well, I know that you would never do that." James grinned.

"No, I wouldn't." Ginny nodded, "it's not who I am."

"**I won't!"**

**Ginny's hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her mother's grip.**

"**I'm in Dumbledore's Army –"**

"**A teenagers' gang!"**

"The DA is not a gang." Hermione huffed, "we are an army."

"We are Dumbledore's Army." Neville agreed.

"**A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" said Fred.**

"**She's sixteen!" shouted Mrs Weasley. **

"That may be, but she had been through a lot that year." Bellatrix sighed, "every student in Hogwarts had been fighting for the whole year, especially those against Voldemort."

"**She's not old enough! What you two were thinking bringing her with you –"**

**Fred and George looked slightly ashamed of themselves.**

"**Mum's right, Ginny," said Bill gently. "You can't do this. Everyone under-age will have to leave, it's only right."**

"Not everyone." Harry said, "some may have left, but they sneaked back in to fight, and others joined the massive army that stormed the place towards the end of the battle."

"Some of them were fourteen or fifteen, younger than Ginny." Ron added.

"**I can't go home!" Ginny shouted, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and –"**

**Her eyes met Harry's for the first time. She looked at him beseechingly, but he shook his head and she turned away bitterly.**

"Ouch." Parvati grimaced.

"Yeah, he goes and bloody sides with the smotherer." Ginny growled, glaring at Harry, who looked slightly uncomfortable with the attention.

"**Fine," she said, staring at the entrance to the tunnel back to the Hog's Head. "I'll say good-by now, then, and –"**

**There was a scuffling and a great thump. **

"Nice entrance." Bill grinned.

"Congratulations Percy, it seems that in the book you have finally arrived, in style." Lily giggled, reading ahead.

"It's not style when he's not crash-landing an Alteran city-ship into the middle of an ocean." Teddy grinned, "which he did, when he was the pilot of the one we called Zephyron."

"I hope he didn't hurt himself." Mrs Weasley said.

"He didn't." Teddy smiled.

"It was just a slightly bumpy landing." Harry nodded.

"Where did you get that name from?" Flitwick wondered.

"We made it up, but got the idea from Ancient Greek Mythology." Lucius replied.

"Interesting." Sprout murmured.

**Someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly, and fallen.**

"Oh dear." Percy muttered.

"Are you seriously calling that, style?" James laughed.

"Well …" Lily shrugged.

"It's more like clumsiness to me." Ron sniggered.

**He pulled himself up no the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and said, "Am I too late? Has it started. I only just found out, so I – I –"**

"You may have come back, a lot earlier this time around, but it is nice to know that you'd have eventually returned anyway." Mr Weasley said, smiling at his middle son.

**Percy spluttered into silence. Evidently he had not expected to run into most of his family. There was a long moment of astonishment, broken by Fleur turning to Lupin and saying, in a wildly transparent attempt to break the tension. "So – 'ow eez leetle Teddy?"**

"Yes, how is our little baby boy?" Tonks asked with a grin, watching Teddy go red with embarrassment.

"Undoubtedly, he's wonderful." Andromeda smiled, "or being a typical baby."

"I was only two weeks old, so very probably." Teddy mumbled, really wishing the book would hurry up and move past the topic.

**Lupin blinked at her, startled. **

"I'm sure everyone would have been startled." Lavender giggled.

"Oh we were, she spoke rather loudly." Harry sniggered.

**The silence between the Weasleys seemed to be solidifying, like ice.**

"**I – oh yes – he's fine!" Lupin said loudly. "Yes, Tonks is with him – at her mother's –"**

"Why am I not there?" Tonks asked.

"Because at least one of us needs to be there for him, even if the other one dies." Remus whispered.

"But I'm not the kind of person who can sit back while everyone else fights." Tonks sighed.

"That may be true, but we do need to think about Teddy too." Remus grimaced, "he may have his grandmother and his godfather, but they are not perfect substitutes for parents."

"It is decidedly bizarre hearing people talk about my younger self with me in the room." Teddy frowned, "especially when I'm sitting in between them."

"Get used to it." Tonks advised.

**Percy and the other Weasleys were still staring at one another, frozen.**

"**Here, I've got a picture?" Lupin shouted, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to Fleur and Harry, who saw a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair, waving fat fists at the camera.**

"Awwwwww." Lily cooed, "he sounds so cute."

"He really was." Bellatrix nodded.

"He is sitting at this table, right now." Teddy said dryly, "he would also rather not listen to people talk about his baby-years."

"But you were adorable as a baby, what happened?" Bellatrix giggled.

"I'm still adorable." Teddy said, sticking his tongue out.

"Yes, he is." Tonks nodded.

"**I was a fool!" Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his photograph. **

"Wow, someone else has managed to surprise Moony more than we ever did." James grinned.

"**I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a –"**

"**Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred.**

**Percy swallowed.**

"**Yes, I was!"**

"**Well, you can't say fairer than that," said Fred, holding his hand out to Percy.**

Mrs Weasley smiled, happy that Percy really had come to his senses and rejoined the family before it was too late. She didn't want to know how bad they would have felt if he hadn't, and one of them had died.

**Mrs Weasley burst into tears. She ran forward, pushed Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug, while he patted her on the back, his eyes on his father.**

"**I'm sorry, Dad," Percy said.**

**Mr Weasley blinked rather rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son.**

Both Weasley parents grabbed Percy in a hug, dragging the other male Weasleys into it as well.

"**What made you see sense, Perce?" inquired George.**

"**It's been coming on for a while," said Percy, mopping his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his travelling cloak. "But I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that Hogwarts was going to make a fight of it, so here I am."**

"You're a good man, Aberforth." Albus whispered, wishing he had been able to realise that before.

"**Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," said George in a good imitation of Percy's most pompous manner. "Now let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken."**

"Good for you." Regulus nodded, "you can relax once the war is over, you'll have plenty of time then."

"**So, you're my sister in-law now?" Said Percy, shaking hands with Fleur as they hurried off toward the staircase with Bill, Fred, and George.**

"**Ginny!" barked Mrs Weasley.**

**Ginny had been attempting, under cover of the reconciliation to sneak upstairs too.**

"That bloody woman has the eyes of an eagle, and the ears of a bat." Ginny grumbled.

"**Molly, how about this," said Lupin. "Why doesn't Ginny stay here, then at least she'll be on the scene and know what's going on, but she won't be in the middle of the fighting?"**

"That's better than being sent elsewhere, I suppose." Ginny sighed.

"**I –"**

"**That's a good idea," said Mr Weasley firmly, "Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?"**

**Ginny did not seem to like the idea much,**

"I'm not bloody surprised." Ginny snapped.

"Don't worry, you'll probably find some way of getting out and joining the battle." Neville grinned, "don't give up hope."

**but under her father's unusually stern gaze, she nodded. Mr and Mrs Weasley and Lupin headed off to the stairs as well.**

"**Where's Ron?" asked Harry, "Where's Hermione?"**

"Hadn't they already gone up to the great hall?" Seamus asked.

"The book didn't mention them doing so." Dean shrugged, "so either they did and Harry just didn't see them, or they didn't, and have gone somewhere else."

"**They must have gone up the Great Hall already," Mr Weasley called over his shoulder.**

"**I didn't see them pass me," said Harry.**

"**They said something about a bathroom," said Ginny, "not long after you left."**

"**A bathroom?"**

"That doesn't sound helpful." Narcissa commented, "there are rather a lot of bathrooms in the castle."

"Indeed." Minerva nodded, slightly worried about the two Gryffindors, though she tried not to show it.

**Harry strode across the room to an open door leading off the Room of Requirement and checked the bathroom beyond. It was empty.**

"**You're sure they said bath –?"**

"You could have specified _which_ bathroom you were going to." Harry said with a wry grin.

"We didn't think about that." Ron grimaced sheepishly.

**But then his scar seared and the Room of Requirement vanished. He was looking through the high wrought-iron gates with winged boats on pillars at either side, looking through the dark grounds toward the castle, which was ablaze with lights. Nagini lay draped over his shoulders. He was possessed of that cold, cruel sense of purpose that preceded murder. **

"That was the end of the chapter." Lily said.

"I think now would be a good time to try and get some sleep, so we can continue tomorrow morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to assault the final few chapters, so, chop-chop, off to bed." Albus called, garnering some disgruntled murmurs, but everyone understood the necessity.


	39. Chapter 39

**The Battle of Hogwarts**

Next morning, when Harry's group returned to the great hall, Rodolphus, who had finished preparing his and Bellatrix's defence for the Ministry, decided to join them, because even though he wasn't too keen on the prospect of being cursed or hexed for being a Death Eater, he wanted to know exactly how the war had ended, having been knocked out by a crystal ball. He didn't really remember much, not after the ball shattered on his head, but he did remember a few bits and pieces, though they weren't really enough for him to know what exactly had happened.

The entrance of Harry's group, with both Bellatrix and Rodolphus, caused a bit of a stir, but the fact that Harry's parents seemed quite comfortable talking with the two former Death Eaters, made everyone slightly less nervous about them. A few did watch them closely while they were eating, but seeing Rodolphus practically drooling over a tava bean pie and a mug of Athosian coffee allayed some of their fears.

Teddy wasn't there yet, having been beamed back to the Thunderchild, one of the four vessels he and his friends had brought through time, the previous night. The fact that their son hadn't slept on Earth, was slightly disappointing to Remus and Tonks, but they did realise that there were things he needed to do, and he couldn't do them while trying to keep his parents happy, and he had said, the previous day, that he would probably have to help out on one of the ships in space, so they understood that he couldn't drop everything, just to sit around listening to people reading.

"So who would like to read this chapter?" Albus asked when everyone had finished eating.

"I will." Vector said, feeling that if the battle started in the chapter, she might be one of the few who could read all the way through without breaking down in the middle and requiring someone else to take over. She knew that she would be upset, but the book didn't seem to be focusing on anyone other than Harry's friends and those he occasionally met, so she thought she, being someone who had only met Harry once, would either not be mentioned at all, or if she was mentioned, it would only be brief.

"Very well." Albus nodded, floating the book down the table to the Arithmancy professor.

"**The Battle of Hogwarts**," Vector read nervously. Several students gulped, trying to hold in their fear, while Harry, Draco, Hermione and Lucius looked at each other, wondering how everyone was going to take the near-deaths of Snape, Remus, Tonks and Fred.

"Do we ever get to find out which bathroom Hermione and Ron disappeared off to?" Dean asked.

"Yes, but not if we don't get beyond the title of the chapter." Harry grinned.

**The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall was dark and scattered with stars,**

"It's so pretty." Lavender whispered.

"It really was." Daphne nodded.

**and below it the four long House tables were lined with dishevelled students, some in travelling cloaks, others in dressing gowns.**

"Yeah, most have had their sleep disrupted, while others have only just arrived." Oliver nodded, "that would account for the travelling cloaks."

"I think we'd all figured that out, Oliver, it's quite obvious." Angelina snorted.

**Here and there shone the pearly white figures of the school ghosts. Every eye, living and dead was fixed upon Professor McGonagall, who was speaking from the raised platform at the top of the Hall. Behind her stood the remaining teaches, including the palomino centaur, Firenze, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix who had arrived to fight.**

"Firenze isn't exactly the best teacher." Ron commented.

"No, but the fact that he did become a teacher, really annoyed the toad, which was brilliant." Harry sniggered.

"He's gorgeous though, so it doesn't matter." Parvati giggled.

"Kind of like a centaur version of the three delicious blond sculptures sitting there at the purple table." Lavender added.

"Lav dear, your hormonal brain really needs to be kept on a leash." Fay sighed.

"Yeah, stop mentally molesting every single male you see." Kellah nodded.

"It is rather disturbing to know that a girl who is fifty-three years younger than me finds me attractive." Abraxas murmured to Eileen, who tried not to smirk at his discomfort.

"… **evacuation will be overseen by Mr Filch and Madame Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges in orderly fashion to the evacuation point."**

**Many of the students looked petrified. However, as Harry skirted the walls, scanning the Gryffindor table for Ron and Hermione, Ernie Macmillan stood up at the Hufflepuff table and shouted, "And what if we want to stay and fight?"**

Every student who wanted to fight by Harry's side, cheered at that, and Ernie nodded, looking rather pompous to a few of those who glanced his way.

"_Pompous arse_." Harry mumbled to Lucius, who chuckled and agreed.

**There was a smattering of applause.**

"**If you are of age, you may stay." said Professor McGonagall.**

"Good." Some of the sixth years who would be seventh years in the book, grinned.

"**What about our things?" called a girl at the Ravenclaw table. "Our trunks, our owls?"**

"Chuck 'em out the window, they might do some damage." James grinned.

"Besides, keeping everyone as safe as possible is far more important." Sprout said, "it would be rather silly for someone to be killed because they were trying to collect their books."

"**We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."**

"**Where's Professor Snape?" shouted a girl from the Slytherin table.**

"**He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," replied Professor McGonagall and a great cheer erupted from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws.**

No one made a sound. They all knew that Snape had risked a hell of a lot, spying on Voldemort, and felt that cheering because he'd left the castle would be in bad taste and extremely disrespectful.

**Harry moved up the Hall alongside the Gryffindor table, still looking for Ron and Hermione. As he passed, faces turned in his direction, and a great deal of whispering broke out in his wake.**

"That happened every year." Ron sniggered.

"That's because Harry's always involved in some mystery." Seamus snorted.

"**We have already placed protection around the castle," Professor McGonagall was saying, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects –"**

**But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and clear: there was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had once commanded, it might have lain dormant there for centuries.**

"What monster?" One little Hufflepuff first year asked shyly.

"Sanasha." Harry replied.

"Who?" Narcissa, Andromeda and Ted queried. Rodolphus didn't know either, but he was still unsure of how welcome he was, so stayed silent, despite his curiosity.

"The basilisk in the Chamber." Harry replied, "that was her name."

"Merlin." Andromeda whispered, "I didn't realise she had a name."

"She was Salazar's companion and friend." Harry smiled, "he treated her like a father would treat a beloved daughter, that's how close they were. It's also why he trusted her to act as a second line of defence for the school."

"It's unfortunate that the Gaunts, cousin Darius' descendants, who were charged with making sure that Sanasha was kept physically and mentally healthy, shirked their duty, and left her to go insane." The Baron murmured, "she was one of the most patient and intelligent beings I'd ever met, and to know that nine hundred years of starvation and loneliness had ruined her mind, is horrifying."

"That poor thing." Narcissa whispered.

"**I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. **

"I don't blame them." Mr Weasley muttered, "his voice is terrifying, even when it's merely being described."

"**Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me.**

"Yes we can, and we will." Oliver growled.

"We won't rest until Voldemort is nothing more than a bad memory." Angelina nodded.

**I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."**

"Yeah right, what a liar he is." Padma snorted, "he evidently has no problem killing magical people, so I don't think anyone would believe him when he says that."

"He doesn't usually want to kill purebloods, but that doesn't mean that he won't." Rodolphus said nervously.

"True." Padma nodded, trying to make the man feel more comfortable. She was well aware that many would call her names for wanting to help Rodolphus feel more comfortable, but she also knew that the man needed to feel welcome, despite the fact that he had been a Death Eater, so she decided that she would do her best to be civil to him. Maybe that would help him relax.

**There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls.**

"**Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice,**

"Not a chance." The Gryffindor sixth year boys yelled.

"**and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded.**

"He is truly deluded." James said, "especially if he thinks anyone would believe that."

"**You have until midnight." **

"I can't understand how he could believe that anyone would just hand over the only one who has a chance of beating him." Susan said, slightly stunned.

"I know we definitely wouldn't." Hannah agreed.

"We wouldn't either." Lisa nodded, along with the Gryffindors.

The only ones who were conspicuously silent, were the Slytherins, all of whom were thinking that because they weren't on Harry's side in the book, one of them might try it.

**The silence swallowed them all again. Every head turned, every eye in the place seemed to have found Harry, to hold him forever in the glare of thousands of invisible beams. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin table and he recognized Pansy Parkinson as she raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab him!"**

"B-b-b-b-but I would never." Pansy stuttered, "w-w-w-why would I?"

"It wasn't you, the author just wrote it like that." Draco grimaced, "you were unlucky enough to be sitting next to the girl who did scream."

"Who was it?" Blaise asked.

"Alyssa Beaumont." Daphne replied, "if her parents hadn't decided to home-school her, she would be in fifth year."

"So why would she try to hand Harry over?" Tracy wondered.

"I don't know." Daphne sighed, "I do know that during that year, she wanted to stay neutral, but was being pulled in different directions by her family. Her father's brothers are Death Eaters, while her mother's brother and sister are Aurors."

"Merlin." Narcissa murmured, "that poor girl, is there anything we can do to help?"

"That I don't know, maybe." Draco said.

**Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, and Harry, awestruck and overwhelmed, saw wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from under sleeves.**

"**Thank you, Miss Parkinson." said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."**

"It's unfortunate, but since in the book, we haven't make a clear and concise choice, it's a good idea to get our entire house out." Urquhart, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, nodded with a grimace, surprising a few of those sitting near him. He hadn't spoken during the reading at all, and barely spoke when the house gathered in the common room after the reading ended each day, so the fact that he did speak, meant that he truly believed that what he was saying was important and couldn't be left unsaid.

**Harry heard the grinding of the benches and then the sound of the Slytherins trooping out on the other side of the Hall.**

"**Ravenclaws, follow on!" cried Professor McGonagall.**

**Slowly the four tables emptied. The Slytherin table was completely deserted, **

"I thought that might be the case." Blaise nodded, "but I wouldn't be surprised to know that at least a few of us turned around and joined the battle."

"A few did." Draco nodded.

**but a number of older Ravenclaws remained seated while their fellows filed out; even more Hufflepuffs stayed behind, and half of Gryffindor remained in their seats, necessitating Professor McGonagall's descent from the teachers' platform to chivvy the under-age on their way.**

"**Absolutely not, Creevey, go! _And_ you, Peakes!"**

"Which one of us?" Dennis asked cheekily.

"Colin." Hermione sighed.

"Why didn't I try?" Dennis wondered.

"You were too young, and you knew it." Harry replied, "you were only fourteen, and knew you wouldn't be allowed to stay, so you didn't bother trying."

"Oh." Dennis nodded, sighing in disappointment.

**Harry hurried over to the Weasleys, all sitting together at the Gryffindor table.**

"**Where are Ron and Hermione?"**

"**Haven't you found –?" began Mr Weasley, looking worried.**

"Thank you for scaring us half to death." Mr Weasley murmured.

"Where can they be?" Mrs Weasley whimpered, "surely the Death Eaters wouldn't have been able to sneak in and get them."

"No, we were fine, we were just very busy." Ron grinned.

"Oh the connotations." Dean sniggered, "were you shagging?"

"No." Hermione and Ron snorted.

"If we had been, we wouldn't have been in a bathroom." Ron laughed.

"I certainly would not have wanted to shag in the dark, damp, dreary and utterly filthy place we were in." Hermione nodded. "It was a truly disgusting place."

"That was why I took three showers in quick succession after my first sojourn down there." Harry smirked, "and why I was a bit surprised that my one remaining sock wasn't so caked in grime that it could stand upright on its own."

"What happened to your other sock?" James asked curiously.

"Dobby has it." Harry grinned.

"I hope it's now clean." Lily said.

"So do I." Harry nodded.

**But he broke off as Kingsley had stepped forward on the raised platform to address those who had remained behind.**

"**We've only got half an half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix.**

"I hope it's a good one." Mrs Weasley muttered nervously.

"It will be." Mr Weasley smiled, though it was a little strained, "we've got quite a lot of intelligent people on our side, so they should be able to come up with something."

"Merlin, I really hope so." Mrs Weasley whimpered, leaning in to her husband, trying not to imagine seeing her sons dead.

**Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers – Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor – where they'll have good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus," he indicated Lupin, "Arthur," he pointed toward Mr Weasley, sitting at the Gryffindor table, "and I will take groups into the grounds. **

"That doesn't sound good." Lily whispered, "those people will be in the most danger."

"Please don't die, Remus." Tonks begged quietly, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'll be fine." Remus smiled, though he knew that those were empty words. He knew that he was likely to die, but wouldn't run in fear, he was going to make sure that he took as many of the enemy as he could with him if he had to die.

**We'll need somebody to organize defence of the entrances or the passageways into the school –"**

"That sounds like a job tailor-made for us." Fred grinned.

"We do know those passageways like the backs of our hands." George nodded.

"Only because you had the map." Hermione snorted.

"**Sounds like a job for us." called Fred, indicating himself and George, and Kingsley nodded his approval.**

"**All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"**

"**Potter," said Professor McGonagall, hurrying up to him, as students flooded the platform, jostling for position, receiving instructions, "_aren't you supposed to be looking for something?_"**

"**What? Oh," said Harry, "oh yeah!"**

**He had almost forgotten about the Horcrux, almost forgotten that the battle was being fought so that he could search for it: the inexplicable absence of Ron and Hermione had momentarily driven every other thought from his mind.**

"I knew you should have waited and told him where you were going." Ginny said exasperatedly.

"As we said, we didn't think about that." Ron mumbled sheepishly.

"I can see that." Ginny sighed, "but seriously, telling him would stop him worrying, and that would help him concentrate."

"It was an oversight on our part." Hermione grimaced.

"I did say that Hermione was the brain, Ron was the strategist and Harry was the brawn." Luna singsonged, "a triangle isn't a triangle with only one side."

"**Then go, Potter, go!"**

"**Right – yeah –"**

**He sensed eyes following him as he ran out of the Great Hall again, into the entrance hall still crowded with evacuating students. He allowed himself to be swept up the marble staircase with them, but at the top he hurried off along a deserted corridor. Fear and panic were clouding his thought processes. He tried to calm himself, to concentrate on finding the Horcrux, but his thoughts buzzed as frantically and fruitlessly as wasps trapped beneath a glass. Without Ron and Hermione to help him he could not seem to marshal his ideas.**

"For Merlin's sake, where the hell are you two?" Charlie asked.

"Somewhere slimy and disgusting." Ron grimaced.

"It wasn't fun." Hermione added.

**He slowed down, coming to a halt halfway along a passage, where he sat down on the plinth of a departed statue and pulled the Marauder's Map out of the pouch around his neck. He could not see Ron's of Hermione's names anywhere on it, though the density of the crowd of dots now making its way to the Room of Requirement might, he thought, be concealing them. He put the map away, pressed his hands over his face, and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate …**

_**Voldemort thought I'd go to Ravenclaw Tower.**_

"That means that the Horcrux can't be anything else." Susan said, sounding slightly annoyed. "the diadem is being mentioned way too much for it not to be that, but I still can't work out how Voldemort got his hands on it."

**There it was, a solid fact, the place to start. Voldemort had stationed Alecto Carrow in the Ravenclaw common room, and there could be only one explanation; Voldemort feared that Harry already knew his Horcrux was connected to that House.**

"It was quite obvious, since two of the other Horcruxes were connected to Hufflepuff and Slytherin." Padma said, "and I don't think there was anything he could have used that's associated with Gryffindor, unless he somehow used the Sorting Hat, or got his hands on the sword."

"There is no way he could have turned either of those into a Horcrux, no matter how much he would have wanted to." Albus smiled, "the hat doesn't leave my office except for the first day of a new year, and the sword will only come to descendants of Gryffindor, who prove themselves to be true Gryffindors."

"Besides, don't forget that the sword is goblin-made, and has imbibed basilisk venom, which is one of the few things that can destroy Horcruxes." Harry added.

**But the only object anyone seemed to associate with Ravenclaw was the lost diadem … and how could the Horcrux be the diadem? How was it possible that Voldemort, the Slytherin, had found the diadem that had eluded generations of Ravenclaws? Who could have told him where to look, when nobody had seen the diadem in living memory?**

_**In living memory …**_

The Grey Lady winced, knowing that this chapter would be the one where her mistake, her foolishness, her lack of wit or wisdom, was revealed.

**Beneath his fingers, Harry's eyes flew open again. He leapt up from the plinth and tore back the way he had come, now in pursuit of his one last hope. The sound of hundreds of people marching toward the Room of Requirement grew louder and louder as he returned to the marble stairs. Prefects were shouting instructions, trying to keep track of the students in their own houses, there was much pushing and shouting; Harry saw Zacharias Smith bowling over first years to get to the front of the queue, **

"Mr Smith." Sprout snapped, "if you don't want to fight, then you don't have to, but there is no need to push or shove first years."

"I don't know how you got into Hufflepuff." Susan said to the stuffy blond, "you aren't loyal to anyone except yourself, and I've never seen you work hard at anything, so why the hat thought you were suited for Hufflepuff, is completely beyond me."

Smith stayed silent, seemingly ignoring what the little redhead had said, but there were signs that he was actually thinking about it all.

**here and there younger students were in tears, while older ones called desperately for friends or siblings.**

"I think that when we evacuate this time around, we should make it more orderly, and go by year." Flitwick suggested, "then hopefully we won't have people panicking too much."

"A very good idea, but as I keep saying, we should finish the book before planning for the final battle." Minerva sighed.

**Harry caught sight of a pearly white figure drifting across the entrance hall below and yelled as loudly as he could over the clamour.**

"**Nick! NICK! I need to talk to you!"**

James, Remus and the twins started singing, "It was a mistake any wizard could make, who was tired and caught on the hop,"

"One piffling error, and then to my terror, I found myself facing the chop." Harry, Neville, Ron, Dean and Seamus joined in.

"Yes, thank you." Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, sighed tiredly, he really was fed up of hearing that song.

**He forced his way back through the tide of students, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, where Nearly Headless Nick, ghost of Gryffindor Tower, stood waiting for him.**

"**Harry! My dear boy!"**

**Nick made to grasp Harry's hands with both of his own; Harry felt as though they had been thrust into icy water.**

"Yeah, that's definitely an unpleasant feeling." James grimaced, "especially in winter."

"What about when a ghost glides through you?" Harry asked with a grin.

"In summer, that's quite nice and refreshing, but not in the depths of winter." James replied.

"It's even worse after Quidditch practise in the rain." Angelina yelled, "or snow."

"Merlin, I don't think I've ever had that." James mused, "or even had Quidditch practise in the rain."

"Well, I wish I had been on your team." Angelina sighed, "when Oliver here was captain, we were out in all weathers."

"'S good practise." Oliver said, "gets you used to playing in any weather."

"You, Mr Wood, are obsessed." Charlus sniggered, "I don't think I've ever met anyone as into Quidditch as you. Not even James."

"**Nick, you've got to help me. Who's the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"**

**Nearly Headless Nick looked surprised and a little offended.**

"Of course I would." Nick snorted, his head wobbling a little.

"**The Grey Lady, of course; but if it is ghostly services you require –?"**

"**It's got to be her – d'you know where she is?"**

"**Let's see …"**

**Nick's head wobbled a little on his ruff as he turned hither and thither, peering over the heads of the swarming students.**

"**That's her over there, Harry, the young woman with the long hair."**

**Harry looked in the direction of Nick's transparent, pointing finger and saw a tall ghost who caught sight of Harry looking at her, raised her eyebrows, and drifted away through a solid wall.**

"I think she must know what you want to ask her." Padma said shrewdly.

"But then why would she not wait for him?" Terry asked.

"I don't know." Padma sighed, "maybe she doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe it's a painful subject for her."

"Either that or she wants to be somewhere private if she is going to talk to him." Lisa said, "maybe she knows that she can't keep quiet about it, but still doesn't want the world to know."

The Grey Lady was surprised at how well the Ravenclaws seemed to know her feelings on the matter. She had been thinking the exact same thing, that while she would have to reveal her stupidity, she didn't want to reveal it to everyone. Unfortunately, that decision was taken out of her control, and the entire school would know what she had done.

**Harry ran after her. Once through the door of the corridor into which she had disappeared, he saw her at the very end of the passage, still gliding smoothly away from him.**

"**Hey – wait – come back!"**

**She consented to pause, floating a few inches from the ground. Harry supposed that she was beautiful, with her waist-length hair and floor-length cloak, but she also looked haughty and proud.**

The ghost smiled slightly, appreciative of the mental compliment Harry had given her, though she wasn't sure how to feel about his comment on how proud and haughty she looked.

**Close in, he recognized her as a ghost he had passed several times in the corridor, but to whom he had never spoken.**

"Hardly anyone speaks to her." Luna sighed.

"No one wants to be looked down upon, and some of us did speak to her when we were first years, but she looked at us like we were dirt." Padma grimaced.

"I am sorry." The Grey Lady whispered, "I seem to have continued doing what I had done when I was alive. I was the oldest daughter of two exceptionally powerful people, and most of those who tried to get close to them, and me, only did it for the power they would get if they were known to be friends with my family. Making myself look unapproachable and acting the way I do, was the only way to protect both myself and my parents from those people."

"Understandable." The fifth and sixth year Ravenclaws nodded.

"**You're the Grey Lady?"**

**She nodded but did not speak.**

"**The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"**

"**That is correct."**

**Her tone was not encouraging.**

The Grey Lady winced slightly, and tried to smile at Harry, saying, "I'm sorry."

Harry returned the smile with a nod of respect for her. She may have been a bit stupid to do what she had done when she was still alive, but there was no way he as going to hold it against her. All teenagers did stupid things, and knowing who her mother was, he didn't blame her for feeling overshadowed.

"**Please, I need some help. I need to know anything you can tell me about the lost diadem."**

**A cold smile curved her lips.**

"**I am afraid," she said, turning to leave, "that I cannot help you."**

She winced again, but no one noticed. They were all too engrossed in the book.

"**WAIT!"**

**He had not meant to shout, but anger and panic were threatening to overwhelm him. He glanced at his watch as she hovered in front of him. It was a quarter to midnight.**

"**This is urgent," he said fiercely. "If that diadem's at Hogwarts, I've got to find it, fast."**

"**You are hardly the first student to covet the diadem," she said disdainfully. "Generations of students have badgered me –"**

"But he doesn't covet it." Lily snapped, her fear for Harry's safety overwhelming her ability to maintain a calm façade in the face of the ghost's reticence.

"But she has no idea that Voldemort desecrated it by turning it into a Horcrux." Harry pointed out gently, "I don't blame her for thinking that I just wanted it for material gain."

"**This isn't about trying to get better marks!" Harry shouted at her, "It's about Voldemort – defeating Voldemort – or aren't you interested in that?"**

**She could not blush, but her transparent cheeks became more opaque, and her voice was heated as she replied, "Of course I – how dare you suggest –?"**

"**Well, help me then!"**

**Her composure was slipping.**

"**It – it is not a question of –" she stammered. "My mother's diadem –"**

"You're Rowena's daughter." Lily gasped.

"Yes." The Grey Lady nodded sadly, "I was her oldest, and the only one who took our mother's name. My sister and brothers used our father's name. I think mother had hoped that at least one of my brothers would take her name, but they refused, so with my sister's marriage, and my death, the name died out."

"Merlin." Some students whispered in awe.

"**Your mother's?"**

**She looked angry with herself.**

"**When I lived," she said stiffly, "I was Helena Ravenclaw."**

"So were you the one who started the Potter family, or was that one of your siblings?" Colin asked.

"That was my brother, Ethelred." Helena replied, "I died before I could have children."

"How many siblings did you have?" Dennis wondered.

"Three." Helena sighed, "two brothers, Hertlief and Ethelred, and a sister, Magdalena."

"Wow." Almost everyone whistled.

"**You're her daughter? But then, you must know what happened to it."**

"**While the diadem bestows wisdom," she said with an obvious effort to pull herself together, "I doubt that it would greatly increase you chances of defeating the wizard who calls himself Lord –"**

"The only thing I wanted to do with it, was destroy it." Harry grimaced, "unfortunately."

"**Haven't I told you, I'm not interested in wearing it!" Harry said fiercely. "There's no time to explain – but if you care about Hogwarts, if you want to see Voldemort finished, you've got to tell me anything you know about the diadem!"**

"I hope I got over myself, and told you." Helena whispered softly, "what you just said should convince me."

**She remained quite still, floating in mid-air, staring down at him, and a sense of hopelessness engulfed Harry. Of course, if she had known anything, she would have told Flitwick or Dumbledore, who had surely asked her the same question.**

"I've only ever told one person, and I regret doing so." Helena murmured, beginning to cry quietly.

"It wasn't your fault." Harry smiled, "he could be very charming when he wanted to be, generally when he wanted something."

**He had shaken his head and made to turn away when she spoke in a low voice.**

"**I stole the diadem from my mother."**

"So that's what happened to it." Flitwick sighed.

"But why do it?" Sprout asked quietly.

"Anyone who had a mother as wise and intelligent as Lady Ravenclaw would be living in their mother's shadow, and have all sorts of expectations to try and live up to, and would be compared to their mother, which would make them feel inferior and stupid." Flitwick replied, "it's happened quite often. Someone becomes famous for some great achievement, and their children feel inadequate because everyone who knows the parent will think that the child isn't as good at whatever the parent did. We've all done it. Especially those of us who knew Lily when she was a student."

"Merlin." Sprout whispered.

"**You – you did what?"**

"**_I stole the diadem,_" repeated Helena Ravenclaw in a whisper. "I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it."**

**He did not know how he had managed to gain her confidence and did not ask, he simply listened, hard, as she went on. "My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts.**

"Of course she would." The Baron snorted, "she still loved you, and while she didn't understand why you'd done it, she knew that if she had admitted that she'd lost the diadem, chances are that someone would have tried to arrest you, and she didn't want that."

"**Then my mother fell ill – fatally ill.**

"It wasn't an illness." The Baron whispered, "she died because of the injuries she gained in the battle against Santos."

**In spite of my perfidy, she was desperate to see me one more time. She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me. She knew that he would not rest until he had done so."**

**Harry waited. She drew a deep breath and threw back her head.**

"**He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. When I refused to return with him, he became violent. The baron was always a hot-tempered man.**

"You're talking about the Bloody Baron?" Tracy asked.

"Yes." Helena nodded sadly.

"Unfortunately, I did inherit my father's temper." The Baron sighed.

**Furious at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, he stabbed me."**

"Merlin." The Slytherins gasped.

"I am so sorry." The Baron whispered, looking at Helena with a sad expression.

"I forgive you." Helena said, feeling lighter than she had previously, as though a great burden had lifted from her shoulders.

"**The _Baron?_ You mean –?"**

"**The Bloody Baron, yes," said the Gray Lady, and she lifted aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her white chest. "When he saw what he had done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill himself.**

"Merlin." Pansy whispered, "that's so sad."

"Yeah, the poor man couldn't live without the one he loved." Tracy nodded, discreetly wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

**All these centuries later, he wears his chains as an act of penitence … as he should." she added bitterly.**

"**And – and the diadem?"**

"**It remained where I had hidden it when I heard the Baron blundering through the forest toward me. Concealed inside a hollow tree."**

"And Voldemort got the story, found it in that same tree, then turned it into a Horcrux." Flitwick grimaced.

"What a wonderful thing to do to something as old and precious as the diadem." Sprout muttered sarcastically.

"**A hollow tree?" repeated Harry. "What tree? Where was this?"**

"**A forest in Albania. **

"That's one of the places Voldemort went after he graduated." Albus sighed.

"Either because he'd already heard that story, or because he thought that Albania was one of the best places to start learning about the Darker side of magic." Minerva said, "the more I hear about him, the more he disgusts me."

"He hid his evil side exceptionally well." Sprout grimaced, "if I hadn't already believed that he wasn't as nice as he made himself out to be, I would never have believed that Tom could have become so truly beyond redemption."

**A lonely place I thought was far beyond my mother's reach."**

"**Albania," repeated Harry. Sense was emerging miraculously from confusion, and now he understood why she was telling him what she had denied Dumbledore and Flitwick. "You've already told someone this story, haven't you? Another student?"**

**She closed her eyes and nodded.**

"**I had … no idea … he was flattering. He seemed to … understand … to sympathize …"**

"Tom was an exceptional actor." Slughorn whispered sadly.

**Yes, Harry thought. Tom Riddle would certainly have understood Helena Ravenclaw's desire to possess fabulous objects to which she had little right.**

"Yes, he would have definitely understood." Albus said, "the orphanage he grew up in wasn't exactly well-off, and none of the children there had much that they could call their own. I'm sure that when he came to Hogwarts for his first year, he was teased for having second-hand equipment, which might have made him want to own anything that was valuable and had a long history."

"**Well, you weren't the first person Riddle wormed things out of." Harry muttered. "He could be charming when he wanted …"**

**So, Voldemort had managed to wheedle the location of the lost diadem out of the Grey Lady. He had travelled to that far-flung forest and retrieved the diadem from its hiding place, perhaps as soon as he left Hogwarts, before he even started work at Borgin and Burkes.**

"Why on earth would he work there?" Millicent asked, "from everything my grandmother told me, Riddle was one of the top students here, and could have got himself an influential position in the Ministry."

"I'm not entirely certain why, but I suspect that he thought that working in Borgin and Burkes would help him learn more about the Dark Arts." Albus sighed, "he was surrounded by Dark objects, and they would have fascinated him, and the people he would have come in contact with while there, were politically powerful and would have known an awful lot about Dark Magic."

"Yes, Walburga and Druella were regular customers, as was our father." Orion nodded, "that's one reason they thought that Tom was a brilliant person, and why they believed that he was capable of bringing his plans for a pure world, to fruition."

"My mother was also a regular customer, and she thought he was a charming young man, She kept trying to get me to support him." Abraxas added, "I refused, but that didn't stop her when she decided to give him some of our fortune."

**And wouldn't those secluded Albanian woods have seemed an excellent refuge when, so much later, Voldemort and needed a place to lie low, undisturbed, for ten long years?**

"Yes, indeed he would have thought so." Albus nodded sadly.

**But the diadem, once it became his precious Horcrux, had not been left in that lowly tree … no, the diadem had been returned secretly to its true home, and Voldemort must have put it there –**

"– **the night he asked for a job!" said Harry, finishing his thought.**

"Merlin, he wanted to work here?" Padma squeaked in horror.

"Yes." Albus grimaced, "he asked for a job twice. The first time a few weeks after he graduated, but Dippet said he was too young, and suggested that he return a few years later once he'd got some experience under his belt. The second time he asked was after I'd become headmaster, and I refused him again. I could see that he didn't actually want to teach, he just wanted to be here to recruit and learn as much as he could about the castle."

"I can't imagine what he would have been like as a teacher." Colin whispered.

"**I beg your pardon?"**

"**He hid the diadem in the castle, the night he asked Dumbledore to let him teach!" said Harry. Saying it out loud enabled him to make sense of it all. "He must've hidden the diadem on his way up to, or down from, Dumbledore's office! But it was well worth trying to get the job – then he might've got the chance to nick Gryffindor's sword as well – thank you, thanks!"**

"He wouldn't have been able to get his hands on the sword." James sniggered.

"Yeah, Tom is definitely not a descendant of Gryffindor, so he wouldn't have been able to persuade the hat to let him have it." Harry agreed.

**Harry left her floating there, looking utterly bewildered. As he rounded the corner back into the entrance hall, he checked his watch. It was five minutes until midnight, and though he now knew _what_ the last Horcrux was, he was no closer to discovering _where_ it was …**

"One of the only two places that hardly anyone knows about." Susan said, "he wouldn't hide it in plain sight, so not in one of the regularly used areas of the school."

"But where would be good enough?" Hannah asked.

"Either the Chamber of Secrets, or the Room of Requirement." Susan replied, "only those who can speak Parseltongue can get into the Chamber, and hardly anyone knows about the Room."

**Generations of students had failed to find the diadem; that suggested that it was not in Ravenclaw Tower – but if not there, where? What hiding place had Tom Riddle discovered inside Hogwarts Castle, that he believed would remain secret forever?**

"I think he put it in the Room of Requirement." Padma said, "he might not have had time to get to the Chamber without being suspicious, and the Room is not very far from the headmaster's office, so it wouldn't have taken him long to get there and back."

**Lost in desperate speculation, Harry turned a corner, but he had taken only a few steps down the new corridor when the window to his left broke open with a deafening, shattering crash. As he leapt aside, a gigantic body flew in through the window and hit the opposite wall. Something large and furry detached itself, whimpering, from the new arrival and flung itself at Harry.**

"Oh dear Merlin, what now?" Lily asked worriedly.

James wondered why she was so worried, when Harry, Ron, Hermione and those who knew what the large and furry whimpering thing was, were laughing so hard they were nearly crying.

"**Hagrid!" Harry bellowed, **

"Phew." Lily sighed.

"But I wouldn't have thought Hagrid would fling himself upon Harry." Seamus frowned, "that would hurt."

"It wasn't Hagrid, he was still struggling to his feet." Harry grinned, "it was actually Fang that flung himself at me, thinking I wouldn't pick him up and toss him through a window."

"Ruddy cowardly dog." Hagrid mumbled.

**fighting off Fang the boarhound's attentions as the enormous bearded figure clambered to his feet. "What the –?"**

"**Harry, yer here! _Yer here!_"**

"We'd figured that out, thanks." Ginny giggled.

**Hagrid stooped down, bestowed upon Harry a cursory and rib-cracking hug, then ran back to the shattered window.**

"**Good boy, Grawpy!" he bellowed through the hole in the window. "I'll se yer in a moment, there's a good lad!"**

"Who is Grawpy?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"Me 'alf-brother." Hagrid grinned.

**Beyond Hagrid, out in the dark night, Harry saw bursts of light in the distance and heard a weird, keening scream. He looked down at his watch: it was midnight. The battle had begun.**

Some students shivered, the younger years glad that they wouldn't have to get involved, while the older years we terrified that their friends and loved ones, who would be fighting, were going to die.

"**Blimey, Harry," panted Hagrid, "this is it, eh? Time ter fight?"**

"That was a daft question." Remus muttered.

"**Hagrid, where have you come from?"**

"**Heard You-Know-Who from up in our cave," said Hagrid grimly. "Voice carried, didn't it? 'Yet got till midnight ter gimme Potter.' Knew yeh mus' be here, knew what mus' be happenin'. Get _down_, Fang. So we come ter join in, me an' Grawpy an' Fang. Smashed our way through the boundary by the forest, Grawpy was carryin' us, Fang an' me. Told him ter let me down at the castle, so he shoved me through the window, bless him. Not exac'ly what I meant, bu' –**

"Maybe you should have explained what you wanted, a bit more clearly." Charlie laughed.

"Mebbe." Hagrid shrugged.

**where's Ron an' Hermione?"**

"**That," said Harry, "is a really good question. Come on."**

"I hope they're all right." Mrs Weasley whimpered.

**They hurried together along the corridor, Fang lolloping beside them. Harry could hear movement through the corridors all around: running footsteps, shouts; through the windows, he could see more flashes of light in the dark grounds.**

"**Where're we goin'?" puffed Hagrid, pounding along at Harry's heels, making the floorboards quake.**

"**I dunno exactly," said Harry, making another random turn, "but Ron and Hermione must be around here somewhere."**

"Somewhere beneath your feet." Ron grinned, "with Hermione holding me in a death grip while chanting, 'must not look down'."

"You were flying?" Lavender asked.

"Yes, we were riding a broom, upwards." Ron nodded.

**The first casualties of the battle were already strewn across the passage ahead: **

"Oh no, who is it?" Lily moaned.

**the two stone gargoyles that usually guarded the entrance to the staffroom had been smashed apart by a jinx that had sailed through another broken window.**

"That's a relief." Hannah and some of the other female Hufflepuffs whispered.

**Their remains stirred feebly on the floor, and as Harry leapt over one of their disembodied heads, it moaned faintly, "Oh, don't mind me … I'll just lie here and crumble …"**

"I've never seen a statue with an attitude." Remus frowned, "how odd."

**Its ugly stone face made Harry think suddenly of the marble bust of Rowena Ravenclaw at Xenophilius's house, wearing that mad headdress – and then of the statue in Ravenclaw Tower, with the stone diadem upon her white curls …**

**And as he reached the end of the passage, the memory of a third stone effigy came back to him: that of an ugly old warlock,**

"If that's a statue of who I think it is, then yes, he was rather ugly." Dorea giggled.

"Who do you think it is?" Minerva asked.

"Phineas Nigellus." Dorea replied, "he did have a statue made of himself. Why? I do not know."

"And yes, it was him." Harry nodded.

**onto whose head Harry himself had placed a wig and a battered old hat. **

"Why would you do that?" James asked.

"I wanted to hide something." Harry replied, "and used that to mark the place."

"Oh." James nodded.

**The shock shot through Harry with the heat of firewhisky, and he nearly stumbled.**

**He knew, at last, where the Horcrux sat waiting for him …**

"In the Room of Requirement?" Susan asked, hoping that her assumption was right.

"You'll see." Harry smirked.

"Lovely." Susan grumbled, hating that answer more than she ever thought she would.

**Tom Riddle, who confided in no one and operated alone, might have been arrogant enough to assume that he, and only he, had penetrated the deepest mysteries of Hogwarts Castle. Of course, Dumbledore and Flitwick, those model pupils, **

"I don't think I was a model pupil." Flitwick muttered, slightly pink in the cheeks.

"No." Minerva snorted, "I've seen the record of the detentions you earned, and I don't think anyone has ever had as many as you."

"Not even us?" Fred asked.

"Not even you." Minerva nodded.

"That's disappointing." George muttered.

**had never set foot in that particular place, but he, Harry, had strayed off the beaten track in his time at school – here at least was a secret area he and Voldemort knew, that Dumbledore had never discovered –**

**He was roused by Professor Sprout, who was thundering past followed by Neville and half a dozen others, all of them wearing earmuffs and carrying what appeared to be large potted plants.**

"Mandrakes." Sprout grinned, slightly maliciously.

"**Mandrakes!" Neville bellowed at Harry over his shoulder as he ran. "Going to lob them over the walls – they won't like this!"**

"Indeed not." Lucius snorted, "especially if those were the mature plants."

"I think they were." Harry grinned, "they were rather large."

"Then yes, either they were adolescents, or they were mature adults." Neville nodded, "we wouldn't toss the infant Mandrakes anywhere, even if their cry would merely knock someone out, rather than kill them."

**Harry knew now where to go. He sped off, with Hagrid and Fang galloping behind him. They passed portrait after portrait, and the painted figures raced alongside them, wizards and witches in ruffs and breeches, in armour and cloaks, cramming themselves into each others' canvases, screaming news from other parts of the castle. As they reached the end of this corridor, the whole castle shook, and Harry knew, as a gigantic vase blew off its plinth with explosive force, that it was in the grip of enchantments more sinister than those of the teachers and the Order.**

"Merlin, that's scary." Dennis whispered.

"**It's all righ', Fang – it's all righ'!" yelled Hagrid, but the great boarhound had taken flight as slivers of china flew like shrapnel through the air, and Hagrid pounded off after the terrified dog, leaving Harry alone.**

"Why on earth did you bring Fang?" Charlie asked, "he's a bloody coward, and it seems like a daft thing to do."

"I dunno." Hagrid muttered, embarrassed, "maybe I shouldn' have brough' 'im."

**He forged on through the trembling passages, his wand at the ready, and for the length of one corridor the little painted knight, Sir Cadogan, rushed from painting to painting beside him, clanking along in his armour, screaming encouragement, his fat little pony cantering behind him.**

"**Braggarts and rogues, dogs and scoundrels, drive them out, Harry Potter, see them off!"**

"Oh Merlin, not that bloody madman." James groaned, along with quite a few of the Gryffindors in fourth year and above.

"How do you know what he's like?" Lily wondered when she noticed Dean and Seamus banging their heads on the table in front of them.

"Because not only was his portrait hanging in the north tower, on the way to Divination, but because some idiot went and slashed up the Fat Lady' portrait." Dean grimaced.

"What idiot?" Regulus asked.

"Your bloody brother." Ron snorted.

"Oh Merlin, what the hell was Sirius thinking?" Regulus yelped.

"I don't think he was." Harry sighed.

**Harry hurtled around a corner and found Fred and a small knot of students, including Lee Jordan and Hannah Abbott, standing beside another empty plinth, whose statue had concealed a secret passageway. Their wands were drawn and they were listening at the concealed hole.**

"**Nice night for it!" Fred shouted as the castle quaked again, **

"That is definitely not the time to joke around." Mr Weasley said tiredly.

**and Harry sprinted by, elated and terrified in equal measure. Along yet another corridor he dashed, and then there were owls everywhere, and Mrs. Norris was hissing and trying to bat them with her paws, no doubt to return them to their proper place …**

"Daft cat." Minerva sniggered quietly.

"**Potter!"**

"Yes." All three Potter males perked up, the older two wondering why the Arithmancy professor was calling for them, while Harry was only doing it to be silly.

"It's in the book." Vector smiled.

"Oh." James and Charlus mumbled, while Harry sniggered.

**Aberforth Dumbledore stood blocking the corridor ahead, his wand held ready.**

"**I've had hundreds of kids thundering through my pub, Potter!"**

"I think he already knows that." Bill laughed.

"Yeah." Aberforth grunted.

"**I know, we're evacuating," Harry said, "Voldemort's –"**

"– **attacking because they haven't handed you over, yeah," said Aberforth. "I'm not deaf, the whole of Hogsmeade heard him. And it never occurred to any of you to keep a few Slytherins hostage? There are kids of Death Eaters you've just sent to safety. Wouldn't it have been a bit smarter to keep 'em here?"**

"Not necessarily." Lucius sighed, while some of the Slytherins grimaced. "Voldemort wouldn't care about them. He doesn't care about anyone but himself, unless they are useful to him."

"Besides, we would never stoop to the level of the Death Eaters." Sinistra spat, "that's a despicable idea, Aberforth."

"**It wouldn't stop Voldemort," said Harry,**

"No it would not." Rodolphus sighed.

"**and your brother would never have done it." Aberforth grunted and tore away in the opposite direction.**

**_Your brother would never have done it_ … well, it was the truth, Harry thought as he ran on again: Dumbledore, who had defended Snape for so long, would never have held students ransom …**

**And then he skidded around a final corner and with a yell of mingled relief and fury he saw them: Ron and Hermione; both with their arms full of large, curved, dirty yellow objects, **

"At last." Mrs Weasley said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"But what the hell are those yellow objects?" Charlie wondered.

"You'll see." Ron grinned.

**Ron with a broomstick under his arms.**

"**Where the _hell_ have you been?" Harry shouted.**

"**Chamber of Secrets," said Ron.**

"But how, I thought you had to be a Parselmouth to get in?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, but someone who isn't, can mimic a Parselmouth, if they know what Parseltongue sounds like." Hermione said, "you don't necessarily have to know what you're saying, as long as you can produce something that sounds similar to what the word sounds like."

"Oh." Hannah nodded.

"But I'm sure you wouldn't deliberately ask a Parselmouth to talk in the language so you could imitate it." Terry pointed out, "no offence to Harry, but it is a creepy language."

"True, but don't forget, Harry talks in his sleep." Ron smirked, "and occasionally, during his late-night conversations with himself, he slips into Parseltongue."

"**Chamber – _what_?" said Harry, coming to an unsteady halt before them.**

"**It was Ron, all Ron's idea!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Wasn't it absolutely brilliant? There we were, after we left, and I said to Ron, even if we find the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still hadn't got rid of the cup! And then he thought of it! The Basilisk!"**

"Of course, if her age hadn't caused her teeth to weaken and fall out, then you'd be able to get your hands on a fang or two." Andromeda muttered.

"**What the –?"**

"**Something to get rid of Horcruxes," said Ron simply.**

**Harry's eyes dropped to the objects clutched in Ron and Hermione's arms: great curved fangs; torn, he now realized, from the skull of a dead basilisk.**

"I have to ask, did Sanasha have anything even vaguely resembling a dental hygiene regimen?" Hermione wondered.

"No." The Baron replied, "she might have done, if the Gaunts had ever bothered to provide her with the care and companionship they were duty-bound to provide."

"Why did Darius' family get that duty, and not any of Slytherin's other descendants?" James asked.

"I don't know." The Baron sighed, "that is something that has puzzled me since Uncle Salazar told Darius it would be up to him."

"**But how did you get in there?" he asked, staring from the fangs to Ron. "You need to speak Parseltongue!"**

"**He did!" whispered Hermione. "Show him, Ron!" **

**Ron made a horrible strangled hissing noise.**

"So I didn't actually say anything when I demonstrated." Ron grimaced.

"Nope." Harry grinned, "if you had, I would have understood, and it would have been in the book. I couldn't actually tell the difference between English and Parseltongue back then. It's only through practise that I can now hear the words, and the hissing at the same time, so I know when someone is using Parseltongue."

"**It's what you did to open the locket," he told Harry apologetically. "I had to have a few goes to get it right, but," he shrugged modestly, "we got there in the end."**

"Do you think you could do it now after hearing it more often?" Padma wondered.

"Probably." Ron shrugged, then closed his eyes and concentrated really hard before opening his mouth and hissing, "_Stomach testicle pudding_."

"Well, that was definitely understandable." Harry nodded, trying to stifle guffaws, "though now I'm beginning to wonder about your sanity."

"What did he say?" Anthony asked curiously.

"He said 'stomach testicle pudding'." Lucius sniggered, "I'm not quite sure what that is, but he can definitely imitate a Parselmouth, though he can only say random words."

"**He was _amazing!_" said Hermione. "Amazing!"**

"**So …" Harry was struggling to keep up. "So …"**

"**So we're another Horcrux down," said Ron, and from under his jacket he pulled the mangled remains of Hufflepuff's cup. "Hermione stabbed it. Thought she should. She hasn't had the pleasure yet."**

"The scream wasn't all that pleasant, but it was fun." Hermione grinned.

"Yes, it is definitely unpleasant hearing the Horcruxes scream." Harry nodded.

"**Genius!" yelled Harry.**

"**It was nothing," said Ron, though he looked delighted with himself. "So what's new with you?"**

**As he said it, there was an explosion from overhead: all three of them looked up as dust fell from the ceiling and they heard a distant scream.**

"**I know what the diadem looks like, and I know where it is," said Harry, talking fast. "He hid it exactly where I had my old Potions book, **

"It seems a little far-fetched that you were able to get so close to the diadem, when you'd never seen or heard of it before." Lily frowned.

"It does indeed, but that may be explained later in the book." Harry agreed.

**where everyone's been hiding stuff for centuries. He thought he was the only one to find it.**

"How did he come to that conclusion?" Lisa asked, "it's obvious that others have found the room, since people have been hiding things in it for centuries."

"Tom is exceptionally arrogant." Albus sighed, "he may have thought that the objects in the room were created by the room, to aid him in his quest to hide the Horcrux."

"Oh." Lisa nodded.

**Come on." As the walls trembled again, he led the other two back through the concealed entrance and down the staircase into the Room of Requirement. It was empty except for three women: Ginny, Tonks **

"Why are you there?" Remus groaned, "I thought you were with Teddy."

"I wouldn't want to live if you died and I wasn't there for you." Tonks whispered sadly, "I love you too much."

"I love you too." Remus murmured, temporarily forgetting that they had an audience and kissing Tonks with all the passion he could muster.

"Ahem, I may be pleased with the idea of such a gentle man loving my daughter, but I would prefer to remain in my dream-world, where my daughter doesn't kiss men." Ted said loudly, "please make sure you don't do that where I can see you."

"It's worse when you walk in the front door and see your daughter chaining her husband to the wall before ripping his clothes off." Rodolphus commiserated.

"That's not something I've ever had the misfortune to see." Ted said, slightly nervous about the fact that he was talking to one of the most notorious Death Eaters, but the man was obviously uncomfortable, and Ted could see how comfortable Harry and Hermione were in his presence, so that made things a little easier.

"She was five months pregnant at the time." Rodolphus grimaced, "and as every father knows, pregnancy increases the libido."

"It does indeed." Ted nodded, remembering the many times Andromeda had jumped him when she was pregnant.

**and an elderly witch wearing a moth-eaten hat, whom Harry recognized immediately as Neville's grandmother.**

"Merlin, Gran's there." Neville whispered.

"Yep." Harry grinned, "she seemed strangely eager to give a few Death Eaters something to think about."

"I can imagine." Flitwick nodded.

"I can't believe she still has that blasted vulture hat." Minerva muttered.

"Is there some kind of significance in wearing a vulture on her head?" Colin asked.

"It's a sign of mourning." Minerva sighed, "in the old days, a witch would wear a bird, to indicate whether they were single and looking for a husband, engaged, married, or a widow, mourning her husband. Each state was indicated by a different bird. Single women usually wore a dove, engaged women wore a falcon, married women wore an eagle, and widows in mourning wore a vulture. It isn't common now, though there are a few who wear feathers from different birds, for the same reason."*

"Wow." Dennis murmured.

"**Ah, Potter," she said crisply as if she had been waiting for him. "You can tell us what's going on." **

"**Is everyone okay?" said Ginny and Tonks together.**

"'**S far as we know," said Harry. "Are there still people in the passage to the Hog's Head?"**

**He knew that the room would not be able to transform while there were still users inside it.**

"Why not?" Lavender wondered.

"Safety protocols." Harry replied, "even before the Ancients abandoned Avalon, they made sure that the room could not be used for more than one thing at a time. That was purely for safety. They didn't want the power systems to be overloaded, which could have happened if the room was projecting too many different things at the same time."

"What would happen if the systems were overloaded?" Padma asked.

"If the problem was caught in time, then only a few power conduits would be damaged, but if it wasn't caught, then there was the possibility that the three ZPMs powering the city, would explode." Hermione replied.

"Merlin, are you saying that if the systems in the projection room were to overload, it could cause the destruction of the solar system?" Terry choked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "and possibly even more damage. There are three ZPMs powering everything here, and as we said, only one of them, at less than full power, is capable of destroying a solar system. I don't want to imagine what three, at full power, could do."

"No, I don't think anyone does." Pansy whispered.

"**I was the last to come through," said Mrs Longbottom. "I sealed it, I think it unwise to leave it open now Aberforth has left his pub. **

"Wise move." Albus nodded, "you don't want to leave the Death Eaters another way to get in."

"That would be disastrous." Aberforth agreed, pushing his dislike for his brother to the back of his mind.

**Have you seen my grandson?"**

"**He's fighting," said Harry.**

"**Naturally," said the old lady proudly. "Excuse me, I must go and assist him." **

**With surprising speed she trotted off toward the stone steps.**

"Bloody crazy, that woman." Neville muttered, "but it's nice to know that she is actually proud of me, despite her many complaints that I'm not like my Dad."

"No one can ever be an exact copy of their father." Charlus said.

"I am going to have words with her when I next see her." Dorea frowned, "trying to force you to become a clone of your father, is unhealthy, both for you, and for her."

**Harry looked at Tonks.**

"**I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother's?"**

"Yes, and I wouldn't just let you run off." Andromeda nodded, looking at her daughter sternly.

"**I couldn't stand not knowing –" Tonks looked anguished. "She'll look after him –**

"Nymphadora." Andromeda snapped, bursting into anguished tears. "you are not supposed to leave your son with his grandmother, just so you can fight in a battle that might kill you."

"I wouldn't want to sit at home, not knowing." Tonks grimaced, "I'm an Auror mum, it's my job, my _duty_, to fight."

"Please, don't die." Andromeda whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I can't lose you, not after losing your father."

"I'll do my best." Tonks said with a small, strained smile.

**have you seen Remus?"**

"**He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds –"**

**Without another word, Tonks sped off.**

"**Ginny," said Harry, "I'm sorry, but we need you to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in."**

**Ginny looked simply delighted to leave her sanctuary.**

"She won't go back, she'll join the fight." Mr Weasley sighed with a pained expression.

"Of course I would." Ginny snorted, "I'd rather fight than cower like a little scared child."

"**And then you can come back in!" he shouted after her as she ran up the steps after Tonks. "_You've got to come back in!_"**

"Not a chance." Ginny said plainly.

"**Hang on a moment!" said Ron sharply. "We've forgotten someone!"**

"**Who?" asked Hermione.**

"**The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"**

"**You mean we ought to get them fighting?" asked Harry.**

"No, that would go against their nature, no matter how powerful they are." Regulus said.

"**No," said Ron seriously, "I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobbys, do we? We can't order them to die for us –"**

**There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione's arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. **

"Wish we hadn't done that." Hermione grimaced.

"Yeah, things would have been far less awkward." Ron agreed.

"At least you two finally realised that you weren't _actually_ meant to be together." Harry pointed out, "that's got to be a good thing."

"That is so true." Hermione nodded.

**Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.**

"**Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "Oi! There's a war going on here!"**

"You were jealous, weren't you?" Lucius whispered in Harry's ear.

"Of course I was." Harry grinned.

"It must have been a pretty awkward moment for you as well." Lily giggled.

"Of course it was." Harry nodded, "my best friends were kissing like there was no tomorrow, and I was just left to wait for them to finish."

**Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.**

"**I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, **

"At least you've never _actually_ been hit with a Bludger." Oliver grinned, "unlike me."

"Yeah, you got knocked out five minutes into your first Quidditch match." Charlie sniggered.

"And spent a week, unconscious in the hospital wing." Oliver nodded.

"Ouch." James winced.

"Yeah, it probably was, but I don't remember." Oliver said.

"**so it's now or never, isn't it?"**

"**Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we've got the diadem?"**

"**Yeah – right – sorry –" said Ron, and he and Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in the face.**

"I can imagine." Lily giggled.

**It was clear, as the three of them stepped back into the corridor upstairs, that in the minutes that they had spent in the Room of Requirement the situation within the castle had deteriorated severely: the walls and ceiling were shaking worse than ever; dust filled the air, and through the nearest window, Harry saw bursts of green and red light so close to the foot of the castle that he knew the Death Eaters must be very near to entering the place. Looking down, Harry saw Grawp the giant meandering past, swinging what looked like a stone gargoyle torn from the roof and roaring his displeasure.**

"Let's hope he gives the Death Eaters a headache." Regulus grinned.

"As long as he doesn't give our side one as well." Orion added.

"True." Regulus nodded.

"**Let's hope he steps on some of them!" said Ron as more screams echoed from close by.**

"**As long as it's not any of our lot!" said a voice: Harry turned and saw Ginny and Tonks, both with their wands drawn at the next window, which was missing several panes. Even as he watched, Ginny sent a well-aimed jinx into a crowd of fighters below.**

"I told you I could fight." Ginny said, "and it's all thanks to the DA."

"**Good girl!" roared a figure running through the dust toward them, and Harry saw Aberforth again, his grey hair flying as he led a small group of students past. "They look like they might be breaching the north battlements, they've brought giants of their own."**

"How many?" Minerva asked nervously.

"Five or six." Hermione sighed.

"Merlin." Minerva whispered faintly.

"**Have you seen Remus?" Tonks called after him.**

"**He was duelling Dolohov," shouted Aberforth, "haven't seen him since!"**

"I hope he was all right." James said thickly.

"Yeah, we were told that he kept switching opponents, never duelling one person for more than five minutes at a time." Harry smiled, "that was how fluid the battle was."

"**Tonks," said Ginny, "Tonks, I'm sure he's okay –"**

**But Tonks had run off into the dust after Aberforth.**

**Ginny turned, helpless, to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.**

"**They'll be all right," said Harry, though he knew they were empty words. **

"Unfortunately, all you can give in a situation like that, is empty platitudes and almost false hope." Lily sighed, "no one ever truly knows that someone's going to be all right in a battle like that, and the only thing you can do is pray that they will."

"**Ginny, we'll be back in a moment, just keep out of the way, keep safe – come on!" he said to Ron and Hermione, and they ran back to the stretch of wall beyond which the Room of Requirement was waiting to do the bidding of the next entrant.**

**_I need the place where everything is hidden._ Harry begged of it inside his head, and the door materialized on their third run past.**

**The furore of the battle died the moment they crossed the threshold and closed the door behind them: all was silent. They were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students.**

"How on earth are you going to find one small object in that lot?" Seamus asked.

"I knew where it was." Harry shrugged.

"It still doesn't seem possible that you would be able to find it without looking for it." Lily said.

"**And he never realized _anyone_ could get in?" said Ron, his voice echoing in the silence.**

"**He thought he was the only one," said Harry.**

"Arrogant." Susan whispered.

"**Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time … this way," he added. "I think it's down here …" **

**He passed the stuffed troll and the Vanishing Cabinet**

"If it can actually be repaired, we can either use it to bring reinforcements in, or get the younger years out." Flitwick said.

"Maybe, but we'd need to get our hands on the pair." Minerva sighed, "and I don't know where that is."

"Borgin and Burkes." Draco said, "they're keeping it, but we can probably move it to somewhere else."

**Draco Malfoy had mended last year with such disastrous consequences, **

"Disastrous for all of us." He muttered quietly.

**then hesitated, looking up and down aisles of junk; he could not remember where to go next …**

"**_Accio diadem_," cried Hermione in desperation, but nothing flew through the air towards them. **

"That spell really didn't work for us that year." Ron commented.

"No, but that was only because we kept trying to summon objects that had anti-summoning charms on them." Harry pointed out.

**It seemed that, like the vault at Gringotts, the room would not yield its hidden objects that easily.**

"**Let's split up," Harry told the other two. "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! **

"Imagine the real Phineas Nigellus dressed like that." Dorea giggled.

"Oh Merlin, that's a horrible image." Cygnus snorted.

**It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here …"**

**They sped off up adjacent aisles; Harry could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats … **

"**Somewhere near here," Harry muttered to himself. "Somewhere … somewhere …"**

**Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went, looking for objects he recognized from his one previous trip into the room. His breath was loud in his ears, and then his very soul seemed to shiver. **

"_It was not my soul that shivered_." Harry mumbled in Parseltongue to Lucius, who tried not to wince at the reminder that Harry had had a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head.

**There it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard in which he had hidden his old Potions book, and on top of it, the pockmarked stone warlock wearing a dusty old wig and what looked like an ancient discoloured tiara.**

"Finally." Dean muttered.

**He had already stretched out his hand, though he remained few feet away, when a voice behind him said, "Hold it, Potter."**

"Crap." James swore, "who's that?"

**He skidded to a halt and turned around. Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him, shoulder to shoulder, wands pointing right at Harry. Through the small space between their jeering faces he saw Draco Malfoy.**

"What?" Crabbe and Goyle asked nervously.

"What're we doing?" Goyle wondered.

"**That's my wand you're holding, Potter," said Malfoy, pointing his own through the gap between Crabbe and Goyle.**

"**Not any more," panted Harry, tightening his grip on the hawthorn wand. "Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who's lent you theirs?"**

"**My mother," said Draco.**

"I didn't think my wand worked for you." Narcissa frowned, confused.

"It doesn't really." Draco grimaced, "but it was the best I could get at such short notice. If Voldemort hadn't insisted on borrowing Dad's, which liked me better, I would have used that."

**Harry laughed, though there was nothing very humorous about the situation. He could not hear Ron or Hermione any more. They seemed to have run out of earshot, searching for the diadem.**

"Damn, you're in trouble, there's only one of you, and three of them." Tonks grimaced.

"Harry could wipe the floor with them with both his hands tied behind his back." Snape snorted, "during the training we've been giving them, we've had them duelling each other, one on one, two on one, and three on one, and Harry won most of his duels."

"We also had a mini tournament, during which we all went against the teachers, and Harry's duels with them lasted about an hour, each." Draco added.

"As I said yesterday, I would be ecstatic to take Harry on as an apprentice." Flitwick squeaked.

"Wow." James whistled.

"**So how come you three aren't with Voldemort?" asked Harry.**

"**We're gonna be rewarded," said Crabbe: his voice was surprisingly soft for such an enormous person: Harry had hardly ever heard him speak before. Crabbe was speaking like a small child promised a large bag of sweets. "We 'ung back, Potter. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to 'im."**

The two hulking boys hunched in on themselves, trying to escape the many glares they were receiving. They weren't particularly successful, but the fact that Harry, Hermione and Ron were glaring at everyone else, helped.

"**Good plan," said Harry in mock admiration. He could not believe that he was this close, and was going to be thwarted by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.**

"No you won't, you'll figure a way out, and succeed." Remus grinned.

**He began edging slowly backward toward the place where the Horcrux sat lopsided upon the bust. If he could just get his hands on it before the fight broke out …**

"**So how did you get in here?" he asked, trying to distract them.**

"**I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year," said Malfoy, his voice brittle. "I know how to get in."**

"Why?" Ernie asked suspiciously.

"The job Voldemort gave me at the beginning of the year." Draco sighed, "I don't know whether I still have to continue, or not, but I'm praying that I don't."

"**We was hiding in the corridor outside," grunted Goyle. "We can do Diss-lusion Charms now! **

"I would have thought that someone wouldn't be able to cast a spell if they can't pronounce its name." Lily frowned.

**And then," his face split into a gormless grin, "you turned up right in front of us and said you was looking for a die-dum! What's a die-dum?"**

"It's diadem, moron." Lisa whispered.

"**Harry?" Ron's voice echoed suddenly from the other side of the wall to Harry's right. "Are you talking to someone?"**

**With a whip-like movement, Crabbe pointed his wand at the fifty foot mountain of old furniture, of broken trunks, of old books and robes and unidentifiable junk, and shouted, "_Descendo!_"**

"Moronic arse." Daphne hissed. She hadn't quite forgiven Crabbe for nearly killing Ron, despite the number of years that had passed since it happened.

"Sorry." Crabbe grunted quietly, wondering how on earth he could have done something like that.

**The wall began to totter, then the top third crumbled into the aisle next door where Ron stood.**

"**Ron!" Harry bellowed, as somewhere out of sight Hermione screamed, and Harry heard innumerable objects crashing to the floor on the other side of the destabilized wall: he pointed his wand at the rampart, cried, "_Finite!_" and it steadied.**

"Thank Merlin." Mrs Weasley whispered, relieved that she wouldn't have to hear about her son being horrifically injured in a duel with someone his own age.

"**No!" shouted Malfoy, staying Crabbe's arm as the latter made to repeat his spell. "If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!"**

"**What's that matter?" said Crabbe, tugging himself free. "It's Potter the Dark Lord wants, who cares about a die-dum?"**

"I think Voldemort would care." Angelina said, "it is one of his Horcruxes after all, and I'm sure he'd want to make sure it's safe."

"**Potter came in here to get it," said Malfoy with ill-disguised impatience at the slow-wittedness of his colleagues, "so that must mean –"**

"'**Must mean'?" Crabbe turned on Malfoy with undisguised ferocity. "Who cares what you think? I don't take your orders no more, _Draco_. You an' your dad are finished."**

"I dun wanna be like that." Crabbe whispered. His horror at what he would have become if the book had not arrived, was overshadowed by his fear of what his father would do to him when he informed the man of his refusal to become a Death Eater.

"We have to get the Foundation set up as fast as possible, otherwise many of the children of Death Eaters will be forced to either stay here or go home, and end up being forced to do things they don't want to do." Harry muttered to Lucius.

"Yes, that is one of the things we can do after Atlantis has risen, and while the fleet is being built." Lucius nodded, "I don't think it'll be ready by summer, unfortunately, but we can use one or two of the Malfoy properties as a safe-house while we get the buildings we need ready."

"**Harry?" shouted Ron again, from the other side of the junk wad. "What's going on?"**

"**Harry?" mimicked Crabbe. "What's going on – _no_, Potter! _Crucio!_"**

"Oh Merlin." Some students whispered in shock. None of them could believe that a seventeen-year-old would ever use that curse on someone their own age.

Even Crabbe couldn't believe what he was doing. He accepted that he would have been forced to use the Cruciatus on others, otherwise his father would have punished him, but being willing to use it on Harry like that was completely different.

**Harry had lunged for the tiara; Crabbe's curse missed him but hit the stone bust, which flew into the air; the diadem soared upward and then dropped out of sight in the mass of objects on which the bust had rested.**

"Bollocks." James muttered, just like a lot of the older Gryffindor boys.

"**STOP!" Malfoy shouted at Crabbe, his voice echoing through the enormous room. "The Dark Lord wants him alive –"**

"**So? I'm not killing him, am I?" yelled Crabbe, throwing off Malfoy's restraining arm. "But if I can, I will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what's the diff –?"**

"I really dun wanna be like that." Crabbe whimpered, "I dun wanna be evil."

**A jet of scarlet light shot past Harry by inches: Hermione had run around the corner behind him and sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe's head. It only missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the way.**

"**It's that Mudblood! _Avada Kedavra!_"**

"Merlin, I can't believe a seventeen-year-old would do such a thing." Lily whispered.

"People do things they wouldn't normally do when under pressure." Rodolphus sighed, "or when they're terrified of the consequences if they don't. The kid was probably terrified of what his father would do if he didn't use the Unforgivables, especially if the man wasn't there and was then told what happened."

"True." Lily nodded with a grimace.

**Harry saw Hermione dive aside, and his fury that Crabbe had aimed to kill wiped all else from his mind. He shot a Stunning Spell at Crabbe, who lurched out of the way, knocking Malfoy's wand out of his hand; it rolled out of sight beneath a mountain of broken furniture and bones.**

"**Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" Malfoy yelled at Crabbe and Goyle,**

"At least you tried." Tonks said softly when she saw Draco wincing.

"Yeah, for all the good it did." Draco sighed.

Crabbe and Goyle had hunched down in their seats as far as they could go, silently praying that the chapter would be over and they wouldn't mentioned again.

**who were both aiming at Harry: their split second's hesitation was all Harry needed.**

"**_Expelliarmus!_"**

**Goyle's wand flew out of his hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside him; Goyle leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it; Malfoy jumped out of range of Hermione's second Stunning Spell, and Ron, appearing suddenly at the end of the aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe, which narrowly missed.**

**Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, "_Avada Kedavra!_" again. **

"He's gone mad." Andromeda gasped.

"That's not good." Bellatrix grimaced, "when someone goes mad like that, they don't take any notice of anything other than their target."

**Ron leapt out of sight to avoid the jet of green light. The wand-less Malfoy cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged toward them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she came.**

"That's one down." Tracy whispered, "that's something to be thankful for."

"**It's somewhere here!" Harry yelled at her, pointing at the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. "Look for it while I go and help R –"**

"**HARRY!" she screamed.**

"Now what?" Remus asked, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

**A roaring, billowing noise behind him gave him a moment's warning. He turned and saw both Ron and Crabbe running as hard as they could up the aisle toward them.**

"**Like it hot, scum?" roared Crabbe as he ran.**

**But he seemed to have no control over what he had done. Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch.**

"I don't believe it." Snape said, "why the hell would the Carrows teach something like that? And why the hell wouldn't I stop them?"

"The Carrows weren't the ones who taught that." Lucius sighed, "Dolohov and Avery taught them."

"But I would have stopped them." Snape spat, "I would never allow students to learn something that dangerous in school."

"They did it during the holidays, with Voldemort's knowledge and consent." Lucius grimaced.

"But what is it?" Dennis asked nervously.

"You'll see." Harry replied sadly.

"**_Aguamenti!_" Harry bawled, but the jet of water that soared from the tip of his wand evaporated in the air.**

"You utter moron." Astoria barked at Crabbe, who shuddered with fear.

"I think he understands now." Pansy said softly, gently resting a hand on Astoria's shoulder to try to calm the younger girl.

"**RUN!"**

**Malfoy grabbed the Stunned Goyle and dragged him along; Crabbe outstripped all of them, now looking terrified; Harry, Ron, and Hermione pelted along in his wake, and the fire pursued them. It was not normal fire; Crabbe had used a curse of which Harry had no knowledge. As they turned a corner the flames chased them as though they were alive, sentient, intent upon killing them. **

"My God." Mrs Weasley whispered, terrified.

**Now the fire was mutating, forming a gigantic pack of fiery beasts: flaming serpents, Chimaeras, and dragons rose and fell and rose again, and the detritus of centuries on which they were feeding was thrown up into the air into their fanged mouths, tossed high on clawed feet, before being consumed by the inferno.**

"It will consume everything in it's path, and unless someone with an iron will can impose their will on it, forcing it to stop, then the only thing that will stop it is a lack of flammable material." Flitwick said, in a slightly hollow voice. He was trying to keep calm, but the fact that he didn't know what was going to happen next meant that he wasn't succeeding.

"Would it be able to destroy the entire castle?" Padma asked.

"No." Lucius replied, "the Ancients knew what they were doing when they were building Avalon. They built their cities to withstand the extreme temperature on the surface of a star, so that fire wouldn't do too much damage."

"Would the room still work after that?" Terry wondered.

"Yes, but the damage would need to be repaired beforehand." Harry nodded, "the room would go into lock-down once everyone had left, and wouldn't open until the damage was repaired, which, depending on how much damage there was, wouldn't take terribly long. There are about two dozen constructor bots in storage currently, and they would be programmed to repair the damage."

"If there are that many already here, why did you need two more?" Anthony asked.

"The ones already here aren't as advanced, and the two that were brought will be replacing them." Lucius smiled, "the night after DC brought them, we put them in a pile of rubbish and programmed them to produce three dozen copies of themselves, with the exact same advancements, and once that was complete, we put two dozen of them in storage while removing the old ones."

"So what are you going to do with the old ones?" Susan queried.

"They will be taken to the shipyards and put through a machine that can disassemble them, at the atomic level." Harry grinned, "the materials they are made of will then be used to built something else."

"Wow." Hannah whispered, not really understanding what Harry meant by 'atomic level', but it sure sounded good.

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had vanished from view: Harry, Ron and Hermione stopped dead; the fiery monsters were circling them, drawing closer and closer, claws and horns and tails lashed, and the heat was solid as a wall around them.**

"**What can we do?" Hermione screamed over the deafening roars of the fire. "What can we do?"**

"The first thing you can do is not panic." Bill said calmly, "panicking does nothing, finding a way out requires a cool head."

"How can you not be terrified?" Charlie snapped.

"I am bloody terrified, but we do need to remember that this hasn't happened yet, and won't, not if we can help it." Bill took a deep breath to rein in his emotions, "I am maintaining this calm façade so I don't end up losing it, and that is one of the hardest things to do when all I want to do is rant and rave."

"**Here!"**

**Harry seized a pair of heavy-looking broomsticks **

"Of course, you can fly out." Oliver said, happy that one of his loves was being mentioned, but still knowing that it was the wrong time for him to be anything like his normal Quidditch-obsessed self.

"But what about Draco and the other boys?" Narcissa moaned.

"We'll just have to hope that Harry, Ron and Hermione were able to save them." Ted said, aiming a slight smile at his wife's younger sister.

**from the nearest pile of junk and threw one to Ron, who pulled Hermione onto it behind him. Harry swung his leg over the second broom and, with hard kicks to the ground, they soared up in the air, missing by feet the horned beak of a flaming raptor that snapped its jaws at them. The smoke and heat were becoming overwhelming: below them the cursed fire was consuming the contraband of generations of hunted students, the guilty outcomes of a thousand banned experiments, the secrets of the countless souls who had sought refuge in the room. Harry could not see a trace of Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle anywhere: he swooped as low as he dared over the marauding monsters of flame to try to find them, but there was nothing but fire: what a terrible way to die … he had never wanted this …**

"No one would." Mrs Weasley whispered, her heart going out to Narcissa, who had collapsed, in tears, practically wrapping herself around her son. Neither woman wanted to hear about their children dying, especially when the cause wasn't old age.

"**Harry, let's get out, let's get out!" bellowed Ron, though it was impossible to see where the door was through the black smoke.**

**And then Harry heard a thin, piteous human scream from amidst the terrible commotion, the thunder of devouring flame.**

"Oh Merlin, Harry, please save him." Narcissa begged, sobbing heart-brokenly at the thought of her son dying in such horrible circumstances.

Mrs Weasley, who really couldn't bear to see another woman in distress, did the only thing she could think of, and gave Narcissa one of her trademark rib-cracking hugs, holding on to the blonde who was almost boneless with fear.

"**It's – too – dangerous –!" Ron yelled, but Harry wheeled in the air. His glasses giving his eyes some small protection from the smoke, he raked the firestorm below, seeking a sign of life, a limb or a face that was not yet charred like wood …**

**And he saw them: Malfoy with his arms around the unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of charred desks, and Harry dived. Malfoy saw him coming and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good. Goyle was too heavy and Malfoy's hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's –**

"No." Narcissa gasped breathlessly. "Please save him, please."

Harry smiled gently at Narcissa, who was still wrapped around Draco, while also still wrapped in Mrs Weasley's arms. He wanted to let her know that he did indeed save her son, and was also pleased that two people who had once been on opposing sides and claimed to hate each other, could let go of their rivalry, like Narcissa and Mrs Weasley were doing.

"**IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" roared Ron's voice,**

"You just contradicted yourself." George said, trying to prevent the mood from getting too low.

Fred and the rest of the Weasleys shook their heads, trying to convey to George that that was totally the wrong time.

**and, as a great flaming chimaera bore down upon them, he and Hermione dragged Goyle onto their broom and rose, rolling and pitching, into the air once more as Malfoy clambered up behind Harry.**

"Thank you." Narcissa whispered, sagging in Mrs Weasley's arms, unable to believe that someone could be as selfless as Harry.

"**The door, get to the door, the door!" screamed Malfoy in Harry's ear, and Harry sped up, following Ron, Hermione, and Goyle through the billowing black smoke, hardly able to breathe: and all around them the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a sparkling necklace, and an old, discoloured tiara –**

"**_What are you doing, what are you doing, the door's that way!_" screamed Malfoy, but Harry made a hairpin swerve and dived. The diadem seemed to fall in slow motion, turning and glittering as it dropped toward the maw of a yawning serpent, and then he had it, caught it around his wrist –**

"Wow, that sounds like it was a good catch." Angelina muttered.

"He is the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen." Oliver shrugged, "he's made some amazing catches in Quidditch, so it stands to reason that he'd make that one."

"Everything has something to do with Quidditch for you, doesn't it?" Alicia asked with a slight giggle.

"Not everything." Oliver mumbled, "but some things, yes. Quidditch players can translate some moves and plays from the game to other situations."

**Harry swerved again as the serpent lunged at him; he soared upward and straight toward the place where, he prayed, the door stood open; Ron, Hermione and Goyle had vanished; Malfoy was screaming and holding Harry so tightly it hurt. Then, through the smoke, Harry saw a rectangular patch on the wall and steered the broom at it, and moments later clean air filled his lungs and they collided with the wall in the corridor beyond.**

**Malfoy fell off the broom and lay face down, gasping, coughing, and retching. Harry rolled over and sat up: the door to the Room of Requirement had vanished, and Ron and Hermione sat panting on the floor beside Goyle, who was still unconscious.**

"What happened to Crabbe?" Goyle asked quietly.

"You'll see." Hermione grimaced, not wanting to hurt the big boy's feelings too much.

"**C-Crabbe," choked Malfoy as soon as he could speak. "C-Crabbe …"**

"**He's dead," said Ron harshly.**

"Sorry." Ron muttered, embarrassed about his lack of tact.

"'S all right." Crabbe shrugged, "was my own fault. Serves me right for being so stupid. It's only right that I die from my own stupidity."

No one could believe that the hulking boy would own up and admit when he was wrong. Evidently he wasn't as thick and slow as everyone thought. He was a Slytherin, so maybe the stupid act was just that, an act.

**There was silence, apart from panting and coughing. Then a number of huge bangs shook the castle, and a great cavalcade of transparent figures galloped past on horses, their heads screaming with bloodlust under their arms. **

"What good are they gonna be?" James asked, "they're ghosts."

"No idea." Hermione said.

"The Headless Hunt do like to be in the thick of things, even if they can't actually affect anything." Nearly Headless Nick shrugged, causing his head to fall to one side. He quickly replaced it and reset the ruff he was wearing, trying to make sure it didn't happen again.

**Harry staggered to his feet when the Headless Hunt had passed and looked around: the battle was still going on all around him. He could hear more screams than those of the retreating ghosts. Panic flared within him.**

"**Where's Ginny?" he said sharply. "She was here. She was supposed to be going back into the Room of Requirement."**

"Ginny." Mrs Weasley snapped, glaring at her adopted daughter.

"You are crazy if you think I was going back in there once I got out and joined the fight." Ginny said flatly, "that would be cowardly, and I am no coward."

"**Blimey, d'you reckon it'll still work after that fire?" asked Ron, but he too got to his feet, rubbing his chest and looking left and right. "Shall we split up and look –?"**

"**No," said Hermione, getting to her feet too. **

"Good." Minerva nodded faintly. She wondered whether she would have any hair that wasn't white by the end of the book, but wasn't particularly hopeful, given the way it seemed to be going.

**Malfoy and Goyle remained slumped hopelessly on the corridor floor; neither of them had wands. "Let's stick together. I say we go – Harry, what's that on your arm?"**

"**What? Oh yeah –"**

**He pulled the diadem from his wrist and held it up. It was still hot, blackened with soot, but as he looked at it closely he was just able to make out the tiny words etched upon it: _W__IT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN'S GREATEST TREASURE._**

"I hope you destroyed it." Helena said darkly.

"In that time, the whole thing was destroyed, but here, the diadem is intact, and Professor Flitwick has it." Harry smiled.

"Good." Helena nodded.

**A blood-like substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the diadem. Suddenly Harry felt the thing vibrate violently, then break apart in his hands, and as it did so, he thought he heard the faintest, most distant scream of pain, echoing not from the grounds or the castle, but from the thing that had just fragmented in his fingers.**

"Now you've only got to get the snake, and Voldemort's vulnerable." Susan grinned.

"Not quite." Harry and those who knew that Harry himself had had a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him, muttered. They did make sure that no one around would hear them, even with the spells Albus had cast at the beginning of the book, so that they didn't completely ruin the story.

"**It must have been Fiendfyre!" whimpered Hermione, her eyes on the broken piece.**

"**Sorry?"**

"**Fiendfyre – cursed fire – it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared use it, it's so dangerous – how did Crabbe know how to –?"**

"**Must've learned from the Carrows," said Harry grimly.**

"The Carrows have never had the ability to cast Fiendfyre." Rodolphus said, "which I am inordinately grateful for."

"It is a fiendishly difficult spell to cast." Lucius agreed, "I would never want to try casting it."

"Nor would I." Rodolphus nodded.

"**Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," said Ron, whose hair, like Hermione's, was singed, and whose face was blackened. "If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry he was dead."**

"**But don't you realize?" whispered Hermione. "This means, if we can just get the snake –"**

**But she broke off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of duelling filled the corridor. Harry looked around and his heart seemed to fail: Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. Fred and Percy had just backed into view, both of them duelling masked and hooded men.**

Those who had had their souls sent back grimaced, knowing that the Weasleys would be deeply upset at the end of the chapter.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran forward to help: jets of light flew in every direction and the man duelling Percy backed off, fast: then his hood slipped and they saw a high forehead and streaked hair –**

"**Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. **

"Good one." James grinned.

"**Did I mention I'm resigning?"**

"**You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred **

"Don't joke, Fred." Mrs Weasley whimpered, "the situation is too serious for that."

**as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee.**

"**You actually _are_ joking, Perce …**

"Despite your disbelief, I do have a sense of humour." Percy said.

"You've never shown it." Fred grinned, staring at Percy in disbelief.

**I don't think I've heard you joke since you were –"**

**The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart, Harry felt himself flying through the air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only weapon, and shield his head in his arms: he heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them –**

"Oh God." Lily whispered, beginning to cry, just like the other mothers, and some of the female students.

**And then the world resolved itself into pain and semi-darkness: he was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack. Cold air told him that the side of the castle had been blown away, and hot stickiness on his cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that expressed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse could cause, **

"Who died?" Regulus asked nervously.

"No one." Harry said, "but we didn't know that."

"So what was that cry for?" Bill asked thickly.

"You'll see." Hermione sighed.

**and he stood up, swaying, more frightened than he had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than he had been in his life …**

"Please, tell me we didn't lose one of our sons." Mrs Weasley begged, unable to believe what she was hearing.

**And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three red-headed men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.**

"**No – no – no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"**

"Noo!" Mrs Weasley wailed, "please no."

Narcissa, who had finally recovered from the fear of losing her own son, knew what Mrs Weasley was going through, and was grateful for the comfort the redhead had given her, so returned the favour, by wrapping the woman up in a hug.

"You heard what Harry said, he's not dead, he'll be fine once he's been treated for whatever injury he has." Narcissa whispered into Mrs Weasley's ear.

"I hope so." Mrs Weasley sobbed, heart-brokenly.

**And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.**

"How could he still be alive after that?" Mr Weasley wondered, dazed by what Vector had read.

"We don't know, we just know that just before he was moved to the Burrow, someone detected a faint heart-beat, and he was rushed to St Mungo's as quickly as possible." Hermione replied, trying to keep the pain out of her voice. "He was lucky to survive, and the injuries he had sustained were severe, but the Healers at St Mungo's persevered, they didn't give up, and he made a full recovery, though he was in the hospital for six months."

"That's fortunate." Charlie whispered.

Mrs Weasley lost all ability to hold herself up, the relief caused all her muscles to relax, and the only reason she didn't slide onto the floor was the fact that she was still wrapped up in Narcissa's arms.

The rest of the Weasleys were all in similar states.

Mr Weasley was dazed. He felt like he was a long way away from the world, that he couldn't hear or see much more than vague shapes in the distance.

Bill and Charlie were horrified that they could have lost one of their younger brothers, and couldn't imagine the pain that they would have felt if the Healers at St Mungo's had either failed to save him or given up.

Percy didn't want to believe how close Fred had been to dying, but the fact that Hermione hadn't been able to keep the pain out of her voice was enough to tell him that she had been speaking the truth.

Ron didn't want to remember the horror, the fear he had felt when he saw Fred lying, as if dead, on the floor. He didn't want to remember the despair the thought of losing one of his older brothers had caused. He wanted to forget the few days where he had felt adrift in a world full of pain.

Ginny was crying, unable to comprehend the thought of a world without one of the twins. She hadn't really registered what Hermione had said about Fred being alive, so couldn't even assuage her grief with the knowledge that he was still around.

George was lost. He didn't know what to feel. Losing his twin was not something he had ever contemplated. He felt like a statue, unable to move, to blink, to breathe, to cry, or do any of the things a human being would do. The world had turned grey and dismal, the colour had leached out of it, there was nothing left but misery and pain.

Everyone else in the hall was brought out of their shock by the sound of George falling to the floor in a heap.

Fred, who had accepted that he was likely to either die or be severely injured when he volunteered to fight, jumped up and hauled his twin back into his seat.

"I'm OK, George." Fred said, making sure everyone could hear him. "I may have been badly injured, but I'm OK. It's not going to happen this time around."

"I hope not." Mrs Weasley whispered thickly.

"Besides, I think that's the way I'd want to go." Fred added, "if I die fighting against Voldemort, then it's worth it. I've accepted that, and if I have to die, then I'll take as many Corpse Munchers with me as I can."

"No, don't say that, please." Mrs Weasley sobbed.

"Mum, I don't want to die, no one does, but it's better to accept that possibility than to run away and hide." Fred sighed.

No one knew what to say. They were all stunned at how mature Fred sounded, even the teachers who had not believed that he could be anything other than an immature prankster.

"Let's continue with the book, then when it's finished, we can fix the future so that I don't get that badly injured." Fred suggested.

"A good idea." Albus said sombrely.

* * *

*Credit goes to Wheezy1 for this idea from his brilliant story Harry Potter and the Manipulator of Destiny, which is a worthwhile read for anyone.


	40. Chapter 40

**The Elder Wand**

It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down, and there were still a few people sniffling, but far less than there had been.

"Who would like to read now?" Albus asked quietly.

"I might as well." Hooch whispered.

"Very well." Albus nodded.

"**The Elder Wand**," Hooch read nervously.

"I thought that topic had been finished with." Padma frowned, "after Harry chose to continue going after the Horcruxes.

"Yes, but Voldemort had it, so it's still important." Lisa pointed out.

**The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms? Harry's mind was in free fall, spinning out of control, unable to grasp the impossibility, because Fred Weasley could not be dead, the evidence of all his senses must be lying –**

"Thanks Harry." Fred grinned, "though you'll have plenty of time to mourn or do whatever once the battle is over and the war is won."

**And then a body fell past the hole blown into the side of the school and curses flew in at them from the darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads. **

"**Get down!" Harry shouted, as more curses flew through the night: **

"Good, keep an eye on your surroundings." Moody growled approvingly.

**he and Ron had both grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the floor, but Percy lay across Fred's body, shielding it from further harm, and when Harry shouted "Percy, come on, we've got to move!" he shook his head. **

"Don't you dare die Percy." Mr Weasley whispered.

"You heard what Hermione said, Fred wasn't dead, and even if I didn't know that, I couldn't let his body be mutilated." Percy said, wiping his face as more tears poured out of his eyes.

"I wouldn't want you to die." Fred murmured, "not like that."

"**Percy!" Harry saw tear tracks streaking the grime coating Ron's face as he seized his elder brother's shoulders and pulled, but Percy would not budge. "Percy, you can't do anything for him! We're going to –"**

"Move Percy." Oliver said sadly, "don't fall into a pit of despair. Make sure you live to see the end of the war, then you can have a son, and call him Fred. That would be a far better thing to do than lose the will to fight."

**Hermione screamed, and Harry, turning, did not need to ask why. A monstrous spider the size of a small car was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall. One of Aragog's descendants had joined the fight. **

"Oh my God." Neville whispered, "which side are they on?"

"I hope they're on our side." Minerva said faintly.

"I doub' i'." Hagrid sighed, beginning to cry at the thought of losing one of his oldest friends. "Aragog's dyin', and the only reason 'is kids don't attack me, is 'im. He ordered them to leave me alone, bu' with 'im gone, there ain't nothin' tha' can stop 'em."

"We'll have to do something about them then." Albus grimaced, "I know you care for them Hagrid, but they are too dangerous to have so close to the school."

"I know." Hagrid blubbered, "I've 'ad Aragog since 'e was a wee li''le thing, an' I can' bear to see 'im 'urt. 'E's been wi' me for fif'y years. I don' wanna lose 'im."

"We will let Aragog find peace, before dealing with the rest of the colony." Flitwick smiled, "it would be disrespectful to do anything with him still around."

**Ron and Harry shouted together; their spells collided and the monster was blown backward, its legs jerking horribly, and vanished into the darkness. **

"**It brought friends!" Harry called to the others, glancing over the edge of the castle through the hole in the wall the curses had blasted. More giant spiders were climbing the side of the building, liberated from the Forbidden Forest, into which the Death Eaters must have penetrated.**

"Merlin, everyone and everything is getting involved." Sinistra whispered.

"Yeah, but the spiders weren't discriminating between the Death Eaters and non-Death Eaters." Harry grimaced, "they were just attacking anyone and everyone who moved. They didn't care who they attacked, as long as people died and they got to feast on the bodies."

**Harry fired Stunning Spells down upon them, knocking the lead monster into its fellows, so that they rolled back down the building and out of sight. Then more curses came soaring over Harry's head, so close he felt the force of them blow his hair. **

"Move." James yelled, getting into the story again and forgetting that none of the events in the book were actually going to happen.

"**Let's move, NOW!"**

**Pushing Hermione ahead of him with Ron, Harry stooped to seize Fred's body under the armpit. Percy, realizing what Harry was trying to do, stopped clinging to the body and helped: together, crouching low to avoid the curses flying at them from the grounds, they hauled Fred out of the way. **

"You should have left me there, there was no reason for you to get hurt or killed." Fred said.

"Shut it carrot-top." Hermione snapped, "moving you was the only way to get everyone else to move. But if you really want us to leave you to get trampled on when you're nearly dead, we will."

"You just got told." Bill grinned, though he was still crying and not really in the mood for fun and laughter.

"**Here," said Harry, and they placed him in a niche where a suit of armour had stood earlier. He could not bear to look at Fred a second longer than he had to, and after making sure that the body was well hidden, he took off after Ron and Hermione. Malfoy and Goyle had vanished**

"We ran just before the explosion." Draco said, "we didn't want to be in the way, especially when we were surrounded by people who didn't know I was only pretending to be a loyal Carcass Devourer."

**but at the end of the corridor, which was now full of dust and falling masonry, glass long gone from windows, he saw many people running backward and forward, whether friends or foes he could not tell. Rounding the corner, Percy let out a bull-like roar: "ROOKWOOD!" and sprinted off in the direction of a tall man, who was pursuing a couple of students. **

"Unfortunately, you didn't get him." Hermione sighed, "he survived the battle."

"What happened to him after that?" Minerva asked.

"He was executed." Harry replied, "his crimes were too severe for him to be allowed to live."

"What about offering him redemption?" Albus asked quietly. He would never be all right with killing, even for the Greater Good.

"He didn't want it." Hermione replied, "we offered him the chance to change, and he spat in our faces. He refused to even consider becoming a, in his words, 'foolish muggle-loving blood traitor who consorted with filthy mudbloods'."

"Oh." Albus sighed.

"**Harry, in here!" Hermione screamed.**

**She had pulled Ron behind a tapestry. They seemed to be wrestling together, and for one mad second Harry thought that they were embracing again; **

"There was no way we could do that." Ron said, "not then. Not after seeing Fred so badly injured that we thought he was dead."

**then he saw that Hermione was trying to restrain Ron, to stop him running after Percy. **

"**Listen to me – _LISTEN RON!_"**

"**I wanna help – I wanna kill Death Eaters –"**

**His face was contorted, smeared with dust and smoke, and he was shaking with rage and grief. **

"**Ron, we're the only ones who can end it! Please – Ron – we need the snake, we've got to kill the snake!" said Hermione. **

"You're fighting a losing battle Hermione." Bill sighed, "Ron's a Weasley, and we Weasleys are fairly hotheaded. He won't care that the snake needs to die, not when he wants to fight the Death Eaters. Killing the snake wouldn't be as satisfying."

**But Harry knew how Ron felt: **

"If you knew how I felt, why didn't you say something?" Ron asked weakly.

"Because even if I agreed that pounding a few Death Eater skulls into paste would have been more satisfying than just killing Nagini, I knew that we had to stay focussed." Harry replied.

**pursuing another Horcrux could not bring the satisfaction of revenge; he too wanted to fight, to punish them, the people who had killed Fred, and he wanted to find the other Weasleys, and above all make sure, make quite sure, that Ginny was not – but he could not permit that idea to form in his mind –**

"**We _will_ fight!" Hermione said. "We'll have to, to reach the snake!**

"That's a good point." Fred nodded, "you can give those Death Eaters bloody noses on your way to killing that snaky little bitch."

**But let's not lose sight now of what we're supposed to be d – doing! We're the only ones who can end it!" **

**She was crying too, and she wiped her face on her torn and singed sleeve as she spoke, but she took great heaving breaths to calm herself as, still keeping a tight hold on Ron, she turned to Harry. **

"**You need to find out where Voldemort is, because he'll have the snake with him, won't he? Do it, Harry – look inside him!"**

"Merlin, she must be worried if she's actually telling you to do that." Neville said, slightly shocked. After all, Hermione had spent quite a lot of the book, telling Harry off for ending up in Voldemort's mind.

"Can you do that now, to find out what he's doing?" Colin asked.

"No, the link is gone now." Harry replied, "it was destroyed when my soul was sent back and merged with my body."

Albus stared at Harry incredulously. He hoped that Harry truly had said what he thought he'd said, that the piece of Voldemort's soul that had latched onto Harry that fateful Halloween, was well and truly gone. If that was the case, then his fear that Harry would have to die to defeat Voldemort, was completely unfounded.

**Why was it so easy? Because his scar had been burning for hours, yearning to show him Voldemort's thoughts? He closed his eyes on her command, and at once, the screams and bangs and all the discordant sounds of the battle were drowned until they became distant, as though he stood far, far away from them …**

**He was standing in the middle of a desolate but strangely familiar room, with peeling paper on the walls and all the windows boarded up except for one.**

"He's not even fighting?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Where the hell is he?" Regulus wondered.

"The Shrieking Shack." Remus replied, "and he's hiding there, like the coward he is."

"How do you know what the inside of the Shrieking Shack looks like?" Dennis asked eagerly.

"It's where I transformed every full moon when I was a student." Remus sighed.

"Oh." Dennis whispered, sad that someone would have to be locked away just because they were a werewolf.

**The sounds of the assault on the castle were muffled and distant. The single unblocked window revealed distant bursts of light where the castle stood, but inside the room was dark except for a solitary oil lamp. **

**He was rolling his wand between his fingers, watching it, his thoughts on the Room in the castle, the secret room only he had ever found, the room, like the chamber, that you had to be clever and cunning and inquisitive to discover …**

"Not necessarily." Hermione snorted, "the house-elves know where it is, and someone can ask one of them."

"Except they call it the come-and-go room." Harry sniggered, "with emphasis on the 'come'."

"Oh Merlin." Draco whined, "I do not want to know about the sex lives of house-elves."

"Good choice." Narcissa whispered.

**He was confident that the boy would not find the diadem … although Dumbledore's puppet had come much farther than he ever expected … too far …**

"Urgh." Harry grimaced, "I'm not a puppet."

"No, but you were the one he left to continue once he'd died." James pointed out.

"That does not make me a puppet." Harry snorted.

"**My Lord," said a voice, desperate and cracked. **

"Who is that?" Susan asked. She could almost hear the pain the person was suffering, and wanted to do her best to comfort them.

**He turned: there was Lucius Malfoy sitting in the darkest corner, ragged and still bearing the marks of the punishment he had received after the boy's last escape. One of his eyes remained closed and puffy.**

"My word." Sprout whispered, "I thought he just used the Cruciatus, but that sounds like the result of a beating."

"It was." Lucius sighed, "while he was Crucioing everyone, when he switched targets, he had Scabior and a few of his group of Snatchers beat us up. Draco and I were the ones they focussed on, they didn't want to hit the ladies, but they had to, though they didn't use as much force in their punches as they used on us."

"Merlin." Minerva gasped, horrified.

"**My Lord … please … my son …"**

"Voldemort doesn't care." James said sadly, "he never did. All he sees, all he's ever seen, are pawns, not people."

"**If your son is dead, Lucius, it is not my fault. He did not come and join me, like the rest of the Slytherins. Perhaps he has decided to befriend Harry Potter?"**

"I did that in first year you wanker." Draco snorted.

"**No-never," whispered Malfoy. **

"You didn't know about their friendship?" Narcissa asked.

"No, I didn't." Lucius grinned, "they kept it very well hidden. I don't think more than a dozen people knew."

"Not even that many." Draco smirked.

"Only about seven knew that he and I were friends." Harry added.

"Impressive." Narcissa commented.

"**You must hope not."**

"**Aren't – aren't you afraid, my Lord that Potter might die at another hand but yours?" asked Malfoy, his voice shaking. "Wouldn't it be … forgive me … more prudent to call off this battle, enter the castle, and seek him y – yourself?"**

"**Do not pretend Lucius. You wish the battle to cease so that you can discover what has happened to your son. And I do not need to seek Potter. Before the night is out, Potter will have come to find me."**

"No he won't." Dean and Seamus yelled.

"I'm not so sure." Neville frowned, "he might, if he thinks he has no other choice."

"Well, we'll just have to hope someone stops him." Seamus grinned.

"I doubt it'll be that easy." Neville grimaced, "Harry's stubborn, more stubborn than anyone I know."

**Voldemort dropped his gaze once more to the wand in his fingers. It troubled him … and those things that troubled Lord Voldemort needed to be rearranged …**

"**Go and fetch Snape."**

"That's not good." Lily whispered nervously.

"**Snape, m – my Lord?"**

"**Snape. Now. I need him. There is a – service – I require from him. Go."**

"What on earth could he want me for?" Snape wondered.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, is not going to be healthy for you." James grimaced. He still wasn't terribly keen on Snape, but he had matured, and the knowledge that Snape had risked his life, spying on Voldemort, made him realise that their school-yard rivalry was stupid. He was also wary of angering his son, who seemed to like the Potions Master, and if he had continued to attack the man in any way, Harry would be extremely displeased with him, so he was trying to be more civil, which was getting easier every time.

**Frightened, stumbling a little through the gloom, Lucius left the room. Voldemort continued to stand there, twirling the wand between his fingers, staring at it.**

"**It is the only way, Nagini," he whispered,**

"He sounds like he's going to kill you." Pansy whispered, "but I can't think why, he thinks you are his most loyal."

"True, but he is mad, so who knows what he truly thinks?" Snape sighed.

**and he looked around, and there was the great thick snake, now suspended in mid-air, twisting gracefully within the enchanted, protected space he had made for her, a starry, transparent sphere somewhere between a glittering cage and a tank.**

"How the hell are you going to get to her to kill her with that in the way?" Hannah groaned.

"They'll find a way." Susan said, "they always do."

**With a gasp, Harry pulled back and opened his eyes at the same moment his ears were assaulted with the screeches and cries, the smashes and bangs of battle. **

"**He's in the Shrieking Shack. The snake's with him, it's got some sort of magical protection around it. He's just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape."**

"**Voldemort's sitting in the shrieking Shack?" said Hermione, outraged. "He's not – he's not even _FIGHTING_?"**

"He's a coward." Remus snarled.

"**He doesn't think he needs to fight," said Harry. "He thinks I'm going to go to him."**

"**But why?"**

"Because Harry's a bloody noble git." Ron snorted.

"He's a Potter, what did you expect?" Dorea laughed.

"**He knows I'm after Horcruxes – he's keeping Nagini close beside him – obviously I'm going to have to go to him to get near the thing –"**

"**Right," said Ron, squaring his shoulders. "So you can't go, that's what he wants, what he's expecting. You stay here and look after Hermione, and I'll go and get it –"**

"No way in hell." Harry and Hermione said in unison.

"I can look after myself Ron." Hermione continued, "so if you think, for one second, that I would agree to being left behind, then you have another think coming."

"Besides, I wouldn't let you face Voldemort alone." Harry added.

"Hypocrite." Ron grumbled.

"I've already faced him, I know what to expect, you've never faced him." Harry pointed out.

"Oh all right." Ron grimaced.

**Harry cut across Ron. **

"**You two stay here, I'll go under the Cloak and I'll be back as soon as I –"**

"**No," said Hermione, "it makes much more sense if I take the Cloak and –"**

"**Don't even think about it," Ron snarled at her.**

"Git." Hermione muttered.

**Before Hermione could get farther than "Ron, I'm just as capable –" the tapestry at the top of the staircase on which they stood was ripped open.**

"**POTTER!"**

**Two masked Death Eaters stood there, but even before their wands were fully raised, Hermione shouted "_Glisseo!_"**

"Interesting move." Regulus murmured.

**The stairs beneath their feet flattened into a chute and she, Harry, and Ron hurtled down it, unable to control their speed but so fast that the Death Eaters' Stunning Spells flew far over their heads. They shot through the concealing tapestry at the bottom and spun onto the floor, hitting the opposite wall. **

"**_Duro!_" cried Hermione, pointing her wand at the tapestry, and there were two loud, sickening crunches as the tapestry turned to stone and the Death Eaters pursuing them crumpled against it.**

"It worked." Orion grinned.

"And those Death Eaters probably now how have massive headaches." Cygnus added.

"Indeed." Orion nodded.

"**Get back!" shouted Ron, and he, Harry, and Hermione flattened themselves against a door as a herd of galloping desks thundered past, shepherded by a sprinting Professor McGonagall.**

"It's nice to know that she wasn't injured." Flitwick grinned.

"The only actual injuries anyone could find on her were a broken wrist and a cut on one cheek." Hermione giggled, "of course, no one realised that she had been hit in the back with a de-ageing spell."

"Not until she was nearly thirty years younger, and even then, the curse wasn't halted until she was physically the same age as us." Harry nodded.

"A slow de-ageing curse." Sprout whispered, "one that if not halted will cause the person hit with it to de-age until they're no more than a pair of cells on the floor."

"Yeah, but fortunately there was a book in the library that told us how to halt the curse." Draco grinned.

"So that's how I was able to have children." Minerva murmured, "I had wondered how it was possible when the fact that I had children was mentioned for the first time."

"Well, now you know." Cygnus smirked.

**She appeared not to notice them.**

"That's nice." Ron sniggered.

**Her hair had come down and there was a gash on her cheek. As she turned the corner, they heard her scream, "CHARGE!"**

"**Harry, you get the Cloak on," said Hermione. "Never mind us –"**

**But he threw it over all three of them; large though they were he doubted anyone would see their disembodied feet through the dust that clogged the air, the falling stone, the shimmer of spells. **

"We were a bit too tall for all three of us to fit under the cloak by then." Hermione said.

"At least none of us was nearly seven feet tall." Harry laughed.

"Yeah, I'm grateful for that." Ron grinned, "it would have been awkward trying to walk if one of us was that tall and needed to be bent double to keep the cloak covering the others."

**They ran down the next staircase and found themselves in a corridor full of duellers. The portraits on either side of the fighters were crammed with figures screaming advice and encouragement, while Death Eaters, both masked and unmasked, duelled students and teachers. Dean had won himself a wand, for he was face-to-face with Dolohov, **

"What happened to Remus?" Tonks asked worriedly.

"We did say that he didn't stay duelling one person for more than five minutes at a time." Hermione said, "he'd switched opponents at least a dozen times by that point, and as far as I can remember, he was duelling Avery at that point."

"Well that's a relief." Tonks whispered. She had been terrified that Remus was dead.

**Parvati with Travers. Harry, Ron and Hermione raised their wands at once, ready to strike, but the duellers were weaving and darting so much that there was a strong likelihood of hurting on of their own side if they cast curses. Even as they stood braced, looking for the opportunity to act, there came a great "Wheeeeee!" and looking up, Harry saw Peeves zooming over them, dropping Snargaluff pods down onto the Death Eaters, whose heads were suddenly engulfed in wriggling green tubers like fat worms. **

"Peeves is actually being useful?" Justin gasped, "I don't believe it."

"Peevesie can be helpful." The Poltergeist cackled as he zoomed into the hall and positioned himself over the purple-clad middle table, very close to James. "But only when he wants to be."

"Peeves." Albus said sternly, "this is no time for your jokes."

"Yes headmaster Dumbly-dory sir." The Poltergeist nodded, settling down a bit.

"**ARGH!"**

**A fistful of tubers had hit the Cloak over Ron's head; the damp green roots were suspended improbably in mid-air as Ron tried to shake them loose. **

"Peevesie sowwy." The Poltergeist said, slightly apologetically.

"**Someone's invisible there!" shouted a masked Death Eater, pointing. **

"That's pretty obvious." Blaise muttered.

**Dean made the most of the Death Eater's momentary distraction, knocking him out with a stunning Spell; Dolohov attempted to retaliate, and Parvati shot a Body Bind Curse at him. **

"Good, watch each other's backs." Moody growled approvingly.

"That's how Harry taught us in the DA last year." Parvati grinned.

"**LET'S GO!" Harry yelled, and he, Ron, and Hermione gathered the Cloak tightly around themselves and pelted, heads down, through the midst of the fighters, slipping a little in pools of Snargaluff juice, toward the top of the marble staircase into the entrance hall. **

"**I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm Draco, I'm on your side!"**

Narcissa grimaced, hoping that her son wouldn't get himself killed by being foolish.

**Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with another masked Death Eater.**

"Why though?" James wondered.

"They all thought I was on their side, and I didn't want to get killed." Draco replied simply, "it was also a way to make sure that I wouldn't be revealed as a traitor, just in case the war didn't end that night."

"Understandable." Lily nodded, wishing that he hadn't been put in that position in the first place.

**Harry Stunned the Death Eater as they passed. Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his saviour, and Ron punched him from under the Cloak. **

**Malfoy fell backward on top of the Death Eater, his mouth bleeding, utterly bemused. **

"Of course I was." Draco snorted, "I was punched by someone invisible, and I didn't expect it."

"Sorry." Ron grimaced, "I had hoped that you would be knocked out so we could get you to safety somehow."

"Yeah, well it didn't work." Draco grinned.

"That's because you have a hard head." Harry sniggered.

"**And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two- faced bastard!" Ron yelled.**

**There were more duellers all over the stairs and in the hall. Death Eaters everywhere Harry looked: Yaxley, close to the front doors, in combat with Flitwick, **

"Go Flitwick." James and the Ravenclaws roared happily.

**a masked Death Eater duelling Kingsley right beside them. Students ran in every direction; some carrying or dragging injured friends. Harry directed a Stunning Spell toward the masked Death Eater; it missed but nearly hit Neville, **

"Oi." Neville snorted, "you're supposed to hit the enemy, not your friends."

"If you hadn't been there, it wouldn't have nearly hit you." Harry laughed.

**who had emerged from nowhere brandishing armfuls of Venomous Tentacula, which looped itself happily around the nearest Death Eater and began reeling him in.**

"Nice." Regulus grinned.

"Plants are surprisingly useful in a battle." Seamus sniggered.

"They are some of the most useful things in the world." Sprout smirked.

"I knew they were useful as potions ingredients, I just didn't realise they could be used for other things." Seamus shrugged.

"You should have been paying attention during lessons." Sprout said sternly, "if you paid attention, then you would have known of the many uses of various plants."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione sped won the marble staircase: glass shattered on the left, and the Slytherin hourglass that had recorded House points spilled its emeralds everywhere, **

"Wow, I didn't realise how symbolic that actually was." Draco whistled.

"Yeah, it really was." Harry nodded, "especially when you remember that the Gryffindor hourglass had been broken the night Professor Dumbledore died."

"Merlin." Dean whispered, as did a lot of the others in the hall. None of them missed the symbolism in that. It was almost like the hourglasses were bleeding for the deaths of those two magical powerhouses, what with Dumbledore being a former Gryffindor, and Voldemort being a former Slytherin.

**so that people slipped and staggered as they ran. Two bodies fell from the balcony overhead as they reached the ground and a grey blur that Harry took for an animal sped four-legged across the hall to sink its teeth into one of the fallen. **

"Greyback." Remus snarled, hating the other werewolf even more than he had previously. "That monster should never be allowed near children."

"**NO!" shrieked Hermione, and with a deafening blast from her wand, Fenrir Greyback was thrown backward from the feebly struggling body of Lavender Brown. **

"He just bit me, and made me almost a wolf, like him right?" Lavender asked, beginning to cry.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded, "it was touch and go to begin with, but you did survive."

"You didn't become a werewolf, but you did get a bit cranky during full moons." Harry added with a smile.

"That's a relief." Lavender whispered, trying to smile, though she was still crying at the thought of nearly dying. She didn't particularly care that she would be contaminated, as long as she was alive to have children and be a mother.

**He hit the marble banisters and struggled to return to his feet. Then, with a bright white flash and a crack, a crystal ball fell on top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground and did not move. **

"Well, that's one use for those ridiculous crystal balls." Snape said.

"I just wish it had been strong enough to kill him." Remus growled.

"Yeah, I think a lot of people do." Hermione agreed.

"**I have more!" shrieked Professor Trelawney from over the banisters.**

"Go Trelawney." Seamus grinned.

"She does have some redeeming qualities." Dean nodded.

"**More for any who want them! Here –"**

**And with a move like a tennis serve,**

"What's tennis?" Astoria asked curiously.

"A muggle sport." Hermione replied, "it's quite popular."

"Interesting." Astoria commented, "so what is a tennis serve?"

"In a proper match between professional players, every time someone starts a volley for a point, they toss the ball into the air above their head, then as it starts to fall, they hit it with the racquet, in an overarm swing." Hermione explained, or at least, tried to explain.

"I think we might have to find a way to demonstrate, it might be more understandable if it's actually seen." Harry grinned.

"Yeah, it's not something that can be described easily." Hermione agreed.

"We will think about that after the book is over." Albus said sternly, though his eyes were twinkling.

**she heaved another enormous crystal sphere from her bag, waved her wand through the air, and caused the ball to speed across the hall and smash through a window. At the same moment, the heavy wooden front doors burst open, and more of the gigantic spiders forced their way into the front hall. **

"I hate spiders." Lucius gulped.

**Screams of terror rent the air: the fighters scattered, Death Eaters and Hogwartians alike, and red and green jets of light flew into the midst of the oncoming monsters, which shuddered and reared, more terrifying than ever. **

"**How do we get out?" yelled Ron over all the screaming, but before either Harry or Hermione could answer they were bowled aside; Hagrid had come thundering down the stairs, brandishing his flowery pink umbrella.**

"The pink umbrella really ruins the intimidating appearance." Regulus laughed.

"So does asking for a cup of tea just after knocking a door down and putting it back in its place." Harry sniggered.

"I can imagine." Regulus grinned.

"**Don't hurt 'em, don't hurt 'em!" he yelled. **

"**HAGRID, NO!"**

**Harry forgot everything else: he sprinted out from under the cloak, running bent double to avoid the curses illuminating the whole hall. **

"**HAGRID, COME BACK!"**

**But he was not even halfway to Hagrid when he saw it happen: Hagrid vanished amongst the spiders, and with a great scurrying, a foul swarming movement, they retreated under the onslaught of spells, Hagrid buried in their midst. **

"Poor Hagrid." Lily whispered.

"I hope he was all right." James said.

"Yeah, he was." Harry nodded, glad that his first friend had survived.

"**HAGRID!"**

**Harry heard someone calling his own name, whether friend or foe he did not care:**

"Oh Harry." Lily murmured, though she knew that she would be just as desperate as him in that situation.

**he was sprinting down the front steps into the dark grounds, and the spiders were swarming away with their prey, and he could see nothing of Hagrid at all. **

"**HAGRID!"**

**He thought he could make out an enormous arm waving from the midst of the spider swarm, but as he made to chase after them, his way was impeded by a monumental foot, which swung down out of the darkness and made the ground on which he stood shudder.**

"Giants." Minerva sighed, wondering how on earth they were going to win against such odds.

**He looked up: a giant stood before him, twenty feet high, its head hidden in shadow, nothing but its treelike, hairy shins illuminated by light from the castle doors. With one brutal, fluid movement, it smashed a massive fist through an upper window, and glass rained down upon Harry, forcing him back under the shelter of the doorway. **

"**Oh my –!" shrieked Hermione, as she and Ron caught up with Harry and gazed upward at the giant now trying to seize people through the window above. **

"**DON'T!" Ron yelled, grabbing Hermione's hand as she raised her wand. "Stun him and he'll crush half the castle –"**

"One stunner won't work on its own." Remus said, "giants have incredibly thick skin. I don't think even a wizard as powerful as Professor Dumbledore could bring one down on his own."

"**HAGGER?"**

"I presume that's Grawp, trying to say Hagrid's name?" Narcissa asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yep." Draco grinned.

**Grawp came lurching around the corner of the castle; only now did Harry realise that Grawp was, indeed, an undersized giant. **

"Yeah, the giants Voldemort had were about twenty feet tall or more. Grawp was only sixteen feet." Ron nodded.

"Merlin, that's quite a sizeable difference." Pomfrey whispered.

"Size isn't everything." Flitwick squeaked, "in fact, his small size compared to them will aid him. He'll be faster and more agile, so he should be able to deal with them without too much trouble."

**The gargantuan monster trying to crush people on the upper floors turned around and let out a roar. The stone steps trembled as he stomped toward his smaller kin, and Grawp's lopsided mouth fell open, showing yellow, half brick-sized teeth; and then they launched themselves at each other with the savagery of lions. **

"My word." Minerva gasped, "he might be able to beat one, but if there are more, and they all go at him in that manner, then he'll be exhausted if he manages to win."

"**RUN!" Harry roared; the night was full of hideous yells and blows as the giants wrestled, and he seized Hermione's hand and tore down the steps into the grounds, Ron bringing up the rear. **

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be near two giants fighting, if the fight is that violent." Justin nodded.

**Harry had not lost hope of finding and saving Hagrid; he ran so fast that they were halfway toward the forest before they were brought up short again. **

**The air around them had frozen: **

"Dementors." Sprout grimaced.

**Harry's breath caught and solidified in his chest. Shapes moved out in the darkness, swirling figures of concentrated blackness, moving in a great wave towards the castles, their faces hooded and their breath rattling …**

"They shouldn't be too hard to deal with." Dean grinned, "Harry's Patronus is solid."

"Yeah, but in that situation, is there any happiness for him to draw on to conjure it?" Neville asked quietly.

**Ron and Hermione closed in beside him as the sounds of fighting behind them grew suddenly muted, deadened, because a silence only Dementors could bring was falling thickly through the night …**

"**Come on, Harry!" said Hermione's voice from a very long way away. "Patronuses, Harry, come on!"**

**He raised his wand, but a dull hopelessness was spreading throughout him: Fred was gone, and Hagrid was surely dying or already dead; how many more lay dead that he did not yet know about; he felt as though his soul had already half left his body …**

"Don't think like that." Lily begged.

"If you don't want to be running two hundred laps around the Quidditch pitch, at a sprint, then you'll try to think positively and cast your Patronus." Oliver yelled.

"Sprinting two hundred laps, that's inhuman." Angelina yelped.

"Not even some of the greatest muggle long distance runners could do that." Harry snorted, "and they can run for miles."

"How far do they consider 'long-distance'?" Pomfrey queried.

"Various distances." Hermione replied, "ranging from five thousand metres all the way up to the marathon, which is officially just over twenty-six miles."

"No one can run twenty-six miles." Sprout said in disbelief.

"Yes, they can." Hermione grinned, "it takes a lot of training and hard work, but it can be done."

"That's another thing we'll have to find a way to show." Harry sighed, seeing the disbelief in the eyes of everyone who hadn't been raised in the muggle world.

"**HARRY, COME ON!" screamed Hermione. **

**A hundred Dementors were advancing, gliding toward them, sucking their way closer to Harry's despair, which was like a promise of a feast …**

**He saw Ron's silver terrier burst into the air, flicker feebly, and expire; he saw Hermione's otter twist in mid-air and fade, and his own wand trembled in his hand, and he almost welcomed the oncoming oblivion, the promise of nothing, of no feeling …**

"Please, don't think like that." Dorea whimpered, losing control of her emotions as she heard the despair in her grandson's thoughts as they were read out. Lucius, who had begun to cry softly, reflexively grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed gently, as if reassuring himself that his soul-mate really was still alive and not dead or soulless.

"_I'm fine Lucius_." Harry whispered, squeezing back, using his free hand to gently wipe the tears from Lucius' cheeks.

**And then a silver hare, a boar, and fox soared past Harry, Ron, and Hermione's heads: the Dementors fell back before the creatures' approach. Three more people had arrived out of the darkness to stand beside them, their wands outstretched, continuing to cast Patronuses: Luna, Ernie, and Seamus. **

"Thank Merlin." Lily whispered, glad that at least some of Harry's friends were there to dig him out of his depression.

"**That's right," said Luna encouragingly, as if they were back in the Room of Requirement and this was simply spell practice for the DA. "That's right, Harry … come on think of something happy …"**

"Thanks Luna." Harry smiled.

"**Something happy?" he said, his voice cracked.**

"**We're all still here," she whispered, "we're still fighting. Come on, now …" **

**There was a silver spark, then a wavering light, and then, with the greatest effort it had ever cost him the stag burst from the end of Harry's wand. It cantered forward, and now the Dementors scattered in earnest, **

"Of course they would." James said, though the cheerfulness in his voice was clearly forced, "your Patronus might have gutted them if they didn't."

**and immediately the night was mild again, but the sounds of the surrounding battle were loud in his ears. **

"**Can't thank you enough," said Ron shakily, turning to Luna, Ernie, and Seamus "you just saved –"**

**With a roar and an earth-quaking tremor, another giant came lurching out of the darkness from the direction of the forest, brandishing a club taller than any of them. **

"Oh good Merlin, run." Lily groaned.

"**RUN!" Harry shouted again, but the others needed no telling; they all scattered, and not a second too soon, for the next moment the giant's vast foot had fallen exactly where they had been standing.**

Mrs Weasley, Lily, Dorea and the other mothers in the hall gasped in horror. That had been a little too close for their liking.

**Harry looked round: Ron and Hermione were following him, but the other three had vanished back into the battle. **

"**Let's get out of range!" yelled Ron as the giant swung its club again and its bellows echoed through the night, across the grounds where bursts of red and green light continued to illuminate the darkness. **

"**The Whomping willow," said Harry, "go!"**

"You are nuts." Charlie said, "running away from a giant with a club is a good idea, but I'm not sure of the sanity of heading directly towards a tree that has club-like branches."

"We did have a very good reason to run in that direction." Harry grinned.

"The tunnel under it." Fred whispered.

"You know how to get in." George exclaimed.

"I can't believe all three of you are going." Remus sighed.

"What's wrong?" Mrs Weasley asked, panicking. "Where are they going?"

"The tunnel under the Whomping willow leads to the Shrieking Shack." Remus grimaced, "where Voldemort is."

Mrs Weasley's fear was ramped even higher at that statement. She was terrified that her son and honorary children were going to be killed by that madman. In her terror, she had completely forgotten that all three had had their souls sent back in time, therefore they couldn't have been killed at seventeen.

**Somehow he walled it all up in his mind, crammed it into a small space into which he could not look now: thoughts of Fred and Hagrid, and his terror for all the people he loved, scattered in and outside the castle, must all wait, because they had to run, had to reach the snake and Voldemort, because that was, as Hermione said, the only way to end it –**

**He sprinted, half-believing he could outdistance death itself, ignoring the jets of light flying in the darkness all around him, and the sound of the lake crashing like the sea, and the creaking of the Forbidden Forest though the night was windless; through grounds that seemed themselves to have risen in rebellion, he ran faster than he had ever moved in his life, **

"We had difficulty keeping up." Ron snorted.

"I thought I'd left my lungs behind." Hermione nodded.

**and it was he who saw the great tree first, the Willow that protected the secret at its roots with whip-like, slashing branches. **

**Panting and gasping, Harry slowed down, skirting the willow's swiping branches, peering through the darkness toward its tick trunk, trying to see the single knot in the bark of the old tree that would paralyse it. Ron and Hermione caught up, Hermione so out of breath that she could not speak. **

"I'm not surprised." Tonks grinned.

"**How – how're we going to get in?" panted Ron. "I can – see the place – if we just had – Crookshanks again –"**

"**Crookshanks?" wheezed Hermione, **

"Wow, you must have been out of breath if you were wheezing." Tonks giggled.

"At least she did manage to speak, eventually." Remus smirked.

**bent double, clutching her chest. "_Are you a wizard, or what?_"**

"I'm sure I've heard that before." Harry said, pretending to think, "oh yes, Ron said it in first year."

"That was _very_ different." Hermione retorted, "back then we were first years, with less than a year's worth of training, while at the battle, we'd had six years of it, plus everything we had done that year, and all the extra training we'd been given."

"**Oh – right – yeah –"**

**Ron looked around, then directed his wand at a twig on the ground and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" **

"Ker-thunk." Ron grinned.

"I think it was more like, clunk-thud." Harry sniggered.

"Pardon?" Charlus asked, looking between Harry and Ron, wearing a very confused expression.

"Just the sound of a club hitting a troll's head, then the troll falling to the floor, unconscious." Hermione giggled.

"What the hell were you doing to meet a troll?" Dorea shrieked.

"Saving Hermione's life." Harry replied, "Quirrell had let it into the castle, and it wandered into the bathroom Hermione had been crying in. She would have died if someone hadn't been there to save her."

"Merlin." Charlus muttered, slightly shocked.

**The twig flew up from the ground, spun through the air as if caught by a gust of wind, then zoomed directly at the trunk through the Willow's ominously swaying branches. It jabbed at a place near the roots, and at once, the writhing tree became still.**

"**Perfect!" panted Hermione. **

"**Wait."**

**For one teetering second, while the crashes and booms of the battle filled the air, Harry hesitated. Voldemort wanted him to do this, wanted him to come … was he leading Ron and Hermione into a trap?**

"You weren't leading us anywhere." Hermione said, "we would have gone even if you told us not to."

"If it was a trap, we would have walked into it willingly with you." Ron nodded resolutely.

**But the reality seemed to close upon him, cruel and plain: the only way forward was to kill the snake, and the snake was where Voldemort was, and Voldemort was at the end of this tunnel …**

"Yeah, that sucks." Tonks nodded, "but sometimes people have to do sucky things."

"Didn't I teach you proper English?" Andromeda asked, raising an eyebrow at her blue-haired daughter, who shrugged, turning her hair purple.

"**Harry, we're coming, just get in there!" said Ron, pushing him forward. **

**Harry wriggled into the earthy passage hidden in the tree's roots. It was a much tighter squeeze than it had been the last time they had entered it.**

"Dur, you were only third years the first time." Ginny snorted, "you hadn't been there for four years."

**The tunnel was low-ceilinged: they had had to double up to move through it nearly four years previously; now there was nothing for it but to crawl. **

"That was unpleasant." Ron murmured.

"Especially the low-hanging rocks that we couldn't see." Hermione nodded, "and the tangled roots that seemed to be trying to grab my hair."

"That's the one good thing about having such messy short hair." Harry smirked, "I didn't get grabbed by those roots."

"And you probably didn't notice the rocks either." Ron sniggered, "just like you didn't notice the the thunk as your head impacted mine when you flew out of the fireplace on your return to Potter Manor the week after the battle."

"That was quite amusing." Lucius grinned.

"I still don't understand how you can be so graceful in the air, but so clumsy when travelling by floo." Snape sighed.

"No Potter ever manages to figure out how to floo properly as a teenager." Dorea giggled, "I don't know why, but Charlus here had several rather spectacularly disastrous floo journeys before he figured it out, when he was twenty-two."

"How very peculiar." Flitwick muttered.

**Harry went first, his wand illuminated, expecting at any moment to meet barriers, but none came. They moved in silence, Harry's gaze fixed upon the swinging beam of the wand held in his fist.**

**At last, the tunnel began to slope upwards and Harry saw a sliver of light ahead. Hermione tugged at his ankle.**

"**The Cloak!" she whispered. "Put the Cloak on!"**

"Why didn't you already have it on?" Regulus asked incredulously.

"It hindered movement, especially when I had to crawl." Harry shrugged.

"That's unfortunate." Remus sighed, "but understandable."

**He groped behind him and she forced the bundle of slippery cloth into his free hand. With difficulty he dragged it over himself, murmured, "_Nox,_" extinguishing his wandlight, and continued on his hands and knees, as silently as possible, all his senses straining, expecting every second to be discovered, to hear a cold clear voice, see a flash of green light. **

"Pessimist." James groaned, while the students and a few of the teachers, shuddered at the images that paragraph provoked.

**And then he heard voices coming from the room directly ahead of them, only slightly muffled by the fact that the opening at the end of the tunnel had been blocked up by what looked like an old crate. Hardly daring to breathe, Harry edged right up to the opening and peered through a tiny gap left between crate and wall. **

**The room beyond was dimly lit, but he could see Nagini, swirling and coiling like a serpent underwater, safe in her enchanted, starry sphere, which floated unsupported in mid-air. **

"Merlin, that sounds impossible to get passed." Orion grimaced, not having been told just how Nagini had been killed.

"It was, but that doesn't mean that we didn't find a way to kill her." Harry grinned, surreptitiously flicking his eyes towards Neville.

**He could see the edge of a table, and a long-fingered white hand toying with a wand. Then Snape spoke, and Harry's heart lurched: Snape was inches away from where he crouched, hidden. **

Snape sucked in a breath, knowing that Harry's presence was what had probably saved him from dying. He suspected that if Harry hadn't been there, he would have died, and his children wouldn't then exist, but having met his son two days previously, he knew he had survived that encounter.

"At least we'll now know what Voldemort's reason for summoning him was." Susan said, trying to look on the bright side.

"… **my Lord, their resistance is crumbling –"**

"– **and it is doing so without your help," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice. "Skilled wizard though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make much difference now. We are almost there … almost."**

"I don't believe it." James said, "he really is arrogant to think that."

"Indeed." Snape nodded, "I doubt that my joining the battle would make much of a difference, but the fact that he's keeping me from talking to Harry, and giving him whatever message I'm supposed to, does mean that there is a chance that the war will drag on longer."

"Do you know what that message is?" Remus asked.

"No, but since I was apparently desperate to talk to Harry in the last of the chapters we read yesterday, it's evidently urgent." Snape sighed.

"**Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please."**

"You're obviously still desperate to talk to Harry." Lily said softly, "it does seem like the message, whatever is it, is vital to the war effort."

"Evidently so." Snape murmured.

**Snape strode past the gap, and Harry drew back a little, keeping his eyes fixed upon Nagini, wondering whether there was any spell that might penetrate the protection surrounding her, but he could not think of anything. One failed attempt, and he would give away his position …**

**Voldemort stood up. Harry could see him now, see the red eyes, the flattened, serpentine face, the pallor of him gleaming slightly in the semi-darkness.**

"**I have a problem, Severus," said Voldemort softly.**

"Merlin." Remus whispered, looking between the book, Harry and Snape, without really focussing on anything. "I hope I'm wrong, but he thinks you are the true master of the Elder Wand."

"I did apparently kill Albus, and as far as Voldemort knows, that is the only way to become the master of that wand." Snape sighed.

"But that means that he'll want to kill you." Lily whispered.

"I know." Snape grimaced.

"**My Lord?" said Snape.**

**Voldemort raised the Elder Wand, holding it as delicately and precisely as a conductor's baton. **

"**Why doesn't it work for me, Severus?"**

"Because he hasn't won its allegiance." Albus said.

**In the silence Harry imagined he could hear the snake hissing slightly as it coiled and uncoiled, or was it Voldemort's sibilant sigh lingering on the air? **

"**My – my lord?" said Snape blankly. "I do not understand. You-you have performed extraordinary magic with that wand."**

"**No," said Voldemort. "I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary, **

"He's so full of himself." Hermione snorted.

"He always has been." Abraxas shrugged.

**but this wand … no. It has not revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no difference between this wand and the one I procured from Ollivander all those years ago."**

**Voldemort's tone was musing, calm, but Harry's scar had begun to throb and pulse: pain was building in his forehead, and he could feel that controlled sense of fury building inside Voldemort. **

"Merlin, he really needs to take anger management lessons." Dean mumbled.

"**No difference," said Voldemort again.**

**Snape did not speak. Harry could not see his face: he wondered whether Snape sensed danger, was trying to find the right words to reassure his master.**

"I doubt it." Snape snorted, "I probably figured out that he was going to attempt to kill me, and undoubtedly I tried to figure out how to get away before he could."

**Voldemort started to move around the room: Harry lost sight of him for seconds as he prowled, speaking in that same measured voice, while the pain and fury mounted in Harry. **

"**I have thought long and hard, Severus … do you know why I have called you back from battle?"**

"No, but I'm sure the delusional wanker is going to enlighten us." Snape sneered.

**And for a moment Harry saw Snape's profile. His eyes were fixed upon the coiling snake in its enchanted cage. **

"**No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return. Let me find Potter."**

"Evidently, the information you have is so vital to the war effort that you're risking death by being stubborn." Narcissa commented.

"Yes, though what the information is, I really don't know." Snape nodded.

"**You sound like Lucius. Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I knew his weakness you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He will come."**

"Unfortunately true." James grimaced.

"I would do the same." Charlus sighed, "I don't think I'd be happy either if I knew that people were dying, and I had the knowledge of how to stop it."

"**But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by someone other than yourself –"**

"I think he would have given the Death Eaters strict instructions, with the threat of death should they not be followed." Minerva said, "I can't imagine him not wanting to strike the final blow himself, because that might cause him to lose face with his followers."

"**My instructions to the Death Eaters have been perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends – the more, the better – but do not kill him.**

"**But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not Harry Potter. You have been very valuable to me. Very valuable."**

"**My Lord knows I seek only to serve him. But-let me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to you. I know I can –"**

"**I have told you, no!" said Voldemort, and Harry caught the glint of red in his eyes as he turned again, and the swishing of his cloak was like the slithering of a snake, and he felt Voldemort's impatience in his burning scar. "My concern at the moment, Severus, is what will happen when I finally meet the boy!"**

"Easy, the snake-faced bastard will die." Bellatrix smirked, "preferably with a whimper, rather than a bang."

"He doesn't know that, but he's worried that it might happen, and he's scared." Hermione giggled.

"**My Lord, there can be no question, surely –?"**

"– **but there is a question, Severus. There is." Voldemort halted, and Harry could see him plainly again as he slid the Elder Wand through his white fingers, staring at Snape. "Why did both the wands I have used fail when directed at Harry Potter?"**

"Why bother asking me?" Snape wondered, "I have no knowledge of wandlore."

"Not even Ollivander knew the answer to that question, so I'm not surprised that someone who isn't a wandmaker doesn't know." Kingsley said, "but maybe Voldemort thought that you had studied wandlore, and would know."

"**I – I cannot answer that, my Lord."**

"**Can't you?"**

**The stab of rage felt like a spike driven through Harry's head: he forced his own fist into his mouth to stop himself from crying out in pain. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was Voldemort, looking into Snape's pale face. **

"Pale is probably right." Snape muttered, "I was undoubtedly utterly terrified."

"I think you were." Harry nodded, "and I'm not surprised."

"**My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. Twice it failed. Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, told me to take another's wand. I did so, but Lucius's wand shattered upon meeting Potter's."**

"Sorry about that." Harry mumbled in Lucius' ear.

"Don't worry about it." Lucius smiled, "I'm just glad that he wasn't able to use it against you."

"**I – I have no explanation, my Lord."**

**Snape was not looking at Voldemort now. His dark eyes were still fixed upon the coiling serpent in its protective sphere.**

"**I sought a third wand, Severus. the Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore."**

"That's part of why it wouldn't work properly for him." Albus said, "to win the allegiance of a wand, it has to be taken before the owner dies. The wand won't accept him if he takes it from my tomb, without disarming me or defeating me before I die."

"Then we'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get that chance." Harry grinned.

**And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape's face was like a death mask. it was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes.**

"Merlin. That's a scary image." Pansy whispered.

"I probably knew what was going to happen." Snape sighed, "I think it's the only thing that could happen."

"**My Lord – let me go to the boy –"**

"**All this long night when I am on the brink of victory, I have sat here," said Voldemort, his voice barely louder than a whisper, "wondering, wondering, why the Elder Wand refuses to be what it ought to be, refuses to perform as legend says it must perform for its rightful owner … and I think I have the answer." **

"He has _an_ answer, but he's way off." Hermione smirked, "he hasn't got all the information, so his answer is wrong."

"So if Professor Snape isn't the true master of the Elder Wand, who is?" Theo asked.

"You'll see." Harry grinned, "I can safely say that you will be surprised."

**Snape did not speak. **

"**Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen."**

"_No you don't, if you did you wouldn't be a mass-murdering maniac_." Harry mumbled in Parseltongue.

"**My Lord –"**

"**The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner.**

"Wrong." Ron grinned, "the Wand gives its allegiance to the one who defeats its last owner. There is nothing to say that the owner has to be dead for the wand to change allegiance."

"That's why Voldemort has got it wrong." Harry smirked, "Professor Dumbledore was defeated before being killed."

"Who defeated him?" Minerva asked incredulously.

"Again, you'll see." Harry sniggered, "I don't want to give it away, and it will be mentioned later on in the story."

**You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine."**

"**My Lord!" Snape protested, raising his wand. **

"It won't work." Lily whispered, crying at the thought of her old friend dying in such a way. "He's not likely to be too happy, and it will be even more painful."

"I don't think I would have cared." Snape sighed, "not then. I probably thought I'd failed, and that there wasn't much left to live for, so I may have wanted to go out fighting, rather than just accepting it."

"**It cannot be any other way," said Voldemort. "I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last." **

"Not gonna happen." Luna singsonged dreamily. She had worked out who the actual master of the wand was, and knew that there was no way Voldemort was going to win.

**And Voldemort swiped the air with the Elder Wand. It did nothing to Snape, who for a split second seemed to think he had been reprieved: but then Voldemort's intention became clear. The snake's cage was rolling through the air, and before Snape could do anything more than yell, it had encased him, head and shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue. **

"**_Kill._"**

"That utter bastard." Neville snarled angrily. He may still be slightly nervous around the Potions Master, but not even Snape deserved that.

Neville wasn't the only one angry at what Voldemort had decided to do with the man who pretended to be one of his most faithful. The students who had intended to join up as soon as they could, were horrified that the so-called Dark Lord would arbitrarily decide to kill one of his followers merely because he wanted to be in control of a wand, even one as powerful as the Elder Wand. None of them could work out why they had been so eager to become Death Eaters if that was what he would do to someone who had been one for nearly twenty years. They knew that Snape had actually been a spy, but the simple fact that Voldemort believed him to be loyal was what made the formerly-eager students realise that being Death Eaters wasn't for them.

**There was a terrible scream. Harry saw Snape's face losing the little colour it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. **

"**I regret it," said Voldemort coldly. **

"No you don't." Regulus growled.

"It won't happen this time around." James said forcefully, surprising those who knew how much the two men had hated each other when they were students. "We'll find a way to stop it."

"Thanks." Snape nodded, finally seeing past his hatred of the man who had made his school life hell. He knew that he had only seen what he wanted to see, and he'd completely ignored the fact that James had evidently grown up in the years between graduation and being targeted by Voldemort, but it was only now that he realised that his grudge against the man was stupid and a waste of time.

**He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no remorse. It was time to leave this shack and take charge, with a wand that would now do his full bidding. **

"No, it won't." Hermione giggled.

**He pointed it at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted upward, off Snape, who fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck.**

"How on earth could someone survive an injury as bad as that?" Sprout asked, horrified.

"With a hell of a lot of luck." Harry replied darkly, "and the judicious use of clotting charms to stop the blood-loss."

"But that snake is highly venomous, and while you mentioned that she gave you a dry bite, she would definitely not refrain from injecting a lot of venom then." Narcissa said.

"True, and while a bezoar is not exactly completely effective at neutralising her venom, it does slow it down, giving someone time to get hold of an anti-venom." Harry nodded, "he was still seriously injured after most of the venom was neutralised, but he wasn't in critical condition, and would live."

"He was taken to St Mungo's the day after the battle." Hermione added, "and though the healers did their best, once all the venom had been removed, and the wounds sealed, there was severe nerve damage, to most of his limbs. The only way they could heal that, was to put him into a coma, and de-age him, by twenty years."

"How long did that take?" Snape asked curiously.

"It was a very slow process, and when they started, they didn't know how many years to take off, so it ended up taking eight months." Harry replied.

"Merlin." Pomfrey murmured.

**Voldemort swept from the room without a backward glance, and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere.**

**Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened his eyes: he had drawn blood biting down on his knuckles in an effort not to shout out. Now he was looking through the tiny crack between crate and wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the floor. **

"**Harry!" breathed Hermione behind him, but he had already pointed his wand at the crate blocking his view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways silently. As quietly as he could, he pulled himself up into the room. **

"At least now you two can talk, without anyone interfering." Susan said, trying to look on the bright side.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

**He did not know why he was doing it, why he was approaching the dying man: he did not know what he felt as he saw Snape's white face, and the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound at his neck. Harry took off the invisibility cloak and looked down upon the man he hated, whose widening black eyes found Harry as he tried to speak. Harry bent over him, and Snape seized the front of his robes and pulled him close. **

"Why do that?" Hannah wondered.

"Presumably so I could make myself heard." Snape sighed, "with an injury as bad as that sounds, I doubt I could have spoken very loudly, if at all."

"That really does sound bad." Susan whispered.

**A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Snape's throat. **

"**Take … it … Take … it …"**

"Take what?" Charlie asked, "I'm confused."

**Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed form his mouth and his ears and his eyes, and Harry knew what it was, but did not know what to do –**

"A memory." Charlus murmured.

"More than one." Harry nodded, "everything he wanted me to know to finish the war, plus a few that gave me more insight into the reasons behind his decisions."

"Merlin, that's very personal." Dorea whispered.

"That may be, but none of us knew whether he would actually survive." Harry sighed, "and I think he knew that the world would need to know about it all. I had to use those memories as evidence for the defence during his trial. They were the next best thing to having him there testifying, and they helped the court acquit him."

"Well, it sounds as though those memories are rather persuasive." Scrimgeour said.

**A flask, conjured from thin air, was thrust into his shaking hand by Hermione. Harry lifted the silvery substance into it with his wand. When the flask was full to the brim, and Snape looked as though there was no blood left in him, his grip on Harry's robes slackened. **

"**Look … at … me …" he whispered.**

**The green eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.**

"That makes it sound like he did actually die." Pansy exclaimed.

"He was unconscious." Hermione smiled, "I don't know how it's possible for someone to lose consciousness, but still have their eyes open."

"That was the end of the chapter." Hooch said tiredly. Reading that had taken a lot out of her, but she was glad that she had managed to get through it without breaking down and crying. "Who wants to read next?"

"If the next chapter is what I think it is, then I think professor Snape should decide." Hermione interrupted before anyone could volunteer.

"What is the chapter called?" Snape asked.

"The Prince's Tale." Hooch read.

"If this chapter reveals everything, then I'd like my mother to read." Snape sighed, trying to smile at Eileen, who gently floated the book over to herself, knowing that her son was putting a lot of trust in her.


	41. Chapter 41

**The Prince's Tale**

"**The Prince's Tale**," Eileen read again, just to make sure everyone was aware that that really was the title of the chapter and not something Hooch had made up.

"I'm slightly confused." Susan said, "who's the Prince, and what does he have to do with professor Snape?"

"If the title means the so-called Half-Blood Prince, then it's referring to me." Snape sighed, "Half-Blood Prince was a nickname I made for myself when I was a student."

"But why?" Padma asked.

"Because I'm a half-blood, and my mother's maiden name was Prince." Snape replied, trying not to grimace as one of his secrets was revealed.

"And yes, for those of you who are aware of the oldest family names, my son is the heir to the Prince fortune." Eileen added, glancing at the purebloods who belonged to families that liked to keep abreast of the news regarding wealthy and politically powerful families.

"Wow." Pansy whispered, her respect for the head of Slytherin increasing.

"No offence, but I would have thought that Lord Prince would have disowned you for marrying a muggle." Theo frowned.

"None taken." Eileen smiled, "and the reason my father did not disown me, was simply because he arranged my marriage."

"I didn't think anyone would arrange for their daughter to marry a muggle." Blaise muttered.

"My family are rather odd." Eileen snorted, "while they do like to arrange marriages, they don't just look at magical people. The only thing they look for in a prospective spouse, is political or financial power. That's why I was forced to marry Tobias Snape, who, despite being an uncouth lout, was the son of a member of the Muggle parliament, which made my father eager for the marriage."

"I understand." Blaise nodded.

**Harry remained kneeling at Snape's side, simply staring down at him, until quite suddenly a high, cold voice spoke so close to them that Harry jumped on his feet, the flask gripped tightly in his hands, thinking that Voldemort had re-entered the room.**

"That would have been beyond scary." Hermione shuddered.

**Voldemort's voice reverberated from the walls and floor, and Harry realized that he was talking to Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area, that the residents of Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in the castle would hear him as clearly as if he stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a deathblow away.**

"**You have fought," said the high, cold voice, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.**

"Yeah right." Susan snorted, "the idiot wouldn't know bravery if it hit him in the face."

"That's because he's a coward." Justin grinned.

"Who apparently likes to speak of himself in the third person." Hannah giggled.

"**Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.**

"Well there's a simple answer to that problem." Padma said, "stop killing random people."

"He isn't the one who kills random people." Lucius sighed, "every single person he kills, is someone he has deemed worthy of his attention. The Death Eaters are the ones who do the random killings. He has never killed without a reason."

"**Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.**

"**You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.**

"Why is he doing that?" Hannah wondered, "it seems like a strange thing to do."

"He's wary." Bellatrix grinned, "he can't decide what to do next, so needs time to come up with a new plan."

"**I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. **

"This coming from the coward who was hiding in the shack." Remus snapped.

**I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."**

"Don't go to him." Lily begged.

Harry and Lucius glanced at each other worriedly. They both knew that Harry did go and give himself up, and they were worried about the reactions of Harry's family and their friends.

Bellatrix was the only one who noticed the concern Harry and Lucius showed, and she too, became worried, remembering how Harry had looked so pale and dead that night, both before and after the Killing Curse hit him. What she couldn't understand was how he had survived, and wanted to know how her baby sister had managed to keep the fact of his survival from Voldemort.

**Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads frantically, looking at Harry.**

"**Don't listen to him," said Ron.**

"**It'll be all right," said Hermione wildly. "Let's – let's get back to the castle, if he's gone to the forest we'll need to think of a new plan –"**

"Good, listen to them." Ginny said, not wanting to hear about one of her best friends dying. She hoped he truly would listen to Ron and Hermione, and not give himself up, but she knew that it was a false hope, having got to know the boy behind the Boy-Who-Lived title. She liked to think that she knew how Harry's mind worked, and unfortunately, that meant that she knew that he would give himself up. That was the kind of person he was. It didn't mean that she couldn't hope that he wouldn't though.

**She glanced at Snape's body, then hurried back to the tunnel entrance. Ron followed her. Harry gathered up the Invisibility Cloak, then looked down at Snape. He did not know what to feel, except shock at the way Snape had been killed, and the reason for which it had been done …**

"How did you find out that I was alive?" Snape asked curiously, not really wanting to think about his death.

"We only found out when Hagrid found you crawling out of the tunnel at the end of the battle, and despite the fact that he still believed you to be a Death Eater, he carried you up to the castle." Hermione smiled, "he took you to the hospital wing, where most of the injured had been moved to during the break."

"While I do despise the place, that was probably the best thing to do." Snape grimaced.

**They crawled back through the tunnel, none of them talking, and Harry wondered whether Ron and Hermione could still hear Voldemort ringing in their heads as he could.**

"We could." Ron confirmed, "we couldn't get the words out of our heads, and they were going round and round."

"We were also worried that you would listen to him." Hermione added with a sigh.

_**You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest … One hour…**_

**Small bundles seemed to litter the lawn at the front of the castle. It could only be an hour or so from dawn, yet it was pitch-black. The three of them hurried toward the stone steps. A lone clog, the size of a small boat, lay abandoned in front of them. There was no other sign of Grawp or of his attacker.**

"Was Grawp all righ'?" Hagrid asked nervously.

"Yeah." Harry smiled, "he was fine, the other giant was dead."

**The castle was unnaturally silent. There were no flashes of light now, no bangs or screams or shouts. The flagstones of the deserted entrance hall were stained with blood. Emeralds were still scattered all over the floor, along with pieces of marble and splintered wood. Part of the banisters had been blown away.**

"**Where is everyone?" whispered Hermione.**

"Probably the great hall." Lily said quietly.

**Ron led the way to the Great Hall. Harry stopped in the doorway.**

**The House tables were gone and the room was crowded. The survivors stood in groups, their arms around each other's necks. The injured were being treated upon the raised platform by Madam Pomfrey and a group of helpers. Firenze was amongst the injured; his flank poured blood and he shook where he lay, unable to stand.**

**The dead lay in a row in the middle of the Hall. **

As that sentence was read, the tension in the hall rose. No one who was old enough to fight, wanted to hear that they were dead, but there seemed to be no way to avoid it. Those who had had their souls sent back, bowed their heads in remembrance of the many who died, while the staff braced themselves.

**Harry could not see Fred's body, because his family surrounded him. George was kneeling at his head; Mrs Weasley was lying across Fred's chest, her body shaking. Mr Weasley stroking her hair while tears cascaded down his cheeks.**

**Without a word to Harry, Ron and Hermione walked away. Harry saw Hermione approach Ginny, whose face was swollen and blotchy, and hug her. Ron joined Bill, Fleur, and Percy, who flung an arm around Ron's shoulders. As Ginny and Hermione moved closer to the rest of the family, Harry had a clear view of the bodies lying next to Fred. Re- **

"NO!" James yelled, "I don't believe it." His face was a mask of grief, and the only thing he could do was break down and cry. He couldn't believe that one of his best friends could be killed like that.

**Remus and Tonks,**

Andromeda and Ted broke down, as did many of Tonks' friends. None of them could believe that the bubbly metamorph had been killed. Andromeda was heartbroken at the thought of losing her daughter and son-in-law, so soon after hearing about the death of her husband, and if she hadn't had the knowledge that none of that would happen, she might have lost the will to live herself.

"How –?" Remus stuttered, gazing at Lucius with pain-filled eyes. "You said, in the first chapter, that we had a daughter. How could we have her if we were killed when Teddy was two weeks old?"

"You weren't dead." Harry sighed, "we didn't know until two days after the battle, but those were just debris from some of the statues, transfigured to look like you. From what you told us, you nearly bled to death, after Avery caught you with a cutting curse that just missed your jugular, and Tonks almost had her intestines pulled out through her nose. Apparently, you transfigured the debris, temporarily sealed your wound, tried to reverse the curse on Tonks, then got the both of you to safety."

"That gave you time to find a healer who could completely seal your injury, and undo the damage the curse had done to Tonks." Hermione added.

"That's fortunate." Tonks whispered.

Everyone who liked them, was happy that they had survived, even if they were badly injured, and some were glad that Teddy didn't have to grow up without his parents. The staff, Minerva in particular, had never admitted as much, but they had all had a soft spot for the marauders, and for them, for the world to lose the fun and humour that the marauders brought, would be a travesty and a waste.

**pale and still and peaceful-looking, apparently asleep beneath the dark, enchanted ceiling.**

**The Great Hall seemed to fly away, become smaller, shrink, as Harry reeled backward from the doorway. He could not draw breath. He could not bear to look at any of the other bodies, to see who else had died for him. **

"Don't blame yourself." Flitwick said, "all of these people died for what they believed in, and I can't think of a better way to go."

**He could not bear to join the Weasleys, could not look into their eyes, when if he had given himself up in the first place, Fred might never have died …**

"Don't ever think that." Fred snapped, "I like to think I know what risks I would be taking by fighting. Besides, I might have died some other way if you had turned yourself in. I would never willingly follow Voldemort, and he would have to kill me to stop me from fighting against him."

**He turned away and ran up the marble staircase. Lupin, Tonks … he yearned not to feel … he wished he could rip out his heart, his innards, everything that was screaming inside him …**

**The castle was completely empty; even the ghosts seemed to have joined the mass mourning in the Great Hall. Harry ran without stopping, clutching the crystal flask of Snape's last thoughts, and he did not slow down until he reached the stone gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office.**

"**Password?"**

"**Dumbledore!" said Harry without thinking, because it was he whom he yearned to see, and to his surprise the gargoyle slid aside revealing the spiral staircase behind.**

"Curious." Bill muttered, "was that the password, or would the gargoyle have opened to anything?"

"It was the real password." Harry grinned, "after all, who would expect a Death Eater, even a spy, to use the name of the one person Voldemort feared above all others?"

"It _was_ the perfect password." Hermione agreed, "set that morning, just after Voldemort alerted professor Snape to the fact that we might head to Hogwarts."

"Wow." Charlie whistled.

**But when Harry burst into the circular office he found a change. The portraits that hung all around the walls were empty. Not a single headmaster or headmistress remained to see him; all, it seemed, had flitted away, charging through the paintings that lined the castle so that they could have a clear view of what was going on.**

**Harry glanced hopelessly at Dumbledore's deserted frame, which hung directly behind the headmaster's chair, then turned his back on it. The stone Pensieve lay in the cabinet where it had always been. Harry heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape's memories into the wide basin with its runic markings around the edge. To escape into someone else's head would be a blessed relief …**

"I'm not sure that it would be much of a relief." Snape mumbled, "I don't know what those memories hold, but it's probably going to be painful."

**nothing that even Snape had left him could be worse than his own thoughts. The memories swirled, silver white and strange, and without hesitating, with a feeling of reckless abandonment, as though this would assuage his torturing grief, Harry dived.**

There was almost complete silence in the hall. The only sounds were the students breathing and Eileen's voice as she read. Everyone wanted to know what the memories were, but were slightly scared of what they would find out.

**He fell headlong into sunlight, and his feet found warm ground. When he straightened up, he saw that he was in a nearly deserted playground. A single huge chimney dominated the distant skyline. Two girls were swinging backward and forward, and a skinny boy was watching them from behind a clump of bushes. His black hair was overlong and his clothes were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too-short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man, an odd smock-like shirt.**

"This was the day we first met." Lily whispered.

"Professor, if you were the grandson of a member of the muggle Parliament, why weren't you able to buy clothes for yourself?" Susan asked carefully, not wanting to hurt Snape's feelings, or those of his mother.

"My father drank most of our money." Snape sighed, "he was the one who dealt with the family finances, and felt that money spent on anything other than alcohol, was a waste."

"Indeed." Eileen nodded with a grimace, "the dowry that my father organised, was added to account that Tobias had set up, and he drank his way through that too. We didn't dare tell him that the Princes were one of the richer families in the wizarding world, especially not after he reacted badly to the revelation that magic existed. I think he would have tried to find some way to take the money from us, in order to buy himself even more drink. We didn't even dare use the Prince money for ourselves, because if we had, he would have asked where we'd got it from, and we didn't want to risk it."

**Harry moved closer to the boy. Snape looked no more than nine or ten years old, sallow, small, stringy. There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister.**

"**Lily, don't do it!" shrieked the elder of the two.**

"Who's that?" Parvati asked.

"Petunia." Lily replied, "my sister, before she became a bitch."

**But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly.**

"I didn't know it was possible to fly like that." Andromeda whispered.

"Voldemort can do something similar, but his method is truly Dark magic." Regulus frowned, "I don't know whether it would be possible to fly like that, without using Dark Magic."

"**Mummy told you not to!"**

**Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips.**

"**Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"**

"Does that mean that your mother knew that you were magical?" Hannah asked.

"She must have known." Lily replied, "she was a witch, though she hid her magic, partly because she went to live in the muggle world, and partly because she didn't want to attract attention from people in the magical world, who would undoubtedly want to kill her for marrying a muggle."

"Interesting." Pansy muttered.

"**But I'm fine," said Lily, still giggling. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do."**

**Petunia glanced around. The playground was deserted apart from themselves and, though the girls did not know it, Snape. Lily had picked up a fallen flower from the bush behind which Snape lurked. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm. The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster.**

"Wow, you really did have a lot of control." Lavender whispered.

"Lily was one of my favourite students." Flitwick smiled, "it was an absolute joy to teach her."

"**Stop it!" shrieked Petunia.**

"**It's not hurting you," said Lily, but she closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground.**

"**It's not right," said Petunia, but her eyes had followed the flower's flight to the ground and lingered upon it. "How do you do it?" she added, and there was definite longing in her voice.**

"So, she really was jealous." Padma muttered.

"Yeah. She wanted to attend Hogwarts too." Lily sighed, "I don't know why, but after she was told that she couldn't, she became extremely bitter, and we started drifting apart."

"**It's obvious, isn't it?" Snape could no longer contain himself, but had jumped out from behind the bushes. Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the swings, **

"Small boys jumping out from behind bushes would be enough to shock anyone." Susan grinned.

"I'd react the same way as she did if a small boy jumped out at me like that." Hannah nodded.

**but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Snape seemed to regret his appearance. A dull flush of colour mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily.**

Some of the girls gasped, wondering whether they were right in thinking that Snape had had a crush on Lily.

"**What's obvious?" asked Lily.**

**Snape had an air of nervous excitement. With a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the swings, he lowered his voice and said, "I know what you are."**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**You're … you're a witch," whispered Snape.**

**She looked affronted.**

"Did you expect anything else?" Lily laughed.

"Well." Severus grimaced, "I certainly didn't expect you to look at me as if I had just insulted you."

"Why would she?" Cho asked, "what's wrong with being a witch?"

"In most muggle children's stories, the witch is generally portrayed as the villain, with warts all over her face, green skin, a black cat, and a horrible cackling laugh." Hermione replied, "they're also depicted as if they roast and eat children."

"So how are wizards portrayed?" Ernie asked, covering up his slight nervousness with pomposity.

"They're the good guys." Harry grinned, "I think the original idea for the way witches and wizards are written, came from the legends of Merlin and Morgan Le Fay, both of whom, are well known. And since Merlin was a great man, and history made Le Fay out to be a vicious little bitch, then the muggles think that wizards are good, witches are bad."

"Oh." Ernie nodded.

"**_That's_ not a very nice thing to say to somebody!"**

**She turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward her sister.**

"**No!" said Snape. He was highly coloured now, and Harry wondered why he did not take off the ridiculously large coat, unless it was because he did not want to reveal the smock beneath it. He flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously bat-like, like his older self.**

"An unfortunately apt description." Lily grimaced.

"He does make a very cute bat." Lucius smirked.

**The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding on to one of the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag.**

"**You _are_," said Snape to Lily. "You _are_ a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."**

"It must have been hard to not have any friends." Luna whispered.

**Petunia's laugh was like cold water.**

"**Wizard!" she shrieked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation. **

"What a snob she is." Dean commented.

"**Why have you been spying on us?"**

"**Haven't been spying," said Snape, hot and uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. "Wouldn't spy on you, anyway," he added spitefully,**

"I don't think anyone would want to." Lily said with a slight smile, "she's not as important as she likes to think she is."

"**you're a Muggle."**

**Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone.**

"**Lily, come on, we're leaving!" she said shrilly. **

"Merlin." Colin mumbled, "she's so bossy."

**Lily obeyed her sister at once, glaring at Snape as she left. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate, and Harry, the only one left to observe him, recognized Snape's bitter disappointment, and understood that Snape had been planning this moment for a while, and that it had all gone wrong …**

"It can be hard, making friends when you don't really know how." Luna said softly.

**The scene dissolved, and before Harry knew it, re-formed around him. He was now in a small thicket of trees. He could see a sunlit river glittering through their trunks. The shadows cast by the trees made a basin of cool green shade. Two children sat facing each other, cross-legged on the ground. Snape had removed his coat now; his odd smock looked less peculiar in the half light.**

"… **and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters."**

"**But I have done magic outside school!"**

"Accidental magic isn't something that we punish children for." Scrimgeour said, "it can't be controlled, which is why it's called accidental magic."

"**We're all right. We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven," he nodded importantly, "and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."**

**There was a little silence. Lily had picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air, and Harry knew that she was imagining sparks trailing from it. **

"I think that's what all little girls imagine when they are not quite old enough to go to Hogwarts." Lavender said, "I know I did."

**Then she dropped the twig, leaned in toward the boy, and said, "It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"**

"**It's real for us," said Snape. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."**

"That must be why she became so jealous." Cygnus sighed, "I cannot imagine what it would have been like for her to watch her sister go somewhere she couldn't, leaving her behind."

"**Really?" whispered Lily.**

"**Definitely," said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.**

"**And will it really come by owl?" Lily whispered.**

"**Normally," said Snape. "But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."**

"I still don't understand why my letter came by owl." Harry sighed, "after all, I had no clue that magic existed."

"We had assumed that Petunia would tell you." Albus said, looking older than ever.

"Like that would ever happen." Lily laughed derisively, "even if she hadn't been forced to lie by Dursley, I don't think she would have told the truth."

"**Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?"**

"It shouldn't." Caruso said, "muggle-borns are just as capable as purebloods, and in some cases, they're even better."

**Snape hesitated. His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom, moved over the pale face, the dark red hair.**

"**No," he said. "It doesn't make any difference."**

"You lied." Ginny muttered.

"Not quite." Snape sighed, "It didn't make a difference to me, I just didn't know how anyone else would react, and I didn't want to scare her even more than she already was."

"**Good," said Lily, relaxing. It was clear that she had been worrying.**

"**You've got loads of magic," said Snape. "I saw that. All the time I was watching you …"**

**His voice trailed away; she was not listening, but had stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking up at the canopy of leaves overhead. He watched her as greedily as he had watched her in the playground.**

"**How are things at your house?" Lily asked.**

**A little crease appeared between his eyes.**

"Evidently not good." Orion grimaced.

"Unfortunately." Eileen sighed, "I wish there was something I could have done, but I couldn't divorce Tobias and get sole custody, not while Severus was a minor. That's why I couldn't leave before he turned seventeen, and was able to move out."

"**Fine," he said.**

"**They're not arguing any more?"**

"**Oh yes, they're arguing," said Snape. **

"I don't think we ever really saw eye to eye, not even before Tobias found out about magic." Eileen said softly, interrupting herself.

**He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, apparently unaware of what he was doing. "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."**

Hardly anyone had truly believed that Snape came from an abusive home, not even when Harry and Lily had a go at James during the first day of the reading. Now though, having heard how happy he was to be getting out of the house and going to Hogwarts, they knew that he was one of the unlucky few, who didn't have a happy home.

"**Doesn't your dad like magic?"**

"**He doesn't like anything, much," said Snape.**

"**Severus?"**

**A little smile twisted Snape's mouth when she said his name.**

"Too damn observant." Snape mumbled, mock-glaring at Harry, who smiled gently at him.

"**Yeah?"**

"**Tell me about the Dementors again."**

"What on Earth prompted you to ask that?" Bellatrix asked incredulously.

"I was curious." Lily admitted, "and they were terrifyingly interesting."

"I thought they were just plain terrifying." Bellatrix shuddered.

"**What d'you want to know about them for?"**

"**If I use magic outside school –"**

"**They wouldn't give you to the Dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too –"**

"Unlikely to ever do something worthy of Azkaban." James grinned.

"Oh I don't know." Lily mused, "I could quite happily murder Vernon for the hell he put Petunia through, and some of the Death Eaters will be blubbering for their mothers by the time I'm through with them."

**He turned red again and shredded more leaves. **

**Then a small rustling noise behind Harry made him turn: Petunia, hiding behind a tree, had lost her footing.**

"So the one who accused you of spying, decided to stick her abnormally long nose where it didn't belong." Bill snorted, "how hypocritical of her."

"**Tuney!" said Lily, surprise and welcome in her voice, but Snape had jumped to his feet.**

"**Who's spying now?" he shouted. "What d'you want?"**

**Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. Harry could see her struggling for something hurtful to say.**

"**What is that you're wearing, anyway?" she said, pointing at Snape's chest. "Your mum's blouse?"**

"What a bitch." Lavender exclaimed.

"You don't make fun of someone just because they can't afford nice clothes." Parvati added.

"Just because people shouldn't, doesn't mean they don't." Luna sighed, "children can be cruel, especially to those who don't fit in."

**There was a _crack_: a branch over Petunia's head had fallen. Lily screamed: the branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst into tears.**

"**Tuney!"**

**But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on Snape.**

"**Did you make that happen?"**

"**No." He looked both defiant and scared.**

"You never could lie to me." Lily smiled.

"It was accidental magic." Snape shrugged, "what was I supposed to say? I didn't do it deliberately, my magic reacted to the insult. Plus I was absolutely terrified that you would stop being my friend if I had admitted it."

"I wouldn't have stopped being your friend, just because of that." Lily said, "it would have been nice if you'd told me the truth."

"**You did!" She was backing away from him. "You did! You hurt her!"**

"**No – no, I didn't!"**

**But the lie did not convince Lily. After one last burning look, she ran from the little thicket, off after her sister, and Snape looked miserable and confused …**

Some of the girls smiled sadly, feeling sorrow for the poor man who looked so downtrodden as he remembered those days.

**And the scene re-formed. Harry looked around. He was on platform nine and three quarters, and Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched,**

Eileen paused, glancing between Harry and the book. "You're descriptions really aren't flattering, at all." She finally said, mock-glaring at him.

**next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him.**

"Oh dear." Susan giggled, "and we thought the descriptions of the people sent to help move him from Privet Drive, were brutal."

**Snape was staring at a family of four a short distance away. The two girls stood a little apart from their parents. Lily seemed to be pleading with her sister. Harry moved closer to listen.**

"… **I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen –" She caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. "Maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"**

"**I don't – want – to – go!" said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a …"**

Lily shuddered slightly, and rested her head on James' shoulder. That was the day her friendship with her sister broke, purely because she was a witch, and Petunia wasn't.

**Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls, fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart.**

"– **you think I want to be a – a freak?"**

Some of the students, especially those who had muggle relatives, shuddered slightly, remembering when they got their Hogwarts letters, and the disappointment in the eyes of their relatives, when they found out that they couldn't go as well. They all knew that their siblings could have become as bitter as Petunia, and didn't like to think of how much it would hurt.

**Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away.**

"**I'm not a freak," said Lily. "That's a horrible thing to say."**

"**That's where you're going," said Petunia with relish. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy … weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."**

"It wasn't for the safety of non-magicals." Albus sighed, "it was for our safety. The witch trials of the sixteen hundreds prompted the magical world to go into hiding."

"But the muggle world has changed since then." Lily sighed, "there may be muggles who think the same as Petunia, but there are far more who understand and accept that their children or siblings or relatives, are magical."

"It's still too risky to reveal ourselves." Minerva said, "people will always fear and persecute those they don't understand. It's human nature, and we may think we are above such notions, but even in the magical world, we do it."

"What about those aliens Harry and that lot have been talking about?" Colin asked, "they didn't talk about the aliens being persecuted."

"No, but there were problems." Lucius sighed, "some of the people we worked with were extremely antagonistic towards our alien allies, purely because they weren't human."

"It wasn't helped by the fact that some of the aliens we met, treated humanity like children." Harry added, "some of the races we met, have been around for thousands of years, and have far more powerful technology, and they look down on us, because we don't have the technological know-how to create things like that. The Asgard and Tok'Ra are different, but even they didn't see us as equals until after we proved to them that we truly were the descendants of the Ancients."

**Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. **

**Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.**

"**You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."**

**Petunia turned scarlet.**

"**Beg? I didn't beg!"**

"Yes, she did." Lily whispered.

"**I saw his reply. It was very kind."**

"It truly is hard, saying no." Albus murmured, "I hate having to disappoint people."

"**You shouldn't have read –" whispered Petunia, "that was my private – how could you – ?"**

**Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where Snape stood nearby. Petunia gasped.**

"**That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"**

"Like I would ever want to sneak around a teenage girl's room." Snape muttered disgustedly, "especially at eleven."

"**No – not sneaking –" Now Lily was on the defensive. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of –"**

"**Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. "Freak!" she spat at her sister, and she flounced off to where her parents stood …**

"It is hard when your own family hates you." Regulus sighed, remembering the pain in his brother's eyes every time their mother insulted Gryffindor, or ignored his good marks, purely because he wasn't her idea of a perfect son.

**The scene dissolved again. Snape was hurrying along the corridor of the Hogwarts Express as it clattered through the countryside. He had already changed into his school robes, had perhaps taken the first opportunity to take off his dreadful Muggle clothes. At last he stopped, outside a compartment in which a group of rowdy boys were talking. **

James sighed, knowing that he and Sirius were going to be mentioned. He wished they weren't, because he knew they hadn't been particularly nice when they first met Lily and Snape.

**Hunched in a corner seat beside the window was Lily, her face pressed against the windowpane.**

**Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window. She had been crying.**

"**I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.**

"**Why not?"**

"**Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."**

"**So what?"**

**She threw him a look of deep dislike.**

"**So she's my sister!"**

"That doesn't mean that she has to like you." Andromeda grimaced, glancing apologetically at Bellatrix and Narcissa.

"**She's only a –" He caught himself quickly; **

**Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.**

"If I had, I'd have hit you." Lily growled at Snape, who bowed his head.

"Don't blame him." Harry snapped, "how would you feel if the only muggles you knew were Petunia and someone like his father? Put yourself in his position before judging."

"**But we're going!" he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"**

**She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.**

"**You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.**

"I don't think I would have been." Lily sighed, "Slytherin wasn't a house the hat thought I was suited for. It couldn't decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and even then, it thought Gryffindor was a better choice."

"**Slytherin?"**

**One of the boys sharing the compartment, who had shown no interest at all in Lily or Snape until that point, looked around at the word, and Harry, whose attention had been focused entirely on the two beside the window, saw his father: slight, black-haired like Snape, but with that indefinable air of having been well-cared-for, even adored, that Snape so conspicuously lacked.**

"Unfortunately true." Charlus grimaced.

"We waited too long." Dorea sighed, "we were both nearly forty when we finally started a family, and the pregnancy was extremely difficult."

"We were damn lucky to have James." Charlus nodded, letting Dorea lean on him as she remembered the pain of going into labour early and nearly losing James in the process.

"**Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"Wow, switch Slytherin for Hufflepuff, and you sound like I did when I was eleven." Draco said, shaking his head, "and that's not good."

"Yeah, you really didn't impress me that day." Harry snorted.

**James asked the boy lounging on the seats opposite him, and with a jolt, Harry realized that it was Sirius. Sirius did not smile.**

"**My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.**

"He didn't have to sound so depressed about it." Andromeda grinned.

"You were the only member of the family that Sirius actually liked at that point." Regulus pointed out, "and even though he knew, on an intellectual level, that you had been a Slytherin, he ignored that fact, because he couldn't help but associate Slytherin with the pureblood dogma that Mother shoved down our throats from the day we learned to talk."

"**Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"**

**Sirius grinned.**

"**Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"**

**James lifted an invisible sword.**

"'**Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."**

"Oh, and you didn't want to go into Slytherin, like me?" Dorea asked, raising an eyebrow.

James shrugged, not really knowing what to say to that. He had always believed the Slytherins were evil, and hadn't known that his mother had been one.

"It's very odd, but every male Potter has been in Gryffindor, and all but a few, married Slytherins." Harry commented.

"Very true." Charlus nodded, "there were a few who married Ravenclaws, but yes, most did marry Slytherins. And even odder, is the fact that of the female Potters who managed to live long enough to attend Hogwarts, only one or two were in Gryffindor. Antonia was a Slytherin, Camilla was a Ravenclaw, as was Alexa Potter, who married Beedle the Bard."

**Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.**

"**Got a problem with that?"**

"**No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy –"**

"**Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.**

"If Sirius were here, I'd give him a bollocking for that." Hermione growled.

**James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.**

"**Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."**

"**Oooooo …"**

**James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.**

"**See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed …**

Harry glared at James, knowing that his father had been the one to come up with that name.

"You really were bullies." Luna said coldly, "he had done nothing to you to deserve that."

"When we next take a break, I will want words with you James." Dorea snapped, "you do not treat anyone like that, least of all an eleven-year-old who wants to go into Slytherin."

**And the scene dissolved once more…**

**Harry was standing right behind Snape as they faced the candlelit House tables, lined with rapt faces. Then Professor McGonagall said, "Evans, Lily!"**

**He watched his mother walk forward on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, "_Gryffindor!_"**

**Harry heard Snape let out a tiny groan. **

"I'm sure Ron did the same thing when Hermione was sorted." Draco grinned.

"He did." Harry smirked, "but that's because he _didn't_ want to be in the same house."

**Lily took off the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Harry saw Sirius move up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, seemed to recognize him from the train, folded her arms, and firmly turned her back on him.**

"He deserved that." Regulus nodded.

"I'm not surprised." Harry muttered.

**The roll call continued. Harry watched Lupin, Pettigrew, and his father join Lily and Sirius at the Gryffindor table. At last, when only a dozen students remained to be sorted, Professor McGonagall called Snape.**

**Harry walked with him to the stool, watched him place the hat upon his head. "_Slytherin!_" cried the Sorting Hat.**

**And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were cheering him, to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as he sat down beside him …**

"You really looked miserable that day, so I thought I had to try and cheer you up." Lucius said with a slight smile.

**And the scene changed…**

**Lily and Snape were walking across the castle courtyard, evidently arguing. Harry hurried to catch up with them, to listen in. As he reached them, he realized how much taller they both were. A few years seemed to have passed since their Sorting.**

"I think that was in fifth year, not long before the O. ." Lily sighed.

"Yeah, being friends was getting harder by that point." Snape agreed sadly.

"You did well to remain friends for nearly five years though." Luna pointed out, "you should be happy about that."

"…**thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape was saying, "Best friends?"**

"**We _are_, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! **

"Wow, that's judgemental." Susan whistled, "I can't believe you're going to stop being his friend, purely based on who his house-mates are."

"Yeah, just because he has to associate with those people, because he shares a dorm with them, doesn't mean he's like them." Hannah agreed.

"I didn't even like them, but I had to hang around with them." Snape grimaced, "it would have looked a bit odd if I didn't spend time talking to my house-mates."

Lily sighed, wondering how she had managed to become so close-minded, when she had promised herself that she would keep an open mind.

**Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?"**

"What did he do?" Susan asked.

"You don't want to know." Remus growled, "the worst thing was, he wasn't punished for it, and Sirius got three weeks detention when he tried to get revenge."

"Why did he do that though?" Snape wondered, "he didn't strike me as the kind of man who would do that for someone who wasn't a friend, or for 'fun'?"

"Mary was Sirius' girlfriend." James sighed, "they'd been together for three months at that point, longer than any of his previous relationships, and she split up with him the day after Mulciber attacked her. Sirius went a bit mad, he blamed Mulciber, because until Mary was attacked, she was really happy with him."

"Yeah, everyone in our house thought they would be together forever." Lily agreed sadly, "but after she was attacked, Mary changed, she wasn't as happy-go-lucky as she had been, and the fact that Mulciber got away with it, tore her apart."

"He won't get away with it now." Scrimgeour said, "that will be added to the list of crimes he's committed, and while it may be too little too late, he will face justice."

**Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.**

"**That was nothing," said Snape. "It was a laugh, that's all –"**

"**It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny –"**

"The Mulcibers have always been sadistic." Abraxas grimaced, "I know that Yannis Mulciber, who was in our year, was one of the people who inspired Voldemort's interest in the more sadistic methods of torture and killing."

"**What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" demanded Snape.**

"We never used Dark Magic." James snapped.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that you were bullies." Harry said angrily, "you may have found your pranks funny, but your victims certainly didn't."

"Nor did their friends." Lily added with a growl.

**His colour rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment.**

"**What's Potter got to do with anything?" said Lily.**

"**They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"**

"**He's ill," said Lily. "They say he's ill –"**

"**Every month at the full moon?" said Snape.**

"Yeah, that is a bit of a give-away." Remus sighed.

"**I know your theory," said Lily, and she sounded cold. **

"Was that before or after I told you?" Remus asked Lily.

"It was the day after you blurted it out then hit yourself on the head." Lily grinned, "but it had been kind of obvious before that. I figured it out when I had to go see Poppy about something the day before a full moon, and saw you looking like shit, lying on one of the beds."

"What did you have to go to the hospital for?" James asked worriedly. He knew that they hadn't got together until their seventh year, but he really didn't like to hear about Lily needing to go to the hospital wing.

"None of your beeswax." Lily snorted, "but if you feel you must know, I'd run out of tampons, and Poppy keeps some in stock for students who need."

"**Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"**

"**I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."**

**The intensity of his gaze made her blush.**

"**They don't use Dark Magic, though." She dropped her voice. "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there –"**

**Snape's whole face contorted and he spluttered, "Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too!**

"You really think I did it to save them?" James said, staring at Snape with wide eyes.

"You certainly didn't act like you cared about me." Snape snarled.

"I may not have liked you, and I may have been bloody jealous of your friendship with Lily, but I never thought you deserved to be mauled." James snapped, "I didn't want you to get hurt because Sirius was an idiot."

"Yeah, when I found out that it was Sirius who'd told you how to get into the tunnel, I punched him." Remus nodded.

"And Sirius and I hexed each other, so much that we ended up in the hospital wing." James said, "I couldn't believe that he thought I'd agree with what he'd done. He was crowing about it, like it was the best thing he'd ever done, and he expected me to be happy that he'd done it."

"I'm going to want words with Sirius when he returns." Dorea growled, "he will be made to see the error of his ways."

"Merlin." Snape muttered, realising that he now had a lot to think about.

**You're not going to – I won't let you –"**

"**Let me? Let me?"**

**Lily's bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once.**

"Everyone does." Remus said with a slight smile, trying to move passed the earlier discussion. "Even the wolf in me cowers when she gets angry."

"**I didn't mean – I just don't want to see you made a fool of – he fancies you, James Potter fancies you!" The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. "And he's not …Everyone thinks … Big Quidditch hero –" Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were travelling farther and farther up her forehead.**

"Well, you were making absolutely no sense at all." Lily giggled, "and the overprotective brother act was both amusing and slightly annoying."

"**I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag," she said, cutting across Snape. "I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humour is just evil. _Evil_, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."**

**Harry doubted that Snape had even heard her strictures on Mulciber and Avery. The moment she had insulted James Potter, his whole body had relaxed, and as they walked away there was a new spring in Snape's step …**

"OK, did you consider yourself to be the big brother, looking out for his little sister, or a little brother, who doesn't want his big sister taken away from him?" Ginny asked with a grin.

"A little of both, I think." Snape replied, smiling slightly.

"At times, he seemed to see himself as the big brother, but at others, he saw me as the big sister." Lily added, "it all depended on the situation, I think."

**And the scene dissolved …**

**Harry watched again as Snape left the Great Hall after sitting his O.W.L. in Defence Against the Dark Arts, watched as he wandered away from the castle and strayed inadvertently close to the place beneath the beech tree where James, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew sat together. But Harry kept his distance this time, because he knew what happened after James had hoisted Severus into the air and taunted him; he knew what had been done and said, and it gave him no pleasure to hear it again …**

"It definitely did not." Harry growled, "it made me sick to think that someone I had looked up to as a hero, could do something so disgusting."

James grimaced, looking at the floor in shame, before looking Snape in the eye and saying, "I'm sorry for everything we put you through."

"Accepted." Snape nodded, holding his hand out for James to shake. The two men seemed to be finally moving passed their childhood rivalry completely.

**He watched as Lily joined the group and went to Snape's defence. Distantly he heard Snape shout at her in his humiliation and his fury, the unforgivable word: "_Mudblood._"**

**The scene changed…**

"**I'm sorry."**

"**I'm not interested."**

"**I'm sorry!"**

"**Save your breath"**

"Honestly." Susan said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "People say or do things they shouldn't, in the heat of the moment, and they always regret it when they calm down. You were his friend, and even though he used that foul word, you should have forgiven him, especially after he apologised."

"I wish I had." Lily muttered, "I don't know why I didn't."

**It was night-time. Lily, who was wearing a dressing gown, stood with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.**

"**I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."**

"**I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just –"**

"**Slipped out?" There was no pity in Lily's voice.**

"It probably did slip out." Hannah said, "no one can stop themselves saying hurtful things when they've been utterly humiliated, and it's foolish to think that they can."

"**It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"**

"I never wanted to join him, but I didn't think I had anything left to lose." Snape sighed quietly.

**He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking.**

"**I can't pretend any more. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."**

"This sounds so similar to the argument we had before you ran, Andy." Bellatrix whispered.

"I know." Andromeda nodded, smiling sadly.

"**No – listen, I didn't mean –"**

"– **to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"**

"Because even if I had to use that word for others, I could never use it on you." Snape sighed, "I wish I had never had to use it in the first place, but I shared a dorm with Avery, Mulciber, Jugson and Yaxley, who could, and probably would, have made my life even more difficult than it already was. From the very first day, when they found out that I was a half-blood, they treated me like dirt, and if I hadn't made them think that I hated muggle-borns, I don't know what they would have done, but it would certainly have been worse than treating me like dirt."

**He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole …**

**The corridor dissolved, and the scene took a little longer to reform: Harry seemed to fly through shifting shapes and colours until his surroundings solidified again and he stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless trees. **

"What's going on?" Dennis asked, nervously looking at the potions master, who had closed his eyes.

"That was the night I finally managed to start finding a way to make up for making the mistake of becoming a Death Eater, by becoming a spy." Snape sighed.

**The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone … his fear infected Harry too, even though he knew that he could not be harmed, and he looked over his shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was waiting for –**

"Or who." Snape mumbled quietly.

**Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air. Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand.**

"**Don't kill me!"**

"**That was not my intention."**

"Of course not, Albus hates killing, and won't do it, not if he can help it." Aberforth grumbled.

"Besides, I was there to talk, and it is rather difficult to talk to someone if they're dead." Albus said with a slight smile.

**Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.**

"**Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"**

"**No – no message – I'm here on my own account!"**

"Merlin, he must have used you for carrying messages a lot." Susan whispered.

"He did, they were mainly death threats, but from the moment I joined, I was the one Voldemort used as a messenger." Snape grimaced.

**Snape was wringing his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.**

"**I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please –"**

**Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.**

"I was grateful for that." Snape sighed, "I wasn't sure I could have talked loud enough to be heard, especially after the torture Voldemort put me through when I told him that I had only heard half of the prophecy."

"**What request could a Death Eater make of me?"**

"**The – the prophecy … the prediction … Trelawney …"**

"**Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"**

"**Everything – everything I heard!" said Snape. "That is why – it is for that reason – he thinks it means Lily Evans!"**

"You're the one who gave us a chance to hide." James realised.

"Yes." Snape nodded, "after I found out that Voldemort was planning to attack you, I realised I had a choice to make. Either I could condemn the woman who was like a sister to me, to death, or I could find a way to make up for the mistake I made when I joined the madman."

"**The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July –"**

"**You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down – kill them all –"**

"**If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"**

"**I have – I have asked him –"**

"That's why Harry survived." Remus nodded in understanding, "by making that request, you gave Lily a choice, and she chose to sacrifice herself."

"Yeah." Snape sighed, "I wish I had been able to do more, but it was risky enough to ask Voldemort to spare one person, who wasn't the target. I didn't dare ask him for more than that. If I had, I probably wouldn't be here right now. He'd have killed me, and he had already decided that he wasn't willing to spare Harry or anyone else he found in the house."

"**You disgust me," said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little, "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"**

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Snape growled, "I may not have been as articulate as I would have liked due to the fact that I had been tortured less than half an hour before that meeting, but there was no way I would have been so heartless as to merely ask for one person to be protected."

"I'm sorry." Albus whispered, "I did not know you well enough, and that is what I assumed from your words."

**Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.**

"**Hide them all, then," he croaked. "Keep her – them – safe. Please."**

"**And what will you give me in return, Severus?"**

"**In – in return?" Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, "Anything."**

"I would have given my life, if it had even the slightest chance of helping." Snape said.

**The hilltop faded, and Harry stood in Dumbledore's office, and something was making a terrible sound, like a wounded animal. Snape was slumped forward in a chair and Dumbledore was standing over him, looking grim. After a moment or two, Snape raised his face, and he looked like a man who had lived a hundred years of misery since leaving the wild hilltop.**

"How long had you been in hiding?" Susan asked nervously.

"Nearly a year." Lily replied, "when we heard about the prophecy, and the possibility that we would be targets, I was seven months pregnant. We didn't go into hiding straight away. We moved from place to place, all over the world, until Harry was five months old, when we decided that he needed stability. So we moved to the cottage in Godric's Hollow, and put the Fidelius up, with Sirius as our Secret Keeper."

"A couple of weeks before that Halloween, Sirius suggested that we should switch Secret Keepers." James continued, "it took us about a week to switch to Peter, and, well, you know what happened that Halloween."

"Why would Sirius suddenly decide that you should switch, after nearly ten months of being your Secret Keeper?" Hannah wondered.

"He'd been captured and tortured twice, escaping both times, and while he was willing to act as a decoy, he didn't want to run the risk of giving in due to torture." Lily sighed, "he wasn't entirely certain that he could keep quiet if he was captured for a third time, and knew that if he wasn't the Secret Keeper, he wouldn't be able to tell his captors anything."

"I understand." Minerva whispered, knowing that it made sense for Sirius to be worried that he would break under torture if he was captured again.

"**I thought … you were going … to keep her … safe …"**

"**She and James put their faith in the wrong person," said Dumbledore.**

"I wish we hadn't used Peter." Lily grimaced.

"**Rather like you, Severus. Weren't you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?"**

**Snape's breathing was shallow.**

"**Her boy survives," said Dumbledore.**

**With a tiny jerk of the head, Snape seemed to flick off an irksome fly.**

"**Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and colour of Lily Evans's eyes, I am sure?"**

"Sweet Merlin, give the poor man time to grieve." Charlus said, glaring at Albus angrily.

"**DON'T!" bellowed Snape. "Gone … dead …"**

"**Is this remorse, Severus?"**

"**I wish … I wish _I _were dead …"**

"That wouldn't help anyone." Lily said gently, "the bravest thing to do is keep living, no matter how much you wish you weren't, and know that one day you will join those who've gone before."

"Indeed." Dorea nodded, "the hardest thing in this world is to live in it."

"**And what use would that be to anyone?" said Dumbledore coldly. "If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear."**

"Oh now really." Minerva snapped, "that was totally uncalled for, especially right then."

"It was necessary." Albus sighed.

"No, no it wasn't." Sinistra hissed, "you don't seem to be able to let people grieve without trying to force them to do things while grief-stricken."

**Snape seemed to peer through a haze of pain, and Dumbledore's words appeared to take a long time to reach him.**

"**What – what do you mean?"**

"**You know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily's son."**

"**He does not need protection. The Dark Lord has gone –"**

"**The Dark Lord will return, and Harry Potter will be in terrible danger when he does."**

"If only Fudge had believed you when you told him that Voldemort had returned." Scrimgeour sighed.

"Fudge was a moron." Lucius snorted, "it is rather strange that after Sirius escaped, Fudge believed that Voldemort was still around, but after his return, the Minister refused to believe that it could be possible."

"I think he just didn't want to know about anything that could destroy the peace that we had." Kingsley said.

"True." Lucius grimaced.

**There was a long pause, and slowly Snape regained control of himself, mastered his own breathing. At last he said, "Very well. Very well. But never – never tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I cannot bear … especially Potter's son … I want your word!"**

"But why didn't you want Harry to know?" Flitwick asked.

"It wasn't that I didn't want him to know, I just didn't want him to hear it from anyone other than me." Snape said, "I wanted to tell him myself, so that nothing was misunderstood. I had a feeling that Albus would sugar-coat it, that he would believe that Harry wouldn't be able to handle the truth."

"Understandable." Flitwick nodded.

"**My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?" Dumbledore sighed, looking down into Snape's ferocious, anguished face. "If you insist …"**

**The office dissolved but re-formed instantly. Snape was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore.**

"– **mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent –"**

"Ah, and now we begin the deception." Snape and Harry smirked.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked.

"We wanted to hide the training we were giving Harry and his friends, so after our first session, we decided to make people think that we hated each other." Snape replied, with a slight grin as he remembered the way he and Harry had come up with a list of insults they could throw at each other.

"But why did you not tell me?" Albus wondered quietly.

"We knew that you would probably have stopped us, not wanting Harry to have to worry about Voldemort." Minerva sighed.

"Thinking about that training, I am slightly curious as to why you chose that particular group." Sprout frowned.

"We chose Harry, Hermione and Ron because we could see that they would be at the forefront of the fight." Snape replied, "and as for why we chose Draco, Daphne and Pansy, well, we knew that they were becoming friends with Harry's group, and they wanted to be able to protect themselves."

"Yeah, we asked for training to help us if the rest of our house, or our families, found out about our friendship, and turned on us." Pansy nodded.

"Understandable." Sprout nodded.

"**You see what you expect to see, Severus," said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of _Transfiguration Today_. "Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likeable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child."**

"Only reasonably talented?" Hermione asked with a giggle, "he was the best in our year in DADA."

"That discussion only happened at the end of the first week of your first year." Snape pointed out, "you'd barely done more than look at the basics of wand movements and theory. And you'd only had one training session, so we couldn't really judge your abilities at the time."

**Dumbledore turned a page, and said, without looking up, "Keep an eye on Quirrell, won't you?"**

"So you knew that Voldemort was possessing Quirrell?" Pomfrey asked, suppressing a growl.

"No, I only knew that Quirrell was working for Voldemort." Albus sighed, "I had not realised that Voldemort didn't have a body at the time. I thought he had managed to create a rudimentary body and wanted the philosopher's stone to make it more permanent."

**A whirl of colour, and now everything darkened, and Snape and Dumbledore stood a little apart in the entrance hall, while the last stragglers from the Yule Ball passed them on their way to bed.**

"**Well?" murmured Dumbledore.**

"**Karkaroff's Mark is becoming darker too. He is panicking, he fears retribution; you know how much help he gave the Ministry after the Dark Lord fell." Snape looked sideways at Dumbledore's crooked-nosed profile. "Karkaroff intends to flee if the Mark burns."**

"Stupid idiot he was." Lucius grumbled, "he could have asked the Ministry for asylum, but noooo, instead he goes off, running without knowing how to hide."

"**Does he?" said Dumbledore softly, as Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies came giggling in from the grounds. **

Bill raised a curious eyebrow at that, but Ron, who was the only one to notice, said, "that was before she met you, so you can't really blame her for being attracted to someone else."

"True." Bill shrugged, "I just did not expect that other person to be a Quidditch player. Fleur has always said that she's not a big Quidditch fan, and she's terrified of heights."

"That is slightly odd." Rodolphus muttered, "especially since she can sprout a pair of wings. I would have thought that her ability to fly, would erase her fear of heights."

"I don't understand it either." Bill said, "but it is an irrational fear, and therefore defies explanation."

"**And are you tempted to join him?"**

"**No," said Snape, his black eyes on Fleur's and Roger's retreating figures. "I am not such a coward."**

"**No," agreed Dumbledore. "You are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon …"**

"The Sorting Hat agrees with you." Harry grinned, "it told me, while we were repairing it, that everyone should be resorted every so often, because people change, and that resorting may well help erase the antagonism between the houses."

**He walked away, leaving Snape looking stricken…**

**And now Harry stood in the headmaster's office yet again. It was night-time, and Dumbledore sagged sideways in the throne-like chair behind the desk, apparently semi-conscious. His right hand dangled over the side, blackened and burned. **

"So now we've skipped forward to the beginning of this year." Scrimgeour mused, remembering the many meetings he had had with the headmaster that summer, both before and after Albus' hand was cursed.

**Snape was muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a goblet full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore's throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore's eyelids fluttered and opened.**

"**Why," said Snape, without preamble, "why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realized that. Why even touch it?"**

"His desire to use the stone over-powered his caution." Harry said.

"What stone?" Aberforth asked, not having been there when the thing was mentioned.

"The Resurrection Stone, one of the so-called Deathly Hallows." Hermione replied.

"Oh." Aberforth nodded, understanding immediately what Harry had meant about his brother's desire to use the stone. He, too, would have wanted to use it, if only to see Ariana again.

**Marvolo Gaunt's ring lay on the desk before Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it.**

**Dumbledore grimaced.**

"**I … was a fool. Sorely tempted …"**

"**Tempted by what?"**

"So you didn't know what the ring really was." Blaise said.

"No." Snape grimaced, "I had never believed that the Hallows truly existed, so I had no idea why Albus would be so foolish as to try putting the ring on, without making sure it wasn't cursed."

**Dumbledore did not answer.**

"**It is a miracle you managed to return here!" Snape sounded furious.**

"Of course I bloody was." Snape snorted bitterly, "I knew that the only thing I could do was slow the curse down. So yes, I was furious that that ring had basically sealed Albus' fate."

"**That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being –"**

**Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio.**

"**You have done very well, Severus. How long do you think I have?"**

**Dumbledore's tone was conversational; he might have been asking for a weather forecast. **

"That tone infuriates everyone." Pomfrey groaned.

"The reactions are rather amusing to me." Albus smiled.

**Snape hesitated, and then said, "I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread eventually, it is the sort of curse that strengthens over time."**

**Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to him.**

"Merlin, I wish you would worry a little bit more about your health, instead of brushing it off as if it were nothing." Pomfrey said wistfully, "that way I wouldn't have to chase you every time you're due for a physical."

"**I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus."**

"**If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!" said Snape furiously. He looked down at the broken ring and the sword. "Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?"**

"**Something like that … I was delirious, no doubt …" said Dumbledore. With an effort he straightened himself in his chair. "Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward."**

**Snape looked utterly perplexed. Dumbledore smiled.**

"Urgh, you always do that." Minerva grumbled, "I think you actually enjoy infuriating people."

"**I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me."**

"I want to know what made Voldemort think he could." Regulus said.

"He didn't give me the mission because he thought I would succeed." Draco snorted bitterly, "he knew I was likely to fail, and he gave it to me, because he wanted me to fail."

"He wanted us to suffer." Lucius sighed, "he wanted us to watch him fail and pay the price."

**Snape sat down in the chair Harry had so often occupied, across the desk from Dumbledore. Harry could tell that he wanted to say more on the subject of Dumbledore's cursed hand, but the other held it up in polite refusal to discuss the matter further. Scowling, Snape said, "The Dark Lord does not expect Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for Lucius's recent failures. Slow torture for Draco's parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price."**

"Exactly." Draco sighed.

"**In short, the boy has had a death sentence pronounced upon him as surely as I have," said Dumbledore. **

"Oh sound like you care." Narcissa snapped.

"I do care though, I do not wish to force a sixteen-year-old boy to become a cold-blooded murderer." Albus whispered.

"**Now, I should have thought the natural successor to the job, once Draco fails, is yourself?"**

**There was a short pause.**

"**That, I think, is the Dark Lord's plan."**

"**Lord Voldemort foresees a moment in the near future when he will not need a spy at Hogwarts?"**

"**He believes the school will soon be in his grasp, yes."**

"**And if it does fall into his grasp," said Dumbledore, almost, it seemed, as an aside, "I have your word that you will do all in your power to protect the students at Hogwarts?"**

**Snape gave a stiff nod.**

"You evidently did well." Sprout smiled.

"Obviously not as well as I would have liked." Snape sighed, "if it was up to me, the Carrows wouldn't have been in the school, nor would they have been in charge of punishments."

"**Good. Now then. Your first priority will be to discover what Draco is up to. A frightened teenage boy is a danger to others as well as to himself. Offer him help and guidance, he ought to accept, he likes you –"**

"If you know what his mission is, why let him continue with it, instead of warning him not to?" Bellatrix asked.

"I do not wish Voldemort to find out that I know about it." Albus sighed, "if he did discover that I am aware that he wants young Draco to kill me, he would assume that Draco told me, and kill the poor boy."

"– **much less since his father has lost favour. Draco blames me, he thinks I have usurped Lucius's position."**

"I can't understand why you'd think that." Draco mumbled.

"I am not in the habit of sifting through the minds of teenagers, so can only guess at what you believe from looking at your actions and listening to you speak." Snape grimaced, "it is a fairly reasonable assumption to come to, especially since you've been talking to your friends more this year, than you have been talking to me."

"**All the same, try. I am concerned less for myself than for accidental victims of whatever schemes might occur to the boy. **

"And I'm still a bit pissed about that." Ron muttered, mock-glaring at Draco, who winced.

"Desperation is unpleasant." Draco sighed, "besides, you didn't have to drink the mead."

"I couldn't not." Ron grimaced, "I didn't know which bottle the stuff was in, so it would have looked odd if I hadn't. And anyway, I needed something."

"Yeah." Harry nodded, "that was a hectic day."

"I still don't get why you didn't just find an empty room in the dungeons and brew the antidote to that love potion yourself." Hermione muttered to Harry, after casting a silencing charm over them to make sure they weren't heard by anyone.

"I had no idea what potion it was, there was no residue for me to test, and anyway, I didn't have any hands free, I was trying to keep Ron under control." Harry snorted quietly, "I don't actually think it's possible to brew anything with no hands."

"True." Hermione nodded, taking the silencing charm down so they could hear what was being read.

**Ultimately, of course, there is only one thing to be done if we are to save him from Lord Voldemort's wrath."**

**Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, "Are you intending to let him kill you?"**

"**Certainly not. _You_ must kill me."**

"And that's why you keep saying it was assisted suicide, rather than murder." Susan whispered in realisation.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

**There was a long silence, broken only by an odd clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit of cuttlebone.**

"**Would you like me to do it now?" asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?"**

"You have a very dry sense of humour." Remus grinned, "it's extremely refreshing."

"It's also rather nice to not be on the receiving end of it." James added.

"**Oh, not quite yet," said Dumbledore, smiling. "I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight," he indicated his withered hand, "we can be sure that it will happen within a year."**

"**If you don't mind dying," said Snape roughly, "why not let Draco do it?"**

"To protect his soul." Lily said, "Voldemort is a perfect example of the damage than can occur when someone commits murder."

"**That boy's soul is not yet so damaged," said Dumbledore. "I would not have it ripped apart on my account."**

"But what about Severus' soul?" Flitwick asked.

"Only he knows whether giving an old man a quick, painless and dignified death, would harm his soul." Albus replied, not realising that he was saying almost the same thing as he had said in the book.

"**And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?"**

"**You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation," said Dumbledore.**

"I couldn't have said it better." Albus said, aiming a small smile in Snape's direction. "And I can't think of anyone better for the job."

"**I ask this one great favour of you, Severus, because death is coming for me as surely as the Chudley Cannons will finish bottom of this year's league.**

Ron and James both whined pathetically at that.

"They truly are the worst team in Britain." Ernie snorted.

**I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted and messy affair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved – I hear Voldemort has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it."**

"I wouldn't if I hadn't been under that damn curse." Bellatrix mumbled.

**His tone was light, but his blue eyes pierced Snape as they had frequently pierced Harry, as though the soul they discussed was visible to him. At last Snape gave another curt nod.**

**Dumbledore seemed satisfied.**

"**Thank you, Severus …"**

**The office disappeared, and now Snape and Dumbledore were strolling together in the deserted castle grounds by twilight.**

"This hasn't happened yet." Snape said.

"No, that was a few days after Ron's birthday." Harry smiled, "Hagrid overheard you talking when he was returning from trying to help Aragog."

"Oh." Snape nodded.

"**What are you doing with Potter, all these evenings you are closeted together?" Snape asked abruptly.**

"Discussing Voldy's past." Harry grinned, "with a few memories from various people."

"I gather you did not know about Voldemort's Horcruxes." Charlus frowned, looking at Snape.

"I had suspicions, but that was about it." Snape sighed, "and it would have been too dangerous for me to know exactly, though I don't like being kept in the dark."

**Dumbledore looked weary.**

"**Why? You aren't trying to give him more detentions, Severus? The boy will soon have spent more time in detention than out."**

"**He is his father over again –"**

"**In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother's. **

"I'm glad about that." Lily smiled, "I dread to think about what would happen if my son was exactly like his father."

**I spend time with Harry because I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is too late."**

"**Information," repeated Snape. "You trust him … you do not trust me."**

"Wow, you two are two sides of the same coin." Hermione said, "each being given only half the story, and being kept n the dark about the rest."

"Yeah, we each had the half that the other didn't." Harry nodded.

"**It is not a question of trust. I have, as we both know, limited time. It is essential that I give the boy enough information for him to do what he needs to do."**

"It wasn't quite enough, but we managed." Harry grinned.

"I thought that everything I knew or guessed about Voldemort's past would be enough." Albus sighed.

"**And why may I not have the same information?"**

"**I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, particularly not a basket that spends so much time dangling on the arm of Lord Voldemort."**

"**Which I do on your orders!"**

"Yeah, that's not a good enough reason to not tell him." Lily said, looking at the headmaster in disappointment. "I understand that you are worried about the danger that knowledge would put him in, but it isn't solely your decision."

"**And you do it extremely well. Do not think that I underestimate the constant danger in which you place yourself, Severus. To give Voldemort what appears to be valuable information while withholding the essentials is a job I would entrust to nobody but you."**

"**Yet you confide much more in a boy who is incapable of Occlumency, whose magic is mediocre,**

"So we kept the deception up even then." Snape sighed.

"Yep." Harry grinned, "we didn't reveal that we weren't actually enemies until nearly a year after the war was over. I think some figured it out after I had to use those memories as evidence, but we didn't actually say anything until after you'd woken up from your coma, on your birthday."

**and who has a direct connection into the Dark Lord's mind!"**

"I'm curious, does Voldemort receive flashes of Harry's emotions, or is it just one way?" James asked.

"Voldemort received flashes of Harry's emotions, but only when they were strong ones." Lucius replied.

"Yes, I have no idea of the exact amount I've brewed, but almost every time I've been called since his rebirth, I've been ordered to brew at least three cauldrons' full of headache potions for Voldemort." Snape nodded, "and watching Voldemort clutch his head every so often, was rather amusing."

"You'll therefore be completely unsurprised to know that Voldemort knew exactly when Harry was bored to tears." Bellatrix giggled, "it was hilarious, he started looking bored himself, almost every time Harry got bored."

"**Voldemort fears that connection," said Dumbledore. "Not so long ago he had one small taste of what truly sharing Harry's mind means to him. It was pain such as he has never experienced. He will not try to possess Harry again, I am sure of it. Not in that way."**

"**I don't understand."**

"None of us do." Regulus frowned, though he wasn't completely accurate. James, who suspected what Albus meant, and those who had had their souls sent back, knew exactly what Dumbledore had been alluding to, but they weren't going to say anything, preferring to wait until it was mentioned in the book.

"**Lord Voldemort's soul, maimed as it is, cannot bear close contact with a soul like Harry's. Like a tongue on frozen steel, like flesh in flame –"**

"**Souls? We were talking of minds!"**

"**In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of one is to speak of the other."**

"Oh Merlin." Lily gasped, grabbing Harry in a hug once again, "I hope I'm wrong, but I think I may have worked it out."

"Worked what out?" Charlus asked.

"You'll see." Lily whimpered.

"I was right." James said sadly, "I didn't want to be right."

"What are you on about?" Dorea sighed.

"It's too horrible to think about." James whispered, joining his wife in hugging Harry as closely as possible.

**Dumbledore glanced around to make sure that they were alone. They were close by the Forbidden Forest now, but there was no sign of anyone near them.**

"**After you have killed me, Severus –"**

"**You refuse to tell me everything, yet you expect that small service of me!" snarled Snape, and real anger flared in the thin face now. "You take a great deal for granted, Dumbledore! Perhaps I have changed my mind!"**

"Anybody would." Remus grimaced, "especially if they have to wait until the right time."

"Indeed." Snape sighed, "half the time, I just want the year to go by, so I can get it over with, and the rest of the time, I don't want the end to ever arrive."

"**You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are talking about services you owe me, I thought you agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin friend?"**

**Snape looked angry, mutinous. Dumbledore sighed.**

"**Come to my office tonight, Severus, at eleven, and you shall not complain that I have no confidence in you …"**

"Finally." Snape mumbled, tired of people keeping secrets from him.

**They were back in Dumbledore's office, the windows dark, and Fawkes sat silent as Snape sat quite still, as Dumbledore walked around him, talking.**

"**Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?"**

"**But what must he do?"**

"**That is between Harry and me. Now listen closely, Severus. There will come a time – after my death – do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake."**

"You should have been a seer." Regulus snorted.

"I doubt it." Albus smiled, "I have never liked the idea of Divination."

"Divination as it is now, is a waste of time for anyone who is not a seer, but when I was alive, it was more than just finding things out about the future." Helena said, "the title, Divination, covered many different things. People used Divination to locate lost relatives, to find out what was going on in a certain place, to locate minerals, water, certain plants, and for many other reasons. The goblins use it to get a vague idea of where lost tombs and treasures are. It is one of the most useful magical disciplines, or it was, before the knowledge of how to do it properly was lost."

"**For Nagini?" Snape looked astonished.**

"**Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry."**

"**Tell him what?"**

**Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes.**

"**Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsed building. **

"Oh Merlin NO!" James and Lily yelled, all their suspicions being proven true.

"I don't believe it." Remus shouted, "a piece of that _scum_ lives in you, and the only way to get it out is to kill you."

"How long have you known?" Mr Weasley asked angrily, "how long have you known that Harry was a Horcrux?"

"Since his second year." Albus sighed, "I wasn't sure until I discovered that he was a Parselmouth. I didn't know, at the time, that he was born able to speak to snakes. I thought that Voldemort had accidentally given the ability to him, which, given that I had no idea that Lily was Voldemort's daughter, was the only explanation that made any sense at the time."

"So if killing Harry is the only way to get rid of Voldemort, and we aren't willing to let Harry die, how do we destroy that little bit of Voldemort's soul?" Minerva asked, trying to keep calm.

"I don't know." Albus replied, slightly choked, "ever since I had proof that Voldemort had created Horcruxes, I've been searching for a way, but nothing I have found suggests that a living host can be kept alive when destroying the Horcrux."

Hardly anyone else could say a word. They were all too shocked and horrified at the ramifications of Albus revelation. Those who'd had their souls sent back were the only ones who weren't in shock.

"Have you forgotten what I said during the last chapter, about the link being destroyed?" Harry asked, shoving his parents back a bit so he could breathe.

"So you don't have to die?" Lily grinned.

"That's right." Harry smiled, "I may have had that piece of Voldemort's soul in my head, in the book, but I don't any longer, so there is no need to panic or worry. I am here, whole, and completely free of Voldemort."

"That's good." James said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Very good." Albus nodded, "I did wonder if that was the case when you mentioned the destruction of the link between the two of you, but I didn't know, so I didn't want to get my hopes up."

"But how did you survive?" Hannah asked quietly.

"You'll see." Harry grinned.

**Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die."**

**Harry seemed to be watching the two men from one end of a long tunnel, they were so far away from him, their voices echoing strangely in his ears.**

"**So the boy … the boy must die?" asked Snape quite calmly.**

"How could you be so calm?" Lily asked, trying to remember what Harry had said about being free of the Horcrux.

"I don't know, but I would guess that I locked my emotions away, so I wouldn't break down." Snape mused, "I think that would be the only way for me to not lose control."

"**And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential."**

**Another long silence. Then Snape said, "I thought … all these years … that we were protecting him for her. For Lily."**

"It seems, professor, that you can't quite hide the fact that you care for Harry." Luna said dreamily.

"Of course I wouldn't be able to." Snape sighed, "during our training sessions, I have come to see him for who he is, not for who his father is, or who the papers make him out to be."

"**We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength," said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut. "Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth. Sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged matters so that when he does set out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort."**

**Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified.**

"No bloody wonder." James snarled, glaring at the headmaster, "you're talking about our son like a farm animal on its way to the slaughterhouse."

"That's probably the only way I would have been able to talk, without turning into a sobbing mess." Albus whispered. "I do not like to think of Harry, or anyone, dying before their time, but the simple fact that I had not found a safe way to destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul without killing Harry … it was heartbreaking."

"**You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?"**

"**Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?"**

"**Lately, only those whom I could not save," said Snape. He stood up. "You have used me."**

"**Meaning?"**

"**I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter –"**

"**But this is touching, Severus," said Dumbledore seriously. "Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?"**

"Yes." Snape murmured, "until I met Harry, I thought he would be exactly like his father, but that all changed, both during his first potions lesson, and during his first training session."

"**For _him_?" shouted Snape. "_Expecto Patronum!"_**

**From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe. **

"I'm confused." Lily frowned, "I would have thought that your Patronus would have changed. After all, you did get married."

"True, but I've always thought of you as my sister in all but blood." Snape sighed, "you were the first person to see through my masks, and you helped me when I didn't have anyone else to turn to. A Patronus represents protection, and the form is a symbol of protection. You protected me when we were kids, from your sister, from my bastard father, and even after you died, the memory of you, protected me from falling into a pit of despair."

**She landed on the office floor, bounded once across the office, and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.**

"**After all this time?"**

"**Always," said Snape.**

**And the scene shifted. Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk.**

"**You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry's departure from his aunt and uncle's," said Dumbledore.**

"Bloody hell, it's your fault Moody died." Tonks growled at the headmaster, "the Death Eaters wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for you ordering him to tell them."

"**Not to do so will raise suspicion, when Voldemort believes you so well informed. However, you must plant the idea of decoys; that, I think, ought to ensure Harry's safety. Try Confunding Mundungus Fletcher. And Severus, if you are forced to take part in the chase, be sure to act your part convincingly …**

"Merlin." Tonks grimaced.

**I am counting upon you to remain in Lord Voldemort's good books as long as possible, or Hogwarts will be left to the mercy of the Carrows …"**

"He did that very well." Draco said, "without professor Snape there, we would all have been in big trouble."

**Now Snape was head to head with Mundungus in an unfamiliar tavern, Mundungus's face looking curiously blank, Snape frowning in concentration.**

"**You will suggest to the Order of the Phoenix," Snape murmured, "that they use decoys. Polyjuice Potion. Identical Potters. It's the only thing that might work. You will forget that I have suggested this. You will present it as your own idea. You understand?"**

"**I understand," murmured Mundungus, his eyes unfocused …**

"Now we know why that cowardly little squit was the one to suggest it." Moody growled.

**Now Harry was flying alongside Snape on a broomstick through a clear dark night: he was accompanied by other hooded Death Eaters, and ahead were Lupin and a Harry who was really George … a Death Eater moved ahead of Snape and raised his wand, pointing it directly at Lupin's back.**

"**_Sectumsempra!_" shouted Snape.**

"Thank you." Tonks whispered, "if it weren't for you, Teddy would never have been born."

Snape nodded, even though he hadn't actually done anything yet.

**But the spell, intended for the Death Eater's wand hand, missed and hit George instead –**

"So that's how I lost my ear." George mumbled.

**And next, Snape was kneeling in Sirius's old bedroom. Tears were dripping from the end of his hooked nose as he read the old letter from Lily. The second page carried only a few words:**

_**could ever have been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I think her mind's going, personally!**_

_**Lots of love,**_

_**Lily**_

"So that's how the letter finished." Regulus murmured.

**Snape took the page bearing Lily's signature, and her love, and tucked it inside his robes. Then he ripped in two the photograph he was also holding, so that he kept the part from which Lily laughed, throwing the portion showing James and Harry back onto the floor, under the chest of drawers …**

**And now Snape stood again in the headmaster's study as Phineas Nigellus came hurrying into his portrait.**

"**Headmaster! They are camping in the Forest of Dean! The Mudblood –"**

"**Do not use that word!"**

"I could never stomach that word after what happened in fifth year." Snape sighed.

"But wouldn't you have to use it to keep the Death Eaters from being suspicious?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, and unfortunately, I do use it during Death Eater meetings, but it always leaves a foul taste in my mouth." Snape replied.

"– **the Granger girl, then, mentioned the place as she opened her bag and I heard her!"**

"**Good. Very good!" cried the portrait of Dumbledore behind the headmaster's chair. "Now, Severus, the sword! Do not forget that it must be taken under conditions of need and valour – and he must not know that you give it! If Voldemort should read Harry's mind and see you acting for him –"**

"**I know," said Snape curtly. He approached the portrait of Dumbledore and pulled at its side. It swung forward, revealing a hidden cavity behind it from which he took the sword of Gryffindor.**

"So that's where the real sword was." Minerva muttered.

"**And you still aren't going to tell me why it's so important to give Potter the sword?" said Snape as he swung a travelling cloak over his robes.**

"**No, I don't think so," said Dumbledore's portrait. "He will know what to do with it. **

"Of course he'd know." Lily snorted, "he'd been looking for it."

**And Severus, be very careful, they may not take kindly to your appearance after George Weasley's mishap –"**

**Snape turned at the door.**

"**Don't worry, Dumbledore," he said coolly. "I have a plan …"**

**And Snape left the room. Harry rose up out of the Pensieve, and moments later he lay on the carpeted floor in exactly the same room: Snape might just have closed the door.**

"That was the end of the chapter." Eileen said quietly, closing the book and putting it on the table in front of her.

No one else said a word. They were too stunned at what had been revealed about their snarky Potions Professor.

Finally, Harry broke the silence, "I think it would be a good idea to have lunch now, so everyone can digest what has been read, and then we can move on to the next chapter."

"Yes, an excellent suggestion." Albus nodded, gazing around the hall, looking at the students, who all seemed to be rather frazzled and overwhelmed.


	42. Chapter 42

**The Forest Again**

"Who would like to read the next chapter?" Albus asked quietly, once everyone had finished eating and the few who had left the hall during the break had returned.

"I might as well." Charlus shrugged.

"Very well." Albus nodded, while Eileen gently floated the book down the table.

Charlus opened the book, and was about to start reading, when there were two flashes of light, one just inside the doors to the great hall, and the other in front of Albus at the staff table.

"What's going on now?" Some of the staff huffed, expecting an answer of some kind, but no one knew, so there weren't any answers forthcoming.

"It appears I've been sent a message, a rather irritated message." Albus commented, reading the note that had appeared in front of him, before glancing up to look at the man now standing just inside the hall.

"Siri?" James yelped, jumping up and hurling himself at the newcomer. "You're really here?"

"James?" The man, now identified as Sirius Black, gasped. "What? How? Huh?" He was completely and utterly confused. He still couldn't believe the events of the previous twenty-four hours. He'd gone from hiding in caves from people who would quite happily dissect him, because they hadn't seen a dog before, to being surrounded by metal objects he had never seen before, while having some bloke who looked like a much cleaner version of Snape talking to him, and now he was in the great hall at Hogwarts, wrapped only in a towel while dripping, with his best friend seemingly trying to strangle him.

"If it would help explain, I will read the note aloud." Albus said, firing a cannon-blast into the air to attract the attention of the staff and students. "Ahem. _Sorry about the suddenness of Sirius Black's appearance, but we felt that he would be happier with people he knows, and we're sure that he would like to spend time on Earth after nearly five months surrounded by the arseholes that we call the Aschen. We decided that it wasn't fair on him to make him wait until your fleet was ready, so we rescued him from Volia ourselves, while giving the Arsehole Aschen Confederation a bloody nose. They'll hopefully think twice about going against anyone again, though they may eventually grow some balls and start getting too big for their boots again. We'll see you all in three to four hours. C.M-S & C.B-M-S. Oh, P.S. We apologise for scarring everyone with the view of Sirius' hairy hairy chest, he was a bit tardy. We warned him that we would be beaming him down at this time, and that he would only have time for a quick shower, so it's his own fault if he complains about not having any clothes; he was too slow_!"

"Well that was nice." Sinistra snorted, as James, with the help of Regulus, led Sirius over to an empty seat at the middle table, opposite James' seat, and between Orion and Regulus.

"What exactly is going on here?" Sirius asked, staring as he caught sight of his father, uncle, all three of his cousins, as well as various others, some whom he could have sworn were ardent followers of Voldemort, while he was sure the others were dead. He was even more surprised to see Harry and Lucius sitting next to each other, without fighting or glaring at each other.

"A lot." Remus replied, "we're reading a book about the future, or what would have been the future if the book hadn't arrived, and Harry, and a few others at this table, had their souls copied and sent back at the same time as the book, so they already know about everything that happened in the book. Harry and Lucius used some kind of time machine to travel back to eighty-one, replaced James, Lils, Mr and Mrs Potter, and your hero-kid brother, with replicas –"

"Creepy replicas." Regulus mumbled, shuddering slightly, "they looked so life-like and real."

"Yes, well, we've also learned some very interesting things, such as the fact that Dung is a cowardly little squit who would rather leave people to die than risk his own life to help them." Tonks grinned.

"Merlin." Sirius muttered, "I knew he wasn't exactly brave, but I can't believe he'd be that stupid."

"Nor could we." Remus grumbled, "but he did. In the fifth chapter of the book, we read that he abandoned Mad-Eye, Disapparating the moment Voldemort started trying to kill them."

"Urgh." Sirius groaned.

"We also read that Professor Dumbledore had been killed, and in his Will, he'd left Harry, Ron and Hermione some items, which were slightly confusing to begin with." Tonks continued. She was just listing things off, as she remembered them, not really in any particular order, as quickly as she could in an attempt to not hurt Sirius' feelings too much. "Then there was Bill's wedding; Death Eaters toppling the Minister and putting a puppet in his place; Kreacher using a saucepan to whack Dung because the cowardly squit had called all the stuff in Grimmauld Place junk; Umbitch being a bitch with power; the Trio breaking into and out of the Ministry; the trio spending endless weeks camping in the wilderness; Mouldy-Voldy being stupid enough to create Horcruxes; Ronny-boy going a bit bananas and leaving because he was afraid that his family were dead; Mouldy-Voldy killing Bathilda Bagshot and sticking his snake inside her; Mouldy-Voldy being overwhelmed by his memory of the night he was blasted out of his body, and dragging Harry into his mind to see it; Rita Skeeter being a heartless bitch while making a load of bollocks up about professor Dumbledore's life; Harry following someone's Patronus and finding the Sword of Gryffindor at the bottom of a frozen pond; Ronny-boy returning, getting the sword, and stabbing a Horcrux with it; the trio visiting Xeno Lovegood for story-time; Xeno attempting to save Luna by trying to turn them in and getting himself captured; a pirate radio-station which told the truth, not what Voldemort's flunkies wanted the public to know; the trio getting captured and taken to visit Death Eater central; the trio escaping, rescuing Dean Thomas, Luna, Mr Ollivander and a goblin, and liberating a few wands from the Death Eaters in the process; the discovery that Professor Dumbledore had been the master of the Elder Wand; the trio plotting to break into Gringotts with the help of the goblin they'd rescued; the trio breaking into Gringotts and being betrayed by the goblin; the trio flying out of the bank on the back of a dragon; the truth about Professor Dumbledore's past, without Skeeter's fiction; Mouldy-Voldy hiding one of his Horcruxes in Hogwarts; the trio finding and destroying two of the last Horcruxes; the near death's of Fred, Remus and I; and the fact that Harry was an accidental Horcrux too."

"That's the gist of what we've read so far." James added with a grimace. "In fact, the chapter we finished just before you arrived, gave us that last bit of information, as well as a lot more."

"What?" Sirius stammered, "don't tell me, Harry has to die."

"In the book, yes, but not now." Harry smiled, "the piece of Voldemort's soul that was stuck in my head has gone."

"When we've finished reading, as a group, it would be a good idea for you to read the chapters we've read already, so you can catch up." Lucius said gently.

"What the hell are you doing here, Death Eater?" Sirius snarled at the blond.

"Be careful what you say next, Dog-boy." Lily growled angrily.

"Every single person at this table is here for a reason." Harry said softly, but with an undercurrent of warning. "If you don't want to make everyone think you're a bigoted idiot, you should be aware that Lucius was a spy in Voldemort's ranks, just like Professor Snape."

"Things are not always what they appear." Orion added.

"I'm confused." Sirius groaned, "I was sure you were dead, father."

"I faked it." Orion grinned, "I couldn't stand your mother, and when she died, I was free of her, but with you in Azkaban, and your brother missing, I couldn't really enjoy that freedom."

"I was in a pretty similar position." Cygnus put in, "my wife had forbidden me from ever speaking to 'Dromeda, she'd written a bloody awful marriage contract for Bella, and forced me to sign it, and she'd laced that contract with an Imperius curse, which meant that both Bella and Rodolphus were stuck, following Voldemort, even though they had no desire to."

"I gather that their presence here means that they're free of that." Sirius surmised. He may have slacked off while at school, and not appeared to pay attention to his mother's lectures, but he wasn't an idiot, not by a long shot.

"Exactly." Harry nodded, "we freed them both, the night before last."

"How?" Sirius asked.

Harry smirked and waved his left hand in front of Sirius' face, showing his godfather the ring that declared that he was Lord Black.

"Oh." Sirius muttered, "so you never truly believed in what Mouldy-Shorts was doing."

"Not in the slightest." Orion snorted, "the only ones who did were your mother, Druella, your grandfather Pollux, and both of your grandmothers. I don't even think my father believes in that snake-faced bastard, or if he did, I don't think he does any more."

"Wow." Sirius murmured, "so, Harry, I can understand you wanting to rescue your parents and grandparents, but why decide to grab my little monster of a brother as well?"

"Because he's a hero." Harry replied, "he had found out that Voldemort had made a Horcrux, and knew where it was hidden. If we hadn't stepped in, he would have died trying to retrieve it. He would have gone, drunk Dementors' Essence, and then drowned in a lake, being attacked by Inferi, purely because he wanted to find and destroy that Horcrux. The replica we created, took his place."

"So you let someone die instead of my brother." Sirius gasped.

"The replica wasn't a human being." Lucius said, "it was technological, not biological. It looked real, acted real, and sounded real, but it wasn't. It had no need to breathe, or eat, or drink, but it did, purely because it was designed to mimic life as closely as possible. We could find it, and activate a programme to bring it out of the lake, and show you not only how real it is, but also how completely unaffected by the water it is."

"Merlin." Sirius whispered, "how does that work?"

"The replica is made up of millions of microscopic machines called nanites, which are far more robust than cockroaches." Lucius explained, "they are almost impossible to destroy completely, which does make them a bit dangerous, especially if they're programmed to replicate themselves without being kept under control, but they are extremely useful."

"Right." Sirius mumbled, deciding that he was going to wait until later to get a proper explanation of the replicas Harry and Lucius had created. For now, though, he was interested in clarifying something that Remus had said earlier. "Harry, Moony said that you had had your soul copied and sent back. How far back?"

"Fifty years, give or take a few months." Harry replied with a grin, "I was sixty-six."

"Let's read the last three or four chapters, and Sirius can catch up once we've finished." Albus said, glancing at his watch to check the time

"A very good idea." Dorea nodded, nudging her husband pointedly, to encourage him to pick the book back up and get on with reading.

"**The Forest Again**," Charlus read with a grimace.

"You're actually going into the forest to find him." Lily sighed.

"I had to." Harry smiled, "you'll see, if you let grandpa read."

Charlus read on with a smile on his face. He was ecstatic at the name his grandson had called him, and would have been floating in the clouds, if he had been able to.

Sirius looked around at everybody, slightly confused about what was going on, so Orion and Regulus did their best to explain what had happened during the previous few chapters, in as much detail as the could, in the shortest time possible, so they didn't miss too much.

**Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive.**

"Well, apparently you did, though I don't know how." Pomfrey said.

**His job was to walk calmly into Death's welcoming arms. Along the way, he was to dispose of Voldemort's remaining links to life, so that when at last he flung himself across Voldemort's path, and did not raise a wand to defend himself, the end would be clean, and the job that ought to have been done in Godric's Hollow would be finished. Neither would live, neither could survive.**

"It makes no sense." Dorea grumbled, leaning on her husband, while Sirius looked utterly heart-broken at the idea of his godson dying.

**He felt his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. How strange that in his dread of death, it pumped all the harder, valiantly keeping him alive.**

"How much more depressing can you get?" Dean groaned.

"And how much longer do we have to listen to these depressing thoughts?" Seamus added.

"I don't know, and probably for the entire chapter." Harry shrugged, "but I'm not certain."

**But it would have to stop, and soon. Its beats were numbered. How many would there be time for, as he rose and walked through the castle for the last time, out into the grounds and into the forest?**

**Terror washed over him as he lay on the floor, with that funeral drum pounding inside him. Would it hurt to die? All those times he had thought that it was about to happen and escaped, he had never really thought of the thing itself: his will to live had always been so much stronger than his fear of death. **

"Please stop thinking like that." James said quietly, hugging Lily close to him as she started crying again.

"What d'you expect me to think about at a time like that?" Harry asked, genuinely curious.

"Anything." Sirius grimaced, "anything that isn't about death."

**Yet it did not occur to him now to try to escape, to outrun Voldemort. It was over, he knew it, and all that was left was the thing itself: dying.**

**If he could only have died on that summer's night when he had left number four, Privet Drive, for the last time, when the noble phoenix feather wand had saved him! If he could only have died like Hedwig, so quickly he would not have known it had happened! Or if he could have launched himself in front of a wand to save someone he loved … he envied even his parents' deaths now. This cold-blooded walk to his own destruction would require a different kind of bravery. **

"The kind of bravery that is very rare." Albus sighed, "not even I would be brave enough to just walk to my death."

"And yet you begged for it." Harry said.

"I am already dying, and while I may have accepted that I will not live beyond the end of this school year, I do know that I am only brave enough to decide how I want to go." Albus smiled.

**He felt his fingers trembling slightly and made an effort to control them, although no one could see him; the portraits on the walls were all empty.**

**Slowly, very slowly, he sat up, and as he did so he felt more alive and more aware of his own living body than ever before. Why had he never appreciated what a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart? It would all be gone … or at least, he would be gone from it. His breath came slow and deep, and his mouth and throat were completely dry, but so were his eyes.**

"Merlin, I would have been in floods of tears if it was me." Lavender whispered.

"Crying wouldn't solve anything." Harry sighed, "it would have just slowed me down, and I just wanted to get it over with."

"It truly does take courage to willingly walk to ones' death without crying." Narcissa whispered, "I think many of us would cry if we were in that position."

**Dumbledore's betrayal was almost nothing.**

"I would be a bit more irritated about that, personally." Remus said.

"There is information in the next chapter that will probably make you change your mind." Harry smiled.

"I'll hold you to that." Remus grimaced, making Sirius wonder just what Dumbledore had done to make Remus so annoyed.

**Of course there had been a bigger plan: Harry had simply been too foolish to see it,**

"Not foolish." Padma said, "it is harder to see the bigger picture when you are so close to the situation. If you hadn't been one of the ones involved, you may well have seen it."

**he realized that now. He had never questioned his own assumption that Dumbledore wanted him alive. Now he saw that his life span had always been determined by how long it took to eliminate all the Horcruxes. Dumbledore had passed the job of destroying them to him, and obediently he had continued to chip away at the bonds tying not only Voldemort, but himself, to life! How neat, how elegant, not to waste any more lives, but to give the dangerous task to the boy who had already been marked for slaughter,**

"That does make perfect sense, unfortunately." Minerva sighed, "no matter how much I want to be angry at you for that, I can't, because it does, sadly, make sense."

**and whose death would not be a calamity, but another blow against Voldemort.**

"But it would be a calamity to all those who care for you." Ginny sighed.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met, but you do look vaguely familiar." Sirius commented, staring at her, while trying to ignore what Charlus was reading out about his godson's thoughts.

"You have met me Padfoot." Ginny giggled, "but last time we met, I was a redhead, and didn't know that I was not a Weasley by blood."

"Huh?" Sirius asked, not quite understanding.

"She's my daughter." Bellatrix whispered, "when Rodolphus and I were sent to Azkaban after our farce of a trial, she was adopted by the Weasleys, and glamoured to look like one of them, for her own protection."

"That's Ginny?" Sirius squeaked, "Merlin."

"Yep." Ginny nodded, "I've got used to the change in parentage, but not the fact that my boobs have grown as much as they have."

"Merlin." Sirius whispered, subsiding into incomprehensible mumbles at the new information.

**And Dumbledore had known that Harry would not duck out, that he would keep going to the end, even though it was his end, because he had taken trouble to get to know him, hadn't he? Dumbledore knew, as Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else die for him now that he had discovered it was in his power to stop it.**

"But how do you know that Voldemort won't just continue killing if you die?" Neville demanded angrily, "how do you know that your death won't be in vain?"

"Because willingly dying, with the intention of protecting everyone, will give them some meagre amount of protection." Harry replied, "you'll see what I mean when we get to the last chapter."

**The images of Fred, Lupin, and Tonks lying dead in the Great Hall forced their way back into his mind's eye, and for a moment he could hardly breathe. Death was impatient …**

**But Dumbledore had overestimated him. He had failed: The snake survived. **

"No, I don't think he did." Minerva said shrewdly, "I think he knew that there was a chance that the snake would survive."

"I do believe you are right, Minerva." Albus smiled, "I know that Voldemort will be terrified when he discovers that his Horcruxes are not safe, and want to protect Nagini to the best of his ability."

**One Horcrux remained to bind Voldemort to the earth, even after Harry had been killed. True, that would mean an easier job for somebody. He wondered who would do it … Ron and Hermione would know what needed to be done, of course … that would have been why Dumbledore wanted him to confide in two others … so that if he fulfilled his true destiny a little early, they could carry on …**

"That was part of the reason, but the main reason was because I knew they would not want to let you go after the Horcruxes alone." Albus said.

"When is this book set?" Sirius wondered.

"Next year." Hermione replied, "the events in this chapter, the next two chapters and the last eight that we've already read, occurred on the first and second of May nineteen ninety-eight."

"Well no wonder you and Ron wouldn't want to let Harry go off on his own." Sirius said.

"I still think they should have left it to the adults." Mrs Weasley grumbled.

"I had thought that you were coming to understand that you can't keep treating your children like babies when they're not." Dorea groaned, "do remember what young Theodore Lupin said about his wife yesterday. He did say that her father had made sure you couldn't interfere in her life by not letting you anywhere near her. That is a clear sign that you are way too overbearing, and if you continue the way you are, all of your sons will leave and not return until their own children are of age."

"Don't forget that three seventeen-year-olds managed to do what the headmaster couldn't, and he's a hundred and fifteen." Lily added, glaring at the Weasley matriarch.

"I agree with the ladies." Sirius nodded, "Harry, Ron and Hermione have faced more than any Order member, and therefore I would trust them."

**Like rain on a cold window, these thoughts pattered against the hard surface of the incontrovertible truth, which was that he must die. _I must die_. It must end.**

"Oh." Alicia gasped, having worked something out.

"What's wrong?" Angelina asked worriedly.

"The Snitch." Alicia grinned, "Harry can open the Snitch and find out what's inside."

"How the hell did you work that out?" Oliver asked.

"You remember how, in the chapter about professor Dumbledore's Will, Harry was given a Snitch, the Snitch he caught in his mouth?" Alicia smirked, answering the question that had been on the tip of Sirius' tongue as well as Oliver's.

"Yeah, what about it?" Oliver nodded, wondering where her thoughts were taking her.

"When he touched it with his lips, it had a message on it that said, 'I open at the close'." Alicia said, "it means, I open at death. The close, means the end, death."

"Oh I see." Oliver whispered, realising what his former Chaser had been talking about.

**Ron and Hermione seemed a long way away, in a far-off country; he felt as though he had parted from them long ago. There would be no good-byes and no explanations, he was determined of that. This was a journey they could not take together, and the attempts they would make to stop him would waste valuable time. **

"We would have tried." Ron admitted, "we didn't see the memories, so we wouldn't know what you were going to do, or why."

"Of course we would have tried." Hermione snorted, "and if we couldn't persuade you, we would have stuck you in a body-bind and put you somewhere so you couldn't."

"Which is why I didn't go to you." Harry said, "I knew that there was nothing to stop me, which made it easier to walk to my death."

"At least you survived." Hermione sighed.

**He looked down at the battered gold watch he had received on his seventeenth birthday.**

"Whose watch was it?" Sirius asked nervously. He wondered whether someone had been disrespectful enough to take James' watch off his best friend's wrist, or found Charlus', and somehow got that to Harry.

"Fabian Prewett's." Harry replied, "Mrs Weasley gave it to me."

"That was nice of her." Sirius whispered.

**Nearly half of the hour allotted by Voldemort for his surrender had elapsed.**

**He stood up. His heart was leaping against his ribs like a frantic bird. Perhaps it knew it had little time left, perhaps it was determined to fulfil a lifetime's beats before the end. He did not look back as he closed the office door.**

**The castle was empty. He felt ghostly striding through it alone, as if he had already died. The portrait people were still missing from their frames; the whole place was eerily still, as if all its remaining lifeblood were concentrated in the Great Hall where the dead and the mourners were crammed.**

Everyone bowed their heads once again, in respect. They knew that the people who had died in the battle, probably wouldn't die this time around, but it would have been disrespectful to ignore their sacrifice.

**Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak over himself and descended through the floors, at last walking down the marble staircase into the entrance hall. Perhaps some tiny part of him hoped to be sensed, to be seen, to be stopped, but the Cloak was, as ever, impenetrable, perfect, and he reached the front doors easily.**

**Then Neville nearly walked into him. **

"I hope you can stop him." Lily whispered.

"I doubt it." Neville sighed, "Harry is, far more stubborn than anyone else I know, I don't think I could stop him. I'd just manage to delay him, and he would still go."

**He was one half of a pair that was carrying a body in from the grounds. Harry glanced down and felt another dull blow to his stomach: Colin Creevey, **

"NO!" Dennis roared, surprising a lot of people, who didn't think such a small boy could make such a loud noise.

"Den, I'm not dead." Colin said, "remember what Harry and Hermione said, I married Ginny, so I can't be dead."

"But … but … the book said you were d-d-d-dead … that Neville was helping carry your b-b-b-body." Dennis stuttered.

"I don't know how, but apparently not." Colin sighed, grabbing his brother in a tight hug.

"So how did he survive?" Minerva asked, her heart going out to the little third year, who was sobbing brokenly in his brother's arms.

"He was hit by a curse that mimics death." Hermione replied, "it looks very like the Killing Curse, being about the same colour, but doesn't kill the people it hits. Its effects are vaguely similar to what Shakespeare wrote about in Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet took a potion that made her appear dead, for twenty-four hours."

"I understand." Minerva nodded, "I don't think that curse has a name, but it was created after Shakespeare's death, by a wizard who had read the bard's plays, and wanted the wizarding world to know of the man's genius. It is, apart from appearing the same colour as the Killing Curse, a relatively harmless curse, though when the victim wakes up, their relatives get the shock of their lives. I did read that the grandfather of one victim, had a heart attack when his grandson woke up twenty-four hours after being hit by the curse."

**though under-age, must have sneaked back just as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had done. He was tiny in death.**

"Tiny in life too." Ginny said, giggling slightly.

"**You know what? I can manage him alone, Neville," said Oliver Wood, and he heaved Colin over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and carried him into the Great Hall.**

**Neville leaned against the door frame for a moment and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked like an old man. **

"Thanks for that." Neville mumbled sarcastically.

**Then he set off on the steps again into the darkness to recover more bodies.**

**Harry took one glance back at the entrance of the Great Hall. People were moving around, trying to comfort each other, drinking, kneeling beside the dead, but he could not see any of the people he loved, no hint of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, or any of the other Weasleys, no Luna.**

"You really think of me as a friend?" Luna asked, completely losing her dreaminess as she leapt up and gave him the biggest hug she had ever given anyone.

"Of course I do Luna." Harry grinned, trying not get any of her hair in his mouth. He could feel his head getting wet due to the little blonde girl's tears.

**He felt he would have given all the time remaining to him for just one last look at them; but then, would he ever have the strength to stop looking? It was better like this.**

"No, it's not, but I can see why you'd think that." Hermione sighed.

**He moved down the steps and out into the darkness. It was nearly four in the morning, and the deathly stillness of the grounds felt as though they were holding their breath, waiting to see whether he could do what he must.**

**Harry moved toward Neville, who was bending over another body.**

"**Neville."**

"**Blimey, Harry, you nearly gave me heart failure!"**

"Good, someone can now stop him." James smiled.

"I seriously doubt that." Sirius sighed, "Harry's always been bloody stubborn."

"I didn't tell him where I was going, I couldn't let him stop me." Harry said.

"So why did you take the cloak off and let him see you, if you're not going to stop?" Lily asked.

"There was something I needed to tell him." Harry smirked.

**Harry had pulled off the Cloak: the idea had come to him out of nowhere, born out of a desire to make absolutely sure.**

"**Where are you going, alone?" Neville asked suspiciously.**

"Good, be suspicious, question him." James mumbled.

"**It's all part of the plan," said Harry. "There's something I've got to do. Listen – Neville –"**

"**Harry!" Neville looked suddenly scared. "Harry, you're not thinking of handing yourself over?"**

"**No," Harry lied easily. **

"Urgh." Those who cared for Harry groaned. None of them wanted him to walk into Voldemort's camp, but there seemed to be nothing anyone could do to make him turn around. Even Sirius was disappointed, but he understood that Harry would not change his mind once he'd made it, and that trying to get him to do so would just cause more problems.

"'**Course not … this is something else. But I might be out of sight for a while. You know Voldemort's snake. Neville? He's got a huge snake … calls it Nagini …"**

"I can't believe it." Neville muttered, "you're telling me to kill that thing?"

"Yep." Harry grinned.

"But …" Neville stammered.

"Yes, you can do it, you just need to believe in yourself." Harry smiled.

"**I've heard, yeah … what about it?"**

"**It's got to be killed. Ron and Hermione know that, but just in case they –"**

Ron and Hermione flinched, knowing that Harry was going to talk about the possibility that they too could die, and neither wanted to think about that.

No one was particularly calm about the thought of Harry's best friends joining the long list of those who had sacrificed their lives, but fortunately, there didn't seem to be any screams or denials, everyone too upset to think of talking, especially those who knew Hermione and Ron.

**The awfulness of that possibility smothered him for a moment, made it impossible to keep talking. But he pulled himself together again: this was crucial, he must be like Dumbledore, keep a cool head, make sure there were backups, others to carry on. Dumbledore had died knowing that three people still knew about the Horcruxes; now Neville would take Harry's place: there would still be three in the secret.**

"That still doesn't mean that I can do something that vital." Neville mumbled to himself.

"But it doesn't mean you can't either." Dean pointed out quietly.

"I'm not strong like them." Neville snorted bitterly, "I can't do what they do. I'm just a clumsy kid who can't do anything right."

"Don't say that." Dean said, "you're stronger than you think. If necessary, you can kill the snake."

"You're definitely strong enough." Sirius grinned, "you were one of the last two standing when the Order arrived during the battle last year. Even though you had a broken nose, and were using Hermione's wand, you were still there and willing to fight. That's gotta give you some confidence."

"**Just in case they're – busy – and you get the chance –"**

"**Kill the snake?"**

"**Kill the snake," Harry repeated.**

"**All right, Harry. You're okay, are you?"**

"**I'm fine. Thanks, Neville."**

**But Neville seized his wrist as Harry made to move on.**

"**We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?"**

"**Yeah, I –"**

**The suffocating feeling extinguished the end of the sentence; he could not go on. Neville did not seem to find it strange. He patted Harry on the shoulder, released him, and walked away to look for more bodies.**

Everyone shuddered, feeling that thrill of fear that accompanied the realisation that battle wasn't all glory and heroism; it was messy, and bloody, and painful, but they knew that people would have to fight to stop Voldemort.

**Harry swung the Cloak back over himself and walked on. Someone else was moving not far away, stooping over another prone figure on the ground. He was feet away from her when he realized it was Ginny.**

**He stopped in his tracks. She was crouching over a girl who was whispering for her mother.**

"**It's all right," Ginny was saying. "It's ok. We're going to get you inside."**

"**But I want to go _home_," whispered the girl. "I don't want to fight any more!"**

"No one does, but we must." Albus sighed. He did not want to fight any more; he'd had enough of that after he defeated Grindelwald.

"**I know," said Ginny, and her voice broke. "It's going to be all right."**

**Ripples of cold undulated over Harry's skin. He wanted to shout out to the night, he wanted Ginny to know that he was there, he wanted her to know where he was going. He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent back home …**

**But he _was_ home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here …**

"I felt like that too." Sirius whispered, though he was barely heard over the sounds of the mothers in the hall sobbing into their hankies.

"As I'm sure many other children who had horrible homes, did, over the many centuries since Hogwarts was founded." Orion sighed quietly.

**Ginny was kneeling beside the injured girl now, holding her hand. With a huge effort Harry forced himself on. He thought he saw Ginny look around as he passed, and wondered whether she had sensed someone walking nearby, but he did not speak, and he did not look back.**

**Hagrid's hut loomed out of the darkness. There were no lights, no sound of Fang scrabbling at the door, his bark booming in welcome. All those visits to Hagrid, and the gleam of the copper kettle on the fire, and rock cakes and giant grubs, and his great bearded face, and Ron vomiting slugs, **

"Very funny, but absolutely disgusting." Hermione smiled.

"Yeah, that was the fault of that stupid wand." Ron grimaced.

"Which turned out useful in the end." Harry smirked, "Lockhart Obliviated himself with it."

"Yeah, that was the only good thing that wand was able to do." Ron sighed.

**and Hermione helping him save Norbert …**

Hagrid smiled fondly, remembering the short time he'd had with his baby, and was grateful to Harry and Hermione for saving said baby.

**He moved on, and now he reached the edge of the forest, and he stopped.**

**A swarm of Dementors was gliding amongst the trees; he could feel their chill, and he was not sure he would be able to pass safely through it. He had no strength left for a Patronus. He could no longer control his own trembling. It was not, after all, so easy to die. Every second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on his face, was so precious: to think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and he was clinging to each second. At the same time he thought that he would not be able to go on, and knew that he must. The long game was ended, the Snitch had been caught, it was time to leave the air …**

"I thought so." Alicia whispered, "but I hoped I was wrong, and it didn't mean that."

**The Snitch. His nerveless fingers fumbled for a moment with the pouch at his neck and he pulled it out.**

_**I open at the close.**_

**Breathing fast and hard, he stared down at it. Now that he wanted time to move as slowly as possible, it seemed to have sped up, and understanding was coming so fast it seemed to have bypassed thought. This was the close. This was the moment.**

**He pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered, "I am about to die."**

"Unfortunately true." Lily whimpered, leaning on James for comfort.

**The metal shell broke open. He lowered his shaking hand, raised Draco's wand beneath the Cloak, and murmured, "_Lumos._"**

**The black stone with is jagged crack running down the centre sat in the two halves of the Snitch. The Resurrection Stone had cracked down the vertical line representing the Elder Wand. The triangle and circle representing the Cloak and the stone were still discernible.**

"You actually gave him the stone." Luna sighed.

"He is worthy of it." Albus smiled, "he won't give in to the temptation, not like I did, and I think it would be useful for him, for this one thing."

"You mean the Hallows actually exist?" Sirius blinked.

"Yes." Albus nodded, "they do indeed, and all three are in this school right now."

"Merlin." Sirius muttered.

**And again Harry understood without having to think. It did not matter about bringing them back, for he was about to join them. He was not really fetching them: they were fetching him.**

"But who?" Remus wondered.

"You'll see." Harry smiled.

**He closed his eyes and turned the stone over in his hand three times.**

**He knew it had happened, because he heard slight movements around him that suggested frail bodies shifting their footing on the earthy, twig-strewn ground that marked the outer edge of the forest. He opened his eyes and looked around.**

**They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. **

Ginny shuddered, remembering the ghostly form that had appeared out of the diary, just before she lost consciousness.

**Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward him. And on each face, there was the same loving smile.**

**James**

"But how?" James wondered, "if you replaced us before we died, how was I there?"

"I don't know." Harry sighed, "that is something I have never been able to work out. Maybe it happened while you were asleep, and that wasn't your spirit, but an Astral Projection instead."

"That could explain it." Albus mused, "no one knows much about Astral Projection, but I do know that it is something that only occurs when a person is asleep or unconscious, and they don't remember anything afterwards. The only way to know whether someone has experienced an Astral Projection, is to speak to those who see projections."

**was exactly the same height as Harry. He was wearing the clothes in which he had died, and his hair was untidy and ruffled, and his glasses were a little lopsided, like Mr Weasley's.**

"I really ought to get them fixed." Mr Weasley chuckled.

**Sirius**

"I wouldn't have thought it possible for an Astral Projection to appear, when the person is not on Earth." Regulus muttered. "I would have thought the distance make it impossible."

"There may not be any limitations to Astral Projection." Albus sighed, "as I said, hardly anyone knows anything about it, and maybe the Astral Plane, which is something that no mortal could truly comprehend, is limitless."

**was tall and handsome, and younger by far than Harry had seen him in life. He loped with an easy grace, his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face.**

**Lupin was younger too, **

"So the three true Marauders are there." James said with a sad smile.

"And Harry, in the book, is not using my first name." Remus muttered.

"You were a professor, and I still thought of you as a teacher, even if you weren't one any longer." Harry shrugged.

"I still don't understand why Albus would think employing a Marauder as a teacher would be wise." Sirius laughed, "how could he decide to give a prankster a position of power like that?"

"Young Remus not the only prankster who got given a position of power." Abraxas smirked, "Minerva and Poppy were pranksters too."

"Merlin." Sirius mumbled.

**and much less shabby, and his hair was thicker and darker. He looked happy to be back in this familiar place, scene of so many adolescent wanderings.**

**Lily's smile was widest of all. She pushed her long hair back as she drew closer to him, and her green eyes, so like his, searched his face hungrily, as though she would never be able to look at him enough.**

"I don't think I could ever look away." Lily whispered.

"No mother could, not if she had missed sixteen years of her child's life." Narcissa said, with Mrs Weasley, Dorea and Andromeda nodding in agreement.

"**You've been so brave."**

**He could not speak. His eyes feasted on her, and he thought that he would like to stand and look at her forever, and that would be enough.**

"I'm not surprised." Snape murmured, having felt exactly the same way at the beginning of the book, when Lily had walked into the hall behind Harry.

"**You are nearly there," said James. "Very close. We are … so proud of you."**

"**Does it hurt?"**

"It all depends on the way in which you die." Helena whispered, "I was stabbed, which was painful."

"And I died in my sleep." The Fat Friar, ghost of Hufflepuff, grinned, speaking for the first time since he had drifted into the hall with the other ghosts. "That was peaceful and painless."

"Lucky you." Nick snarked, "at least you didn't have to suffer the agony caused by an inept executioner hacking away at your neck forty-five times."

"What the hell did you do to be executed?" Blaise asked, his curiosity overwhelming his caution.

"I was asked, by one of the ladies-in-waiting at the court of King Henry, to straighten her crooked teeth, and failed." Nick sighed, knowing that he was probably going to shatter the dreams of a few of the male students, "she grew a tusk instead, and I was immediately arrested, locked in a dungeon and sentenced to death."

"Merlin." Blaise mumbled.

**The childish question had fallen from Harry's lips before he could stop it.**

"**Dying? Not at all," said Sirius. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep."**

"**And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over," said Lupin.**

"Of course he does." Lucius sighed.

"**I didn't want you to die," Harry said. These words came without his volition. "Any of you. I'm sorry –"**

**He addressed Lupin more than any of them, beseeching him.**

"– **right after you'd had your son … Remus, I'm sorry –"**

"**I am sorry too," said Lupin. "Sorry I will never know him … but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."**

"I'm sure he would understand." Andromeda said quietly, "I would tell him, but having his parents alive would be better. I'm just grateful that Mr Lupin was able to get you to safety in time to save you."

"Neither of us would be able to stay away from the fight." Tonks grimaced, "that's just not who we are."

**A chilly breeze that seemed to emanate from the heart of the forest lifted the hair at Harry's brow. He knew that they would not tell him to go, that it would have to be his decision.**

"**You'll stay with me?"**

"**Until the very end," said James.**

"**They won't be able to see you?" asked Harry.**

"**We are part of you," said Sirius. "Invisible to anyone else."**

**Harry looked at his mother.**

"**Stay close to me," he said quietly.**

"Of course I would." Lily whispered, "I don't think I could leave you, not then."

**And he set of. The Dementors' chill did not overcome him; he passed through it with his companions, and they acted like Patronuses to him, and together they marched through the old trees that grew closely together, their branches tangled, their roots gnarled and twisted underfoot. Harry clutched the Cloak tightly around him in the darkness, travelling deeper and deeper into the forest, with no idea where exactly Voldemort was, but sure that he would find him. Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Sirius, Lupin, and Lily, and their presence was his courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.**

"I think we know that there's a chance that you might survive, somehow." James muttered, "otherwise, we wouldn't be so calm about it."

**His body and mind felt oddly disconnected now, his limbs working without conscious instruction, as if he were passenger, not driver, in the body he was about to leave. The dead who walked beside him through the forest were much more real to him now than the living back at the castle: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and all the others were the ones who felt like ghosts as he stumbled and slipped toward the end of his life, toward Voldemort …**

**A thud and a whisper: some other living creature had stirred close by. Harry stopped under the Cloak, peering around, listening, and his mother and father, Lupin and Sirius stopped too.**

"**Someone there," came a rough whisper close at hand. "He's got an Invisibility Cloak. Could it be –?"**

**Two figures emerged from behind a nearby tree: Their wands flared, and Harry saw Yaxley and Dolohov peering into the darkness, directly at the place Harry, his mother and father and Sirius and Lupin stood. Apparently they could not see anything.**

"You are wearing the cloak." James said, trying to grin.

"And, as far as anyone can tell, Astral Projections are only visible to certain people, depending on the nature of the projection." Albus added.

"**Definitely heard something," said Yaxley. "Animal, d'you reckon?"**

"**That head case Hagrid kept a whole bunch of stuff in here," said Dolohov, glancing over his shoulder.**

"Hagrid isn't a head case." Remus snapped angrily, saying what was on the minds of Hagrid's friends.

"Besi'es, mos' o' th' animals were alrea'y in there." Hagrid shrugged, "the on'y animals I 'ad were the Thes'rals and Aragog."

**Yaxley looked down at his watch.**

"**Time's nearly up. Potter's had his hour. He's not coming."**

"Oh yes he is." Ginny grumbled irritably. "He's standing right in front of you, waiting for you to leave so he can follow."

"**And he was sure he'd come! He won't be happy."**

"**Better go back," said Yaxley. "Find out what the plan is now."**

**He and Dolohov turned and walked deeper into the forest. Harry followed them, knowing that they would lead him exactly where he wanted to go. He glanced sideways, and his mother smiled at him, and his father nodded encouragement.**

**They had travelled on mere minutes when Harry saw light ahead, and Yaxley and Dolohov stepped out into a clearing that Harry knew had been the place where the monstrous Aragog had once lived. The remnants of his vast web were there still, but the swarms of descendants he had spawned had been driven out by the Death Eaters, to fight for their cause.**

"I wouldn't have gone anywhere near that clearing if I'd known that." Lucius gulped, "not even for all the gold in Gringotts."

"And you'd have a line of people standing right next to you, with the same thought in mind." Ron nodded with a grimace.

**A fire burned in the middle of the clearing, and its flickering light fell over a crowd of completely silent, watchful Death Eaters. Some of them were still masked and hooded; others showed their faces. Two giants sat on the outskirts of the group, casting massive shadows over the scene, their faces cruel, rough-hewn like rock. Harry saw Fenrir, skulking, chewing his long nails; **

"He always does that." Snape grumbled, "I almost wonder if I shouldn't try to create a potion that will make people stop chewing their nails. It's a disgusting habit."

"Then you might be horrified to know that before the invention of scissors, the only way to keep nails short was to bite them." Hermione giggled.

"Urgh." Lavender retched.

"Exactly." Hermione nodded.

**the great blond Rowle was dabbing at his bleeding lip. He saw Lucius Malfoy, who looked defeated and terrified, **

"Of course I was terrified." Lucius mumbled, resting his head on Harry's shoulder. Sirius raised an eyebrow at the intimacy in that action, but because the story was getting a bit intense, he chose not to mention it.

**and Narcissa, whose eyes were sunken and full of apprehension.**

Narcissa winced. She didn't understand why Voldemort had dragged her there too. She wasn't a fighter, despite knowing a vast number of curses and spells, and without a wand, she would have been a liability, to both sides. Besides, she hated the idea of spending any time around Voldemort, and couldn't pretend to be looking forward to that.

**Every eye was fixed upon Voldemort, who stood with his head bowed, and his white hands folded over the Elder Wand in front of him. He might have been praying, or else counting silently in his mind, and Harry, standing still on the edge of the scene, though absurdly of a child counting in a game of hide-and-seek. Behind his head, still swirling and coiling, the great snake Nagini floated in her glittering, charmed cage, like a monstrous halo.**

**When Dolohov and Yaxley rejoined the circle, Voldemort looked up.**

"**No sign of him, my Lord," said Dolohov.**

"That doesn't mean he's not there." Dorea whispered, "he does have an invisibility cloak."

**Voldemort's expression did not change. The red eyes seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew the Elder Wand between his long fingers.**

"**My Lord –"**

**Bellatrix had spoken: she sat closest to Voldemort, dishevelled, her face a little bloody but otherwise unharmed.**

"Was any of the blood yours?" Andromeda asked, wanting to know if her big sister had been injured at all during the battle.

"Yeah, some of it was." Bellatrix sighed, "I had a deep cut on my head, and that bled a lot. I had a concussion as well, so it's a little fuzzy."

**Voldemort raised his hand to silence her, and she did not speak another word, but eyed him in worshipful fascination.**

"Urgh, I really wish we had been strong enough to resist that damn contract." Bellatrix groaned.

"**I thought he would come," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames. "I expected him to come."**

**Nobody spoke. They seemed as scared as Harry, whose heart was now throwing itself against his ribs as though determined to escape the body he was about to cast aside. His hands were sweating as he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath his robes, with his wand. He did not want to be tempted to fight.**

"Why not?" Bill asked, "I would have tried to take out as many as possible in that situation."

"It was my sacrifice." Harry replied, "to willingly die without a fight, to sacrifice myself for the world, would hopefully give everyone the same protection that I had had since Halloween eighty-one."

"**I was, it seems … mistaken," said Voldemort.**

"**You weren't."**

**Harry said it as loudly as he could, with all the force he could muster: he did not want to sound afraid. **

"You did very well." Bellatrix smiled slightly, "as I said, it's a little fuzzy, so I don't really remember much of that night, but I do remember that."

"You truly did not sound scared, at all." Rodolphus added, "that's when it hit me, Voldemort was going to lose, even if you weren't around to finish him."

**The Resurrection Stone slipped from between his numb fingers, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw his parents, Sirius, and Lupin vanish as he stepped forward into the firelight. At that moment he felt that nobody mattered but Voldemort. It was just the two of them.**

**The illusion was gone as soon as it had come. The giants roared as the Death Eaters rose together, and there were many cries, gasps, even laughter.**

"Who laughed?" James growled.

"I don't actually know who they were, they were still wearing masks, so I never saw their faces." Bellatrix replied.

"I think it might have been Yaxley and Mulciber." Lucius mused.

**Voldemort had frozen where he stood, but his red eyes had found Harry, and he stared as Harry moved toward him, with nothing but the fire between them.**

**Then a voice yelled –**

"**HARRY! NO!"**

**He turned: Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a tree nearby. **

"Thank Merlin he's still alive." Lily sighed in relief.

**His massive body shook the branches overhead as he struggled, desperate.**

"**NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT'RE YEH –?"**

"**QUIET!" shouted Rowle, and with a flick of his wand, Hagrid was silenced.**

**Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking eagerly from Voldemort to Harry, her breast heaving.**

"Standing up with a concussion was probably not a good idea." Andromeda said.

"Probably not." Bellatrix grimaced, "but I didn't really have control over my own actions."

**The only things that moved were the flames and the snake, coiling and uncoiling in the glittering cage behind Voldemort's head.**

**Harry could feel his wand against his chest, but he made no attempt to draw it. He knew that the snake was too well protected, knew that if he managed to point the wand at Nagini, fifty curses would hit him first. And still, Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and now Voldemort tilted his head a little to the side, considering the boy standing before him, and a singularly mirthless smile curled the lipless mouth.**

"He really thinks you're going to try and run, now that you're there." Remus said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"**Harry Potter," he said, very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "The boy who lived."**

"I'm sure you mean the boy who keeps giving Death the middle fingered salute." Lucius smirked.

"That too." Bellatrix giggled, "I'm sure I wouldn't have survived the things Harry has."

**None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his –**

**Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear –**

**He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.**

"That's the end of the chapter." Charlus said, breaking the silence.

"I'll go next." Luna smiled.

"Of course." Charlus nodded, levitating the book over to her, letting it come to rest right in front of her.


	43. Chapter 43

**King's Cross**

"**King's Cross**," Luna read.

"What on Earth are you doing there?" Oliver asked.

"You'll see." Harry smirked.

"Now we're actually going to find out what Harry was blathering on about when he told us what happened." Hermione grinned.

"I did the best I could to explain it, but it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to explain." Harry snorted.

**He lay face down, listening to the silence. He was perfectly alone. Nobody was watching. Nobody else was there. He was not perfectly sure that he was there himself.**

**A long time later, or maybe no time at all, it came to him that he must exist, must be more than disembodied thought, because he was lying, definitely lying, on some surface. Therefore he had a sense of touch, and the thing against which he lay existed too.**

"I'm confused." Sirius said, scratching his head.

"This is not exactly surprising." Remus sniggered, "we're all confused."

"Harry's in limbo." Luna giggled, "and it's not supposed to be understandable."

"So when we die, we'll end up there?" Padma frowned.

"Limbo is subjective, so we won't all end up at a train station, but we may go to limbo." Luna shrugged, "who knows? We may not end up in limbo at all, and just go on to the afterlife."

**Almost as soon as he had reached this conclusion, Harry became conscious that he was naked. **

"Do you often lie on the ground naked?" Rodolphus felt he just had to ask, though wasn't entirely certain that he wanted the answer.

"Only when there's no bed or anything else to lie on." Harry chuckled.

"Indeed, it may not be particularly comfortable, but the floor can work as a reasonable substitute for a bed when you're in desperate need of one." Lucius agreed, though he wasn't actually thinking about the few time he and Harry had ended up having sex on the floor. Instead, he was remembering the day they had made do with the floor when they gave birth to Al and their first set of twins.

"Yes, the day Al decided he wasn't going to hang around and wanted to be born in the middle of bloody nowhere." Harry sighed, "with Tarquinia and Titania intent on joining him."

"Oh dear." Pomfrey whispered, "I hope all three were healthy, and no complications arose from that.

"Oh they were fine." Lucius smiled, "three perfectly healthy children."

"That's good to hear." Pomfrey sighed.

Sirius was completely lost, but knew that that was the wrong time to ask, so decided to wait until the end of the book before grilling Harry for answers.

**Convinced as he was of his total solitude, this did not concern him, but it did intrigue him slightly. **

"OK." James muttered confusedly, "so you aren't worried about being seen?"

"The book did say I was alone." Harry laughed, "the whole bloody thing was intriguing and curious."

**He wondered whether, as he could feel, he would be able to see. In opening them, he discovered that he had eyes.**

**He lay in a bright mist, though it was not like mist he had ever experienced before. His surroundings were not hidden by cloudy vapour; rather the cloudy vapour had not yet formed into surroundings. The floor on which he lay seemed to be white, neither warm nor cold, but simply there, a flat, blank something on which to be.**

**He sat up. His body appeared unscathed. He touched his face. He was not wearing glasses any more.**

"No wonder you can only see mist." James laughed, "put your glasses on and then you'll see more."

"He doesn't need glasses in this bit." Luna smiled, "the physical representation of a person in limbo does not have the scars or imperfections they have in life."

**Then a noise reached him through the unformed nothingness that surrounded him: the small soft thumpings of something that flapped, flailed, and struggled. It was a pitiful noise, yet also slightly indecent. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he was eavesdropping on something furtive, shameful.**

**For the first time, he wished he were clothed.**

"So do I." Ron snorted, "I'd rather not hear any more about my brother in all but blood butt naked. I've walked in on the two of them enough times to have seen more than I ever wished to."

**Barely had the wish formed in his head than robes appeared a short distance away. He took them and pulled them on. They were soft, clean, and warm. It was extraordinary how they had appeared just like that, the moment he had wanted them …**

**He stood up, looking around. Was he in some great Room of Requirement? **

"No, I don't think so." Lily said, "I think you're at a cross-roads, between life and death, and as the chapter title suggested, it looks like King's Cross, which many muggle-borns think of as where the muggle world becomes the magical world, at Platform nine-and-three-quarters."

"Limbo." Luna giggled.

**The longer he looked, the more there was to see. A great domed glass roof glittered high above him in sunlight. Perhaps it was a palace. All was hushed and still, except for those odd thumping and whimpering noises coming from somewhere close by in the mist …**

"Those noises sound rather disturbing." Lavender commented.

"Not as disturbing as the thing making them." Harry grimaced, looking slightly green.

**Harry turned slowly on the spot, and his surroundings seemed to invent themselves before his eyes. A wide-open space, bright and clean, a hall larger by far than the Great Hall, with that clear domed glass ceiling. It was quite empty. He was the only person there, except for –**

**He recoiled. He had spotted the thing that was making the noises. It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breath.**

"What the hell is that thing?" Sirius asked disgustedly.

"It looked a bit like the rudimentary body Voldemort managed to make before his rebirth." Harry grimaced.

"That means it must have something to do with him." Charlus mused.

"I have a feeling that it might be the piece of his soul that was in Harry." Dorea said pensively, "and if it is, then Voldemort himself may also be suffering some side effect of hitting Harry with that curse."

"He was." Bellatrix nodded, "the moment the curse hit, they both fell. Voldemort came around about five minutes later, I don't know when Harry returned, due to him playing dead."

"Interesting." Dorea muttered.

**He was afraid of it. Small and fragile and wounded though it was, he did not want to approach it. Nevertheless he drew slowly nearer, ready to jump back at any moment. Soon he stood near enough to touch it, yet he could not bring himself to do it. He felt like a coward. He ought to comfort it, but it repulsed him.**

"**You cannot help."**

"It would appear that you got dressed in time." James grinned, "I don't think whoever that is would want to see you naked."

"Who is it though?" Pansy asked.

"Are they a good guy, or a bad guy?" Theo added quietly.

**He spun around. Albus Dumbledore was walking toward him, sprightly and upright, wearing sweeping robes of midnight blue.**

"Good guy." Pansy smiled, then frowned in confusion. "But he's dead, does that mean that Harry's dead too?"

"Not necessarily." Luna said dreamily, "as I've already mentioned, Harry's in limbo, and for all we know, the dead can enter limbo temporarily, to impart messages to those who are not dead."

"So it's not real." Sirius muttered.

"Oh it's real, but that doesn't mean it also isn't real." Luna smirked.

"Oh I'm confused." Theo groaned.

"We all are." Pansy snorted.

"**Harry." He spread his arms wide, and his hands were both whole and white and undamaged. "You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk."**

"What a greeting." James sniggered quietly, happier than he had been, having realised that Harry wasn't actually dead, so he could relax a bit. He had known, intellectually, that Harry hadn't died, but while his head told him one thing, his heart had been telling him another, and he had been utterly terrified.

**Stunned, Harry followed as Dumbledore strode away from where the flayed child lay whimpering, leading him to two seats that Harry had not previously noticed, set some distance away under that high, sparkling ceiling. Dumbledore sat down in one of them, and Harry fell into the other, staring at his old headmaster's face. Dumbledore's long silver hair and beard, the piercingly blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles, the crooked nose: Everything was as he had remembered it. And yet …**

"**But you're dead," said Harry.**

"**Oh yes," said Dumbledore matter-of-factly.**

"**Then … I'm dead too?"**

"**Ah," said Dumbledore, smiling still more broadly. "That is the question, isn't it? **

"To be, or not to be – that is the question." Cygnus muttered quietly.

"Pardon?" Regulus asked curiously.

"It's a quote from Hamlet." Cygnus replied, "that line just reminded me of it."

**On the whole, dear boy, I think not."**

"Hurray." James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Harry's friends and family cheered. They may have been told that Harry didn't die when hit by the Killing Curse, but they didn't really believe it, and having Albus confirm it, was nice.

**They looked at each other, the old man still beaming.**

"**Not?" repeated Harry.**

"**Not," said Dumbledore.**

"**But … " Harry raised his hand instinctively toward the lightning scar. It did not seem to be there. **

"The image of Harry without that scar, is just bizarre." Seamus muttered.

"**But I should have died – I didn't defend myself! I meant to let him kill me!"**

"**And that," said Dumbledore, "will, I think, have made all the difference."**

"I really don't understand." Padma groaned, rubbing her temples to try to ward off a headache.

**Happiness seemed to radiate from Dumbledore like light; like fire: Harry had never seen the man so utterly, so palpably content.**

"**Explain," said Harry.**

"**But you already know," said Dumbledore. He twiddled his thumbs together.**

"He does seem to do a lot of slightly strange things around you." Ron sniggered, "didn't he stare out a window at one point?"

"Yep." Harry grinned, "but then again, he is eccentric."

"True." Ron nodded.

"**I let him kill me," said Harry. "Didn't I?"**

"**You did," said Dumbledore, nodding. "Go on!"**

"**So the part of his soul that was in me …"**

"Destroyed?" Remus grinned.

"Most definitely." Harry smirked.

**Dumbledore nodded still more enthusiastically, urging Harry onward, a broad smile of encouragement on his face.**

"… **has it gone?"**

"**Oh yes!" said Dumbledore. "Yes, he destroyed it. Your soul is whole, and completely your own, Harry."**

"That's good." Lily said, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"**But then …"**

**Harry glanced over his shoulder, to where the small, maimed creature trembled under the chair.**

"**What is that, Professor?"**

"**Something that is beyond either of our help," said Dumbledore.**

"**But if Voldemort used the Killing Curse," Harry started again, "and nobody died for me this time – how can I be alive?"**

"**I think you know," said Dumbledore. "Think back. Remember what he did, in his ignorance, in his greed and his cruelty."**

"He's done a lot of things." Dean snorted, "it's hard to know precisely which ignorant, greedy and cruel thing you're talking about."

"I think, I'm not sure, but I think he's referring to the night of Voldemort's rebirth." Lucius said, "when Voldemort used Harry's blood."

"That could be it, but how would that affect anything?" Dean nodded.

"I don't honestly know." Lucius sighed, "Voldemort delved far deeper into truly evil magic, than anyone I have ever known, far deeper than I ever wanted to study, so, despite the fact that I had heard of the existence of Horcruxes, I never desired to look at anything surrounding the creation of them, which means I'm as confused as you."

**Harry thought. He let his gaze drift over his surroundings. If it was indeed a palace in which they sat, it was an odd one, with chairs set in little rows and bits of railing here and there, and still, he and Dumbledore and the stunted creatures under the chair were the only beings there. Then the answer rose to his lips easily, without effort.**

"**He took my blood," said Harry.**

"Why would Voldemort want Harry's blood when he could have used someone else's?" Seamus asked.

"Because the ritual called for blood of an enemy, and while any enemy would have worked, Voldemort wanted to use Harry, and no one else." Snape replied, "he believed that if he used Harry's blood, he too would benefit from the protection that allowed Harry to survive the Killing Curse as an infant."

"**Precisely!" said Dumbledore. "He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily's protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!"**

"**I live … while he lives? But I thought … I thought it was the other way around! I thought we both had to die? Or is it the same thing?"**

"I am so confused." Dennis groaned.

"We all are." Colin grinned, "don't worry."

**He was distracted by the whimpering and thumping of the agonized creature behind them and glanced back at it yet again.**

"**Are you sure we can't do anything?"**

"**There is no help possible."**

"**Then explain … more," said Harry, and Dumbledore smiled.**

"**You were the seventh Horcrux, Harry, the Horcrux he never meant to make. **

"I thought he wanted seven because seven is one of the most powerful numbers?" James frowned.

"No." Harry shook his head, "he only intended to make six, leaving the seventh part of his soul in his body. I think he planned to use my death as the catalyst for his sixth and final Horcrux, and he didn't realise that he'd made me one, which is why he then turned Nagini into one."

**He had rendered his soul so unstable that it broke apart when he committed those acts of unspeakable evil, the murder of your parents, the attempted killing of a child. But what escaped from that room was even less than he knew. He left more than his body behind. He left part of himself latched to you, the would-be victim who had survived.**

"Why does that sentence make me imagine Voldemort leaving bits of his body hanging off baby Harry?" Seamus asked with a frown.

"Because you have a vivid imagination?" Dean suggested, trying to ignore the images that had started parading across his own mind's eye after his best friend's statement.

"**And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. _Nothing._ That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.**

"**He took your blood believing it would strengthen him. He took into his body a tiny part of the enchantment your mother laid upon you when she died for you. His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort's one last hope for himself."**

"That must be why he looked triumphant when you told him about the blood." Hermione whispered to Harry, "you mentioned that you couldn't understand why you had seen that expression on his face."

"Yeah." Harry nodded, "I guess he suspected that I would survive if I let Voldemort hit me with an AK, and that made him happy."

"I should bloody-well hope so." Hermione muttered.

**Dumbledore smiled at Harry, and Harry stared at him.**

"**And you knew this? You knew – all along?"**

"**I guessed. But my guesses have usually been good," said Dumbledore happily, and they sat in silence for what seemed like a long time, while the creature behind them continued to whimper and tremble.**

"**There's more," said Harry. "There's more to it. Why did my wand break the wand he borrowed?"**

"**As to that, I cannot be sure."**

"**Have a guess, then," said Harry, and Dumbledore laughed.**

"This is one weird conversation." Remus grinned.

"It really was." Harry laughed.

"**What you must understand, Harry, is that you and Lord Voldemort have journeyed together into realms of magic hitherto unknown and untested. But here is what I think happened, and it is unprecedented, and no wandmaker could, I think, ever have predicted or explained it to Voldemort.**

"I'm now beyond confused." Pansy groused, "this chapter may be an attempt at explaining things, but it is doing such a bad job at it that it might as well be just a jumble of words thrown together without any kind of meaning."

"**Without meaning to, as you now know, Lord Voldemort doubled the bond between you when he returned to a human form. A part of his soul was still attached to yours, and, thinking to strengthen himself, he took a part of your mother's sacrifice into himself. If he could only have understood the precise and terrible power of that sacrifice, he would not, perhaps, have dared to touch your blood … but then, if he had been able to understand, he could not be Lord Voldemort, and might never have murdered at all.**

"And we all wish he did understand." Andromeda whispered.

"**Having ensured this two-fold connection, having wrapped your destinies together more securely than ever two wizards were joined in history, Voldemort proceeded to attack you with a wand that shared a core with yours. And now something very strange happened, as we know. The cores reacted in a way that Lord Voldemort, who never knew that your wand was a twin of his, had never expected.**

"Blimey." Ron said, "is that how all brother wands react when forced to do battle against each other?"

"Brother wands are so rare that no one has ever been able to study what they do when forced to do battle." Albus sighed, "the reaction of Harry's wand when forced into battle against its brother may be unique to those two wands, or may be something to do with the cores, but no one has been able to study the phenomenon in detail."

"**He was more afraid than you were that night, Harry. You had accepted, even embraced, the possibility of death, something Lord Voldemort has never been able to do.**

"Why not?" Lisa wondered, "is he so afraid of dying that he just can't accept the possibility that it will happen to him?"

"Yes." Albus nodded, "Voldemort has always felt that dying is a sign of weakness. He is afraid of the unknown, which death is, and that is why he has tried so hard to become immortal."

**Your courage won, your wand overpowered his. And in doing so, something happened between those wands, something that echoed the relationship between their masters.**

"I pity your poor wand." George grimaced, scratching the ear that would have been sliced off if the book hadn't arrived and the future changed.

"**I believe that your wand imbibed some of the power and qualities of Voldemort's wand that night, which is to say that it contained a little of Voldemort himself. So your wand recognized him when he pursued you, recognized a man who was both kin and mortal enemy, and it regurgitated some of his own magic against him, magic much more powerful than anything Lucius's wand had ever performed. Your wand now contained the power of your enormous courage and of Voldemort's own deadly skill: what chance did that poor stick of Lucius Malfoy's stand?"**

"Absolutely no chance at all." Lucius whined, "poor thing."

"OK, have you suddenly turned into a whiny four-year-old? Or do you think of your wand as a person?" Rodolphus asked curiously. He had never actually seen the imposing blond act like anything other than a mature adult, though he had seen Lucius do a rather accurate impression of a lovesick puppy once or twice.

"Neither, but since Ollivander keeps going on and on about how the wand chooses the wizard, and seems to think that wands are semi-sentient, I thought I ought to pretend that it had feelings." Lucius shrugged, confusing both Rodolphus and Sirius completely.

"**But if my wand was so powerful, how come Hermione was able to break it?" asked Harry.**

"**My dear boy, its remarkable effects were directed only at Voldemort, who had tampered so ill-advisedly with the deepest laws of magic. Only toward him was that wand abnormally powerful. Otherwise it was a wand like any other … though a good one, I am sure," Dumbledore finished kindly.**

**Harry sat in thought for a long time, or perhaps seconds. It was very hard to be sure of things like time, here.**

"How long were you there for?" James asked.

"Haven't the faintest inkling of what might possibly be an idea." Harry replied.

"OK, how long were you unconscious for?" James wondered.

"I don't know whether they both came around at the same time, but as Bella already mentioned, Voldemort regained consciousness about five minutes after the curse hit." Lucius said, "and that was long enough for everyone to wonder what had gone wrong."

"**He killed me with your wand."**

"**He_ failed_ to kill you with my wand," Dumbledore corrected Harry. £I think we can agree that you are not dead – though, of course," he added, as if fearing he had been discourteous, "I do not minimize your sufferings, which I am sure were severe."**

"Yeah, I'm sure being hit with a Killing Curse is no walk in the park." Lily nodded.

"Nope." Harry grimaced, "I'd liken it to being hit by a Bludger."

"Ouch." Sirius winced.

"**I feel great at the moment, though," said Harry, looking down at his clean, unblemished hands. "Where are we, exactly?"**

"**Well, I was going to ask you that," said Dumbledore, looking around. "Where would you say that we are?"**

**Until Dumbledore had asked, Harry had not known. Now, however, he found that he had an answer ready to give.**

"**It looks," he said slowly, "like King's Cross station. **

"So that's why the chapter title is what it is." Blaise muttered.

**Except a lot cleaner and empty, and there are no trains as far as I can see."**

"**King's Cross station!" Dumbledore was chuckling immoderately. "Good gracious, really?"**

"**Well, where do you think we are?" asked Harry, a little defensively.**

"**My dear boy, I have no idea. This is, as they say, _your_ party."**

"What does that mean?" Lavender asked.

"It means that the perception of limbo is all in the mind of the person visiting, therefore Harry is the only one who can truly see it." Luna smiled dreamily.

**Harry had no idea what this meant; Dumbledore was being infuriating. **

"He always is." Minerva huffed.

**He glared at him, then remembered a much more pressing question than that of their current location.**

"**The Deathly Hallows," he said, and he was glad to see that the words wiped the smile from Dumbledore's face.**

"**Ah, yes," he said. He even looked a little worried.**

"**Well?"**

**For the first time since Harry had met Dumbledore, he looked less than an old man, much less. He looked fleetingly like a small boy caught in wrongdoing.**

"That's an odd image." James muttered.

"I can't imagine the headmaster looking like a naughty little boy." Dorea frowned.

"I'm sure he did occasionally look like one." Charlus grinned, "I doubt even he could have been a well-behaved model child."

"True." Dorea nodded, "it would have been a miracle if he had been."

"**Can you forgive me?" he said. "Can you forgive me for not trusting you? For not telling you? Harry, I only feared that you would fail as I had failed. I only dreaded that you would make my mistakes. I crave your pardon, Harry. I have known, for some time now, that you are the better man."**

"Wow." Regulus mumbled.

"That's quite an apology." Orion nodded.

"He really is a better man than I." Albus sighed.

"But he's not a man, not yet." Mrs Weasley whispered.

"He is more a man than a child." Albus grimaced, "he has grown up far faster than any child, and it would be an insult if we didn't recognise that."

"**What are you talking about?" asked Harry, startled by Dumbledore's tone, by the sudden tears in his eyes.**

"**The Hallows, the Hallows," murmured Dumbledore. "A desperate man's dream!"**

"**But they're real!"**

"**Real, and dangerous, and a lure for fools," said Dumbledore. "And I was such a fool. But you know, don't you? I have no secrets from you any more. You know."**

"**What do I know?"**

**Dumbledore turned his whole body to face Harry, and tears still sparkled in the brilliantly blue eyes.**

"**Master of death, Harry, master of Death! Was I better, ultimately, than Voldemort?"**

"Don't doubt yourself." Minerva snapped, "you are a lot better than that thing."

"Everyone is better than that thing." Caruso snorted, "even, and I can't believe these words are passing my lips, my wife."

"That's hard to believe." Cygnus frowned, "she was a bloody bitch."

"Of course she was." Caruso snapped, "she worshipped the very ground Voldemort walked on."

"**Of course you were," said Harry. "Of course – how can you ask that? You never killed if you could avoid it!"**

"**True, true," said Dumbledore, and he was like a child seeking reassurance. "Yet I too sought a way to conquer death, Harry."**

"**Not the way he did," said Harry. After all his anger at Dumbledore, how odd it was to sit here, beneath the high, vaulted ceiling, and defend Dumbledore from himself. **

"That's because to you, holding a grudge for more than a few months is foreign." Hermione giggled.

"**Hallows, not Horcruxes."**

"**Hallows," murmured Dumbledore, "not Horcruxes. Precisely."**

**There was a pause. The creature behind them whimpered, but Harry no longer looked around.**

"**Grindelwald was looking for them too?" he asked.**

**Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment and nodded.**

"**It was the thing, above all, that drew us together," he said quietly. "Two clever, arrogant boys with a shared obsession. He wanted to come to Godric's Hollow, as I am sure you have guessed, because of the grave of Ignotus Peverell. He wanted to explore the place the third brother had died."**

"Unbelievable, he really didn't care about you at all." Angelina whispered.

"I very much doubt he did." Albus sighed, "and I was so blinded by my love for him, that I couldn't see how manipulative he truly was, until it was too late."

Sirius gaped at the headmaster, rather unattractively, completely blown away by the knowledge that Albus and Grindelwald had been anything other than enemies. He hadn't truly believed that they could have been, even though the letter he had received from Lily not long before Halloween eighty-one had said as much.

"**So it's true?" asked Harry. "All of it? The Peverell brothers –"**

"– **were the three brothers of the tale," said Dumbledore, nodding. "Oh yes, I think so. Whether they met Death on a lonely road … I think it more likely that the Peverell brothers were simply gifted, dangerous wizards who succeeded in creating those powerful objects. The story of them being Death's own Hallows seems to me the sort of legend that might have sprung up around such creations.**

**"And the legend is always bigger than the reality." James nodded.**

"**The Cloak, as you know now, travelled down through the ages, father to son, mother to daughter, right down to Ignotus's last living descendant, who was born, as Ignotus was, in the village of Godric's Hollow."**

"Who was obviously not Ignotus' last descendant, as we've been led to believe." Flitwick snorted, "since there are apparently others around."

"How many others?" Minerva wondered.

"Five." Harry smirked.

"That means there are six, including you." Flitwick mused, "now, I can see two others, and you mentioned your great-uncle Peter, and your great-great-great-great-great-aunt Camilla, but I'm slightly confused as to who the other one is."

"I'll give you a clue, she was the second James Potter's baby sister, born in thirteen-thirty-four." Charlus grinned.

"I can only think of one woman who was born that long ago, and is still around now, but it can't be her." Albus gasped.

"Not Perenelle Flamel?" Kingsley spluttered.

"Yep." Harry nodded, "why do you think we refer to her as Aunt Penny?"

"Bloody hell." Kingsley muttered.

**Dumbledore smiled at Harry.**

"**Me?"**

"**You. You have guessed, I know, why the Cloak was in my possession on the night your parents died. James had showed it to me just a few days previously. It explained much of his undetected wrongdoing at school! I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I asked to borrow it, to examine it. I had long since given up my dream of uniting the Hallows, but I could not resist, could not help taking a closer look … It was a Cloak the likes of which I had never seen, immensely old, perfect in every respect … and then your father died, and I had two Hallows at last, all to myself!"**

**His tone was unbearably bitter.**

At last, Aberforth was truly able to see how much pain his older brother was going through, what with the guilt of being used by Grindelwald, the fact that he seemed to feel responsible for the Potters dying, and the fact that his remaining relative hadn't wanted anything to do with him for so long. The barman sighed, not really knowing how to reconcile with Albus, but still wanting to do something to ease his brother's pain.

"**The Cloak wouldn't have helped them survive, though," Harry said quickly. "Voldemort knew where my mum and dad were. The Cloak couldn't have made them curse-proof."**

"Unfortunately true, and we wouldn't have been able to keep ourselves covered for days on end anyway, so Voldemort would have got us eventually." James sighed.

"**True," sighed Dumbledore. "True."**

**Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not speak, so he prompted him.**

"**So you'd given up looking for the Hallows when you saw the Cloak?"**

"**Oh yes," said Dumbledore faintly. It seemed that he forced himself to meet Harry's eyes. "You know what happened. You know. You cannot despise me more than I despise myself."**

"Merlin." Dean muttered, thinking that the headmaster seriously needed help, so he could stop hating himself.

"**But I don't despise you –"**

"**Then you should," said Dumbledore. **

"Why should he despise you for something that happened in the past?" Minerva asked, glaring at Albus, who looked depressed and as though he wasn't really paying attention.

**He drew a deep breath. "You know the secret of my sister's ill health, what those Muggles did, what she became. You know how my poor father sought revenge, and paid the price, died In Azkaban. You know how my mother gave up her own life to care for Ariana.**

"**I resented it, Harry."**

**Dumbledore stated it baldly, coldly. He was looking now over the top of Harry's head, into the distance.**

"**I was gifted, I was brilliant. I wanted to escape. I wanted to shine. I wanted glory.**

"Wait-a-minute, I thought you were trying to find a way to help her, but that doesn't sound like it." Padma said.

"I wanted both." Albus whispered, "I wanted to find a cure, so that I could escape and get the glory."

"But even if you had found a cure, you'd still have been looking after them, until they were old enough to look after themselves." Lisa pointed out.

"Yes, but I was unable to help, and thought that if I could find a cure, then Ariana would be happier, and I wouldn't have to watch her pain as she struggled to control herself every day." Albus sighed.

"**Do not misunderstand me," he said, and pain crossed the face so that he looked ancient again. "I loved them, I loved my parents, I loved my brother and my sister, but I was selfish, Harry, more selfish than you, who are a remarkably selfless person, could possibly imagine.**

"**So that, when my mother died, and I was left the responsibility of a damaged sister and a wayward brother, **

"Well thanks for that." Aberforth grumbled.

"Even you did admit, when you bought that pub of yours, that you were wayward in your younger years." Flitwick grinned.

"True." Aberforth sighed.

**I returned to my village in anger and bitterness. Trapped and wasted, I thought! And then of course, he came …"**

**Dumbledore looked directly into Harry's eyes again.**

"**Grindelwald. You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me. Muggles forced into subservience.**

"Merlin, and that's all because of three Muggle boys?" Mrs Weasley whimpered.

"Unfortunately yes." Albus sighed.

**We wizards triumphant. Grindelwald and I, the glorious young leaders of the revolution.**

"**Oh, I had a few scruples. I assuaged my conscience with empty words. It would all be for the greater good, and any harm done would be repaid a hundredfold in benefits for wizards. Did I know, in my heart of hearts, what Gellert Grindelwald was? I think I did, but I closed my eyes. If the plans we were making came to fruition, all my dreams would come true.**

"**And at the heart of our schemes, the Deathly Hallows! How they fascinated him, how they fascinated both of us! The unbeatable wand, the weapon that would lead us to power! The Resurrection Stone – to him, though I pretended not to know it, it meant an army of Inferi!**

"I don't know how anyone can pretend not to know something like that." Lily said.

"I was blinded." Albus sighed, "love may be one of the strongest things in existence, but it can make people do stupid things, and at the time, I was completely in love with Grindelwald."

**To me, I confess, it meant the return of my parents, and the lifting of all responsibility from my shoulders.**

"But they wouldn't belong here." Sprout said, "they'd be miserable if they were brought back by the stone."

"**And the Cloak … somehow, we never discussed the Cloak much, Harry. Both of us could conceal ourselves well enough without the Cloak, the true magic of which, of course, is that it can be used to protect and shield others as well as its owner. I thought that, if we ever found it, it might be useful in hiding Ariana, but our interest in the Cloak was mainly that it completed the trio, for the legend said that the man who had united all three objects would then be truly master of death, which we took to mean invincible.**

"**Invincible masters of death, Grindelwald and Dumbledore! Two months of insanity, of cruel dreams, and neglect of the only two members of my family left to me.**

"**And then … you know what happened. Reality returned in the form of my rough, unlettered, and infinitely more admirable brother. I did not want to hear the truths he shouted at me. I did not want to hear that I could not set forth and seek Hallows with a fragile and unstable sister in tow.**

"**The argument became a fight. Grindelwald lost control. That which I had always sensed in him, though I pretended not to, now sprang into terrible being. And Ariana … after all my mother's care and caution … lay dead upon the floor."**

"Who was it that cast the fatal curse?" Lily asked, sobbing, like all the other mothers in the hall.

"I don't know." Albus sighed, "and I don't particularly want to know."

"Neither of us wants to find out, just in case it was one of us." Aberforth grimaced.

**Dumbledore gave a little gasp and began to cry in earnest. Harry reached out and was glad to find that he could touch him: he gripped his arm tightly and Dumbledore gradually regained control.**

Lily smiled sadly at her son. She was proud of the man he had become, despite being raised by Petunia instead of any of the people mentioned in her Will.

"**Well, Grindelwald fled, as anyone but I could have predicted. He vanished, with his plans for seizing power, and his schemes for Muggle torture, and his dreams of the Deathly Hallows, dreams in which I had encouraged him and helped him. He ran, while I was left to bury my sister, and learn to live with my guilt and my terrible grief, the price of my shame.**

"**Years passed. There were rumours about him. They said he had procured a wand of immense power. I, meanwhile, was offered the post of Minister of Magic, not once, but several times. Naturally, I refused. I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power."**

"But then we get people like Fudge." Remus grumbled.

"Yeah, if you had accepted, then we wouldn't have been landed with the pompous idiot who cared more about looking like he was doing something, rather than actually getting the job done." Tonks added.

"Fudge was a self-serving moron." Sirius muttered, still annoyed at the previous minister's actions, refusing him a proper trial and slandering Harry in particular.

"**But you'd have been better, much better, than Fudge or Scrimgeour!" burst out Harry.**

Scrimgeour grimaced, having realised that he hadn't actually been a good Minister, though he wasn't entirely certain how he could have been better, when all he had to work with was the mess that Fudge had left behind, and had apparently been killed after a year in office.

"**Would I?" asked Dumbledore heavily. "I am not so sure. I had proven, as a very young man, that power was my weakness and my temptation. It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.**

"We agree." Ron and Hermione nodded.

"**I was safer at Hogwarts. I think I was a good teacher –"**

"**You were the best –"**

"Of course you are." Minerva snapped, "don't put yourself down."

"– **you are very kind, Harry. But while I busied myself with the training of young wizards, Grindelwald was raising an army. They say he feared me, and perhaps he did, but less, I think, than I feared him.**

"Odd." Remus remarked, "I didn't think you feared anything."

"I feared then, and still do fear, the knowledge of who killed Ariana." Albus whispered sadly, "I feared that Grindelwald knew who cast the fatal curse, and that he would tell me that it was me."

"**Oh, not death," said Dumbledore, in answer to Harry's questioning look. "Not what he could do to me magically. I knew that we were evenly matched, perhaps that I was a shade more skilful. It was the truth I feared. You see, I never knew which of us, in that last, horrific fight, had actually cast the curse that killed my sister. You may call me cowardly: you would be right, Harry. I dreaded beyond all things the knowledge that it had been I who brought about her death, not merely through my arrogance and stupidity, but that I actually struck the blow that snuffed out her life.**

"I think anyone would dread that." Lucius grimaced.

"**I think he knew it, I think he knew what frightened me. I delayed meeting him until finally, it would have been too shameful to resist any longer. People were dying and he seemed unstoppable, and I had to do what I could.**

"Facing your greatest fear to save those who can't defend themselves, is one of the bravest things anyone can do." Regulus said.

"**Well, you know what happened next. I won the duel. I won the wand."**

**Another silence. Harry did not ask whether Dumbledore had ever found out who struck Ariana dead. He did not want to know, and even less did he want Dumbledore to have to tell him. At last he knew what Dumbledore would have seen when he looked in the Mirror of Erised, and why Dumbledore had been so understanding of the fascination it had exercised over Harry.**

"I knew it couldn't be socks." Ron snorted.

"I think we all knew _that_." Harry laughed, "it was pretty obvious."

**They sat in silence for a long time, and the whimperings of the creature behind them barely disturbed Harry any more.**

"Well, we'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it then." George said, "it is still disturbing to us."

**At last he said, "Grindelwald tried to stop Voldemort going after the wand. He lied, you know, pretended he had never had it."**

"He was a brave man to do that." Snape muttered, "especially as his Occlumency shields would be extremely weak after fifty-three years in prison."

"But why would he lie?" Hannah wondered, "what would he gain from lying?"

"Peace, probably." Minerva said, "either that, or he was showing remorse for everything he'd done. I get the feeling that he knew that Voldemort would kill him, whether he told the truth or not, and he probably wanted to die on his own terms."

**Dumbledore nodded, looking down at his lap, tears still glittering on the crooked nose.**

"**They say he showed remorse in later years, alone in his cell at Nurmengard. I hope that is true. I would like to think that he did feel the horror and shame of what he had done. Perhaps that lie to Voldemort was his attempt to make amends … to prevent Voldemort from taking the Hallow …"**

"… **or maybe from breaking into your tomb?" suggested Harry, and Dumbledore dabbed his eyes.**

"That might have been part of it too." Flitwick shrugged, "he may have come to respect you once you defeated him."

"He may have done." Albus whispered.

**After another short pause Harry said, "You tried to use the Resurrection Stone."**

**Dumbledore nodded.**

"**When I discovered it, after all those years, buried in the abandoned home of the Gaunts – the Hallow I had craved most of all, though in my youth I had wanted it for very different reasons – I lost my head, Harry. I quite forgot that it was now a Horcrux, that the ring was sure to carry a curse. I picked it up, and I put it on, and for a second I imagined that I was about to see Ariana, and my mother, and my father, and to tell them how very, very sorry, I was. . . .**

"Like the Mirror of Erised, the Resurrection Stone can be enthralling." Charlus said, "especially to those who have lost loved ones."

"Which means it is exceptionally dangerous." Remus nodded.

"**I was such a fool, Harry. After all those years I had learned nothing. I was unworthy to unite the Deathly Hallows, I had proved it time and again, and here was final proof."**

"**Why?" said Harry. "It was natural! You wanted to see them again. What's wrong with that?"**

"**Maybe a man in a million could unite the Hallows, Harry. I was fit only to possess the meanest of them, the least extraordinary. I was fit to own the Elder Wand, and not boast of it, and not to kill with it. I was permitted to tame and use it, because I took it, not for gain, but to save others from it.**

"But not many would be able to do that." James said, "most people would use it to torture and harm others, like Voldemort wanted to do."

"**But the Cloak, I took out of vain curiosity, and so it could never have worked for me as it works for you, its true owner. The stone I would have used in an attempt to drag back those who are at peace, rather than enable my self-sacrifice, as you did. You are the worthy possessor of the Hallows."**

**Dumbledore patted Harry's hand, and Harry looked up at the old man and smiled; he could not help himself. How could he remain angry with Dumbledore now?**

"Not many people could be angry, not after hearing that." Lily smiled, "it makes them realise that you are actually human."

"**Why did you have to make it so difficult?"**

**Dumbledore's smile was tremulous.**

"**I am afraid I counted on Miss Granger to slow you up, Harry. **

"Thanks." Hermione muttered sarcastically, "glad I could help."

**I was afraid that your hot head might dominate your good heart. I was scared that, if presented outright with the facts about those tempting objects, you might seize the Hallows as I did, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. If you laid hands on them, I wanted you to possess them safely. You are the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying."**

"Indeed there are." Rodolphus nodded, "sometimes, death seems like a release from the burdens of life."

"**And Voldemort never knew about the Hallows?"**

"**I do not think so, because he did not recognize the Resurrection Stone he turned into a Horcrux. But even if he had known about them, Harry. I doubt that he would have been interested in any except the first. He would not think that he needed the Cloak, and as for the stone, whom would he want to bring back from the dead? He fears the dead. He does not love."**

"Which likely means that if he did know about them, he would fear the stone." Regulus said, "he would not necessarily have thought of using it to create an army of Inferi, his fear of death would over-ride any sense of the stone's usefulness."

"Indeed." Albus nodded, "I could not have said it better."

Sirius was staring from one person to another, completely bewildered by the fact that Rodolphus and his little brother seemed quite happy to sit and chat with someone like Dumbledore, who was well-known as the Leader of the Light. He didn't say anything, knowing that he would get his answers later.

"**But you expected him to go after the wand?"**

"**I have been sure that he would try, ever since your wand beat Voldemort's in the graveyard of Little Hangleton. At first, he was afraid that you had conquered him by superior skill. Once he had kidnapped Ollivander, however, he discovered the existence of the twin cores. He thought that explained everything. Yet the borrowed wand did no better against yours! So Voldemort, instead of asking himself what quality it was in you that had made your wand so strong, what gift you possessed that he did not, naturally set out to find the one wand that, they said, would beat any other. For him, the Elder Wand has become an obsession to rival his obsession with you. He believes that the Elder Wand removes his last weakness and makes him truly invincible.**

"But Ollivander said that the owner of the Elder Wand must always fear attack, so he wouldn't be invincible, even if he did manage to become its master." Susan said.

"He does not know that, however." Albus smiled, "he believes, wrongly, that merely using the wand, will protect him from anything."

**Poor Severus …"**

Everyone, even those who had hated professor Snape, bowed their heads in respect, surprising the potions master, who had not expected anyone to show him anything other than contempt and hatred.

"**If you planned your death with Snape, you meant him to end up with the Elder Wand, didn't you?"**

"**I admit that was my intention," said Dumbledore, "but it did not work as I intended, did it?"**

"So, if Snape wasn't the master of the wand, who was?" Susan wondered.

"You'll see." Harry and Hermione grinned.

"**No," said Harry. "That bit didn't work out."**

**The creature behind them jerked and moaned, and Harry and Dumbledore sat without talking for the longest time yet. The realization of what would happen next settled gradually over Harry in the long minutes, like softly falling snow.**

"**I've got to go back, haven't I?"**

"**That is up to you."**

"**I've got a choice?"**

"Please say you chose to return." Lily begged.

"It's quite obvious that I did." Harry smirked.

"True, but the way you said that, sounds like you were thinking about not returning." Lily whispered.

"My body was still surrounded by Death Eaters, and that did not sound like a pleasant prospect." Harry shrugged.

"That's unfortunate." Sirius muttered.

"**Oh yes," Dumbledore smiled at him. "We are in King's Cross you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to … let's say … board a train."**

"**And where would it take me?"**

"**On," said Dumbledore simply.**

**Silence again.**

"**Voldemort's got the Elder Wand."**

"**True. Voldemort has the Elder Wand."**

"He may have it, but he is evidently not its master." Hannah snorted.

"**But you want me to go back?"**

"**I think," said Dumbledore, "that if you choose to return, there is a chance that he may be finished for good. I cannot promise it. But I know this, Harry, that you have less to fear from returning here than he does."**

"No one should fear death so much that they try to avoid it." Flitwick said.

**Harry glanced again at the raw looking thing that trembled and choked in the shadow beneath the distant chair.**

"**Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, they we say good-bye for the present."**

"And hope that you don't return there for a very long time." James added, "I do not want you to go there before you're old and grey, preferably after giving us hundreds of grandchildren and great-grandchildren to spoil."

"We did have sixteen children, is that enough?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Plenty." Lily giggled, "and if you can stick around down here while they produce hundreds of grandchildren and great-grandchildren for you to spoil, all the better."

**Harry nodded and sighed. Leaving this place would not be nearly as hard as walking into the forest had been, but it was warm and light and peaceful here, and he knew that he was heading back to pain and the fear of more loss. He stood up, and Dumbledore did the same, and they looked for a long moment into each other's faces.**

"**Tell me one last thing," said Harry, "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"**

**Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.**

"**Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"**

"OK, I now understand why you couldn't really explain it properly." Hermione said as Luna turned to the next page and put the book down.

"That was the end of the chapter." Luna smiled dreamily, "who wants to go next?"

"How about Mum?" Draco suggested.

"If you think I should." Narcissa smiled.

"Very well." Albus nodded as Luna floated the book along the table, letting it come to rest in front of the regally dressed blonde.


	44. Chapter 44

**The Flaw in the Plan**

"**The Flaw in the Plan**," Narcissa read nervously.

"I hope that's referring to Voldemort's plan." Sirius muttered.

"I'm sure it is." Dorea nodded.

**He was flying face down on the ground again. The smell of the forest filled his nostrils. He could feel the cold hard ground beneath his cheek, and the hinge of his glasses which have been knocked sideways by the fall cutting into his temple. Every inch of him ached, and the place where Killing Curse had hit him felt like the bruise of an iron-clad punch. **

"So, did the curse leave a scar there as well?" Seamus asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't shaped like a lightning bolt." Harry nodded, "it was just an X."

**He did not stir, but he remained exactly where he had fallen, with his left arm bent out at an awkward angle and his mouth gaping.**

**He had expected to hear cheer of triumph and jubilation at his death, but instead hurried footsteps, whispers, and solicitous murmurs filled the air.**

"**My Lord … _my Lord_ …"**

**It was Bellatrix's voice, and she spoke as if to a lover. **

"Urgh." Bellatrix grimaced.

"Yeah, that is a bit of a horrible image." Regulus agreed.

**Harry did not dare open his eyes, but allowed his other senses to explore his predicament. He knew that his wand was still stowed beneath his robes because he could feel it pressed between his chest and the ground. A slight cushioning effect in the area of his stomach told him that the Invisibility Cloak was also there, stuffed out of sight.**

"Well there's two mistakes the Death Eaters made." James grinned, "they didn't take your wand or the invisibility cloak."

"Do remember that most of the Death Eaters are utter morons." Lucius snorted, "besides, no one actually dared approach Harry's body while Voldemort was unconscious, they didn't want to risk getting in the way of his ire."

"**_My Lord _…"**

"**That will do," said Voldemort's voice.**

**More footsteps. Several people were backing away from the same spot. Desperate to see what was happening and why, Harry opened his eyes by a millimetre.**

"Oh, be careful." Lily murmured, "you don't want to be caught out."

**Voldemort seemed to be getting to his feet. Various Death Eaters were hurrying away from him, returning to the crowd lining the clearing. Bellatrix alone remained behind, kneeling beside Voldemort.**

**Harry closed his eyes again and considered what he had seen. The Death Eaters had been huddled around Voldemort, who seem to have fallen to the ground. Something had happened when he had hit Harry with the Killing Curse. Had Voldemort too collapsed? It seemed like it. And both of them had briefly fallen unconscious and both of them had now returned …**

"**My Lord, let me –"**

"He won't accept help." Caruso frowned, "he never actually asked for help from anyone, even when we were students."

"That's because, as far as I could tell, he didn't seem to have any problems with the work the teachers set." Abraxas pointed out.

"**I do not require assistance," said Voldemort coldly, and though he could not see it, Harry pictured Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand. "The boy … is he dead?"**

"Crap, how are you going to escape now?" Dean muttered.

"Wait and see." Harry grinned.

**There was a complete silence in the clearing. Nobody approached Harry, but he felt their concentrated gaze; it seemed to press him harder into the ground, and he was terrified a finger or an eyelid might twitch.**

"**You," said Voldemort, and there was a bang and a small shriek of pain.**

"Who was it, and what did he do to them?" Remus asked curiously.

"To the first, the book will tell you, and to the second, he hit her with a short burst of the Cruciatus." Lucius sighed.

"So it was a female then." Tonks grinned, "that narrows it down."

"Maybe." Remus frowned, "we do only know of three women who had something to do with Voldemort, and only two were mentioned as being in the forest."

"Exactly, I told you that narrowed it down." Tonks nodded, turning her hair back to its normal bubblegum pink.

"**Examine him. Tell me whether he is dead."**

**Harry did not know who had been sent to verify. He could only lie there, with his heart thumping traitorously, and wait to be examined, but at the same time nothing, small comfort through it was, that Voldemort was wary of approaching him, that Voldemort suspected that all had not gone to plan …**

**Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched Harry's face, pulled back an eyelid, crept beneath his shirt, down to his chest and felt his heart. He could hear the woman's fast breathing, her long hair tickled his face. He knew that she could feel the steady pounding of life against his ribs.**

"Oh dear." Sirius muttered, while Narcissa blinked at the book, wondering when she had managed to become brave enough to do what the book was saying she did.

"**_Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?_"**

"Merlin, that's you." Andromeda whispered.

"It would appear so." Narcissa murmured with wide eyes.

**The whisper was barely audible, her lips were an inch from his car, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers.**

"**_Yes,_" he breathed back.**

**He felt the hand on his chest contract: her nails pierced him.**

"Sorry." Narcissa mumbled to Harry, who smiled at her to show that he wasn't going to hold a grudge.

**Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up.**

"**He is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.**

"Merlin. You actually lied to Voldemort." Regulus whistled.

"Apparently so." Narcissa said, giggling slightly hysterically.

"Are you feeling all right?" Rodolphus asked, wondering whether the blonde had finally snapped.

"Yes." Narcissa smiled, "I'm just glad that I didn't turn into a coward and give him away."

**And now they shouted, now they yelled in triumph and stamped their feet, and through his eyelids, Harry saw bursts of red and silver light shoot into the air in celebration.**

**Still feigning death on the ground, he understood. Narcissa knew that the only way she would be permitted to enter Hogwarts, and find her son, was as part of the conquering army. She no longer cared whether Voldemort won.**

"Of course I wouldn't." Narcissa snorted, looking from the book to Harry. "I never did want him to win, I just played the part."

"**You see?" screeched Voldemort over the tumult. "Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive can threaten me now! Watch! _Crucio!_"**

"Crap, how are you going to stop yourself screaming in pain?" James grimaced.

"You'll see." Harry smirked.

**Harry had been expecting it, knew his body would not be allowed to remain unsullied upon the forest floor; it must be subjected to humiliation to prove Voldemort's victory. He was lifted into the air, and it took all his determination to remain limp, yet the pain he expected did not come. **

"Pardon?" Sirius frowned, "why didn't it work?"

"Because at that point, Harry was the Master of Death, the true master of the Elder Wand." Albus smiled, "and the Elder Wand will not work properly against its master."

**He was thrown once, twice, three times into the air. His glasses flew off and he felt his wand slide a little beneath his robes, but he kept himself floppy and lifeless, and when he fell no ground for the last time, the clearing echoed with jeers and shrieks of laughter.**

"Bloody hell, I think I've worked out what the flaw in the plan is." Seamus exclaimed, "and it's nothing to do with whether the Death Eaters took Harry's wand and the invisibility cloak or not."

"Go on?" Flitwick said.

"It's because Voldemort is a complete idiot, and didn't check for himself." Seamus grinned, "he just trusted that Mrs Malfoy wouldn't lie to him."

"He really is an idiot." Narcissa smirked, "he didn't learn that a mother will to anything to protect her child."

"He should have remembered." Lily grinned, "especially after he made that mistake when he attacked us."

"Exactly." Narcissa nodded, "he has never understood that a mother's love is one of the strongest things in the world, and no mother wants to see her child in danger."

"Any mother whose child is threatened, becomes as vicious and deadly as a Hungarian Horntail." Lily smirked.

"**Now," said Voldemort, "we go to the castle, and show them what has become of their hero. Who shall drag the body?**

"Don't you bloody dare." Lily hissed, nearly slipping into Parseltongue, but managing to stick to English, despite her anger.

**No – Wait –"**

**There was a fresh outbreak of laughter, and after a few moments Harry felt the ground trembling beneath him.**

"**You carry him," Voldemort said. "He will be nice and visible in your arms, will he not? Pick up your little friend, Hagrid. **

"Poor Hagrid." Charlie frowned as the friendly half-giant blew his nose on his spotty, table-cloth-sized handkerchief.

**And the glasses – put on the glasses – he must be recognisable –"**

"Blimey, you must look really different without your glasses." Neville whistled.

"He does." Hermione giggled.

"Well show us then." Seamus called.

"Yeah, that looks really weird." Dean commented once he got a good look at Harry without glasses.

"Can you actually see anything, or is everything just a blur?" Andromeda wondered, itching to get out her equipment and start testing his eyes.

"It's just a blur." Harry grinned, "unless I use one of my animal forms and transform just my eyes."

"Is that why your eyes now look slitted, like a snake's?" Tonks asked with a grin.

"Yep." Harry nodded, smirking as he also transformed his tongue and flicked it at her. He regretted doing that, after-all, a snake's ability to smell things by tasting them was far more acute than a human nose, and he could sense that she had Remus' scent all over her. It wasn't a particularly pleasant smell.

"Something wrong?" Sirius asked curiously when he saw Harry's slightly disgusted expression.

"Moony smells like wet dog." Harry snorted, "and his scent is all over Tonks."

"I really _really_ wish that snakes couldn't smell things by tasting them." Tonks mumbled, blushing furiously and burying her head in her hands.

"Let's carry on reading, shall we?" Ted suggested, not wanting to hear about what his daughter and Remus got up to in private.

"Good idea." Mr Weasley nodded as Harry turned his eyes back to normal and put his glasses back on.

**Someone slammed Harry's glasses back onto his face with deliberate force, but the enormous hands that lifted him into the air were exceedingly gentle. Harry could feel Hagrid's arms trembling with the force of his heaving sobs; great tears splashed down upon him as Hagrid cradled Harry in his arms, and Harry did not dare, by movement or word, to intimate to Hagrid that all was not, yet, lost.**

"I wish I'd been able to tell him." Harry sighed, "it was heart-breaking to see him so devastated."

"'S'al'righ'." Hagrid said, still sniffing and wiping his nose. He knew that Harry couldn't have let him know, not without risking Voldemort finding out before it was time.

"**Move," said Voldemort, and Hagrid stumbled forward, forcing his way through the close-growing trees, back through the forest. Branches caught at Harry's hair and robes, but he lay quiescent, his mouth lolling open, his eyes shut, and in the darkness, while the Death Eaters crowed all around them, and while Hagrid sobbed blindly, nobody looked to see whether a pulse beat in the exposed neck of Harry Potter …**

"And there's another mistake they made." James grinned.

**The two giants crashed along behind the Death Eaters; Harry could hear trees creaking and falling as they passed; they made so much din that birds rose, shrieking, into the sky and even the jeers of the Death Eaters were drowned. The victorious procession marched on toward the open ground, and after a while Harry could tell, by the lightening of the darkness through his closed eyelids, that the trees were beginning to thin.**

"**BANE!"**

"Who's that?" Dean asked, not recognising the name.

"One of the centaurs in the forest." Hermione replied, "he's one of the less pleasant ones."

"Was he the one who kicked professor Firenze hard enough to leave a bruise?" Lavender asked, remembering the horribly painful-looking bruise on the palomino centaur's chest.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"Why though?" Parvati wondered.

"Because Firenze agreed to teach centaur methods of Divination when Umbridge sacked Trelawney." Hermione sighed, "Bane, and most of the herd, felt that Firenze was betraying them."

"Merlin." Lavender gasped, "that's horrible."

**Hagrid's unexpected bellow nearly forced Harry's eyes open. "Happy now, are yeh, that yeh didn't fight, yeh cowardly bunch o' nags? **

"Ooh, that's not going to make Bane happy." Luna said, "centaurs are extremely arrogant, and don't like to be called cowards."

"Or nags." Sirius added.

"But they also don't like to get involved in things they believe are nothing to do with them." Flitwick sighed, "and they believe that Voldemort's war is a wizards' war, not theirs."

**Are yeh happy Harry Potter's - d-dead …?"**

**Hagrid could not continue, but broke down in fresh tears. Harry wondered how many centaurs were watching their procession pass; he dared not open his eyes to look. Some of the Death Eaters called insults at the centaurs as they left them behind. A little later, Harry sensed, by a freshening of the air, that they had reached the edge of the forest.**

"**Stop."**

**Harry thought that Hagrid must have been forced to obey Voldemort's command, because he lurched a little. And now a chill settled over them where they stood, and Harry heard the rasping breath of the Dementors that patrolled the other trees. They would not affect him now.**

"Huh?" James muttered, not understanding.

"Let Mum read and you'll find out." Draco smirked.

**The fact of his own survival burned inside him, a talisman against them, as though his father's stag kept guardian in his heart.**

"Oh, that still doesn't really make sense, but I can live with that as long as it helps keep you from losing your soul." James shrugged.

**Someone passed close by Harry, and he knew that it was Voldemort himself because he spoke a moment later, his voice magically magnified so that it swelled through the ground, crashing upon Harry's eardrums.**

"**Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone.**

"LIAR!" Almost everyone roared.

"He can't seriously expect us to believe that you'd run away." Neville snarled.

"I think he did." Hermione sighed, "I don't know, but I suspect that he thought we would believe it, and lose the will to fight. That's why he said it, to make us give up."

"It would have done the opposite." Ginny growled, "I would never believe such a thing, and would fight even harder."

"Those of us who know Harry would." Neville agreed grimly.

"**The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family.**

"That will just make people want to fight harder." Sirius snorted, "I know that I wouldn't want to live in a world controlled by him, I think the only ones who would, are those who support him, willingly and eagerly."

**Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."**

"I would rather die than let him win." Minerva snapped.

**There was silence in the grounds and from the castle. Voldemort was so close to him that Harry did not dare open his eyes again.**

"**Come," said Voldemort, and Harry heard him move ahead, and Hagrid was forced to follow.**

"I didn't think there were any spells that could affect a giant, so how is Voldemort controlling Hagrid?" Padma wondered.

"Hagrid is only half-giant, and while that will afford him some protection, Voldemort is, unfortunately, exceptionally powerful, and even though he is not the master of it, he does have the Elder Wand, so I think that negates the protection provided by Hagrid's giant blood." Flitwick replied, "besides, there is always the possibility that Voldemort isn't the one using magic to force Hagrid to follow, I wouldn't be surprised to know that there are at least two Death Eaters doing it."

**Now Harry opened his eyes a fraction, and saw Voldemort striding in front them, wearing the great snake Nagini around his shoulders, now free of her enchanted cage. But Harry had no possibility of extracting the wand concealed under his robes without being noticed by the Death Eaters, who marched on the either side of them through the slowly lightening darkness …**

"**Harry," sobbed Hagrid. "Oh, Harry … Harry …"**

Hooch, who was sitting next to Hagrid at the end of the staff table nearest the Gryffindor table, patted the big man on the elbow, being unable to reach his shoulder.

**Harry shut his eyes tight again. He knew that they were approaching the castle and strained his ears to distinguish, above the gleeful voices of the Death Eaters and their tramping footsteps, signs of life from those within.**

"**Stop."**

**The Death Eaters came to a halt; Harry heard them spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of the school. He could see, even though his closed lids, the reddish glow that meant light streamed upon him from the entrance hall. He waited. Any moment, the people for whom he had tried to die would see him, lying apparently dead, in Hagrid's arms.**

"**NO!"**

"Who was that?" James asked, looking at Ron and Hermione, "was it one of you lot?"

"No." Hermione admitted, "we were stuck at the back, and couldn't see what was going on."

"So who was it then?" Lily wondered.

"You'll see." Harry said, with a slight smile.

**The scream was the more terrible because he had never expected or dreamed that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound. **

"Merlin." Sprout whispered, knowing how much Minerva cared for her students, and therefore how much Harry's 'death' would hurt the woman.

**He heard another women laughing nearby, and knew that Bellatrix gloried in McGonagall's despair. He squinted again for a single second and saw the open doorway filling with people, as the survivors of the battle came out onto the front steps to face their vanquishers and see the truth of Harry's death for themselves. He saw Voldemort standing a little in front of him, stroking Nagini's head with a single white finger. He closed his eyes again.**

"**No!"**

"**_No!_"**

"**Harry! HARRY!"**

"That was us." Ron said, indicating himself, Hermione and Ginny.

**Ron's, Hermione's, and Ginny's voices were worse than McGonagall's;**

"Of course the pain of friends would be worse than that of a teacher." Sirius sighed, "even if that teacher is your favourite."

**Harry wanted nothing more than to call back, yet he made himself lie silent, and their cries acted like a trigger; the crowd of survivors took up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the Death Eaters,**

"That's brave of you, but I doubt it will help." Moody said quietly.

**until -**

"**SILENCE!" cried Voldemort, and there was a bang and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced upon them all. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"**

"That is not where he belongs." Seamus growled, glaring at the book, "no one belongs there."

The Irish boy wasn't the only person glaring at the book, and the force of nearly a thousand glares made Narcissa fidget a little, never having been the focus of so many before.

**Harry felt himself lowered onto the grass.**

"**You see?" said Voldemort, and Harry felt him striding backward and forward right beside the place where he lay. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"**

"No, he's far more than that." Charlus snarled, "he's a brave man, who was willing to sacrifice himself to save the lives of innocents. Just because Voldemort is a coward, doesn't mean my grandson is as well."

"**He beat you!" yelled Ron, and the charm broke, and the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a second, more powerful bang extinguished their voices once more.**

"**He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," said Voldemort, and there was a relish in his voice for the lie,**

"He really doesn't understand that, if he had succeeded in killing you, he would have created a martyr." Susan said.

"Tom has never understood the true power of love, even when he saw its power, the night he failed to kill Harry for the first time." Albus smiled.

"**killed while trying to save himself –"**

**But Voldemort broke off: Harry heard a scuffle and a shout, then another bang, a flash of light, and grunt of pain; he opened his eyes an infinitesimal amount. Someone had broken free of the crowd and charged at Voldemort: Harry saw the figure hit the ground. Disarmed, Voldemort throwing the challenger's wand aside and laughing.**

"Who was that?" James asked worriedly, "and are they still alive?"

"They are still alive." Narcissa smiled, having read a bit ahead.

"But who was it?" Dorea wondered.

"Someone very brave, most likely." Sirius said, "probably a Gryffindor."

"Oh yes, he definitely is a Gryffindor." Harry grinned knowingly.

"**And who is this?" he said in his soft snake's hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"**

**Bellatrix gave a delighted laugh.**

"**It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord!**

"Go Nev!" Dean and Seamus roared gleefully, while Neville blinked at Narcissa confusedly, before catching Luna's eye and sitting up straight. The love shining in Luna's eyes had given him confidence, and he didn't want to let her down.

**The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"**

"**Ah, yes, I remember," said Voldemort, looking down at Neville, who was struggling back to his feet, unarmed and unprotected, standing in the no-man's-land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. "But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?" Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands curled in fists.**

"**So what if I am?" said Neville loudly.**

"You said it." Bill grinned.

"You are a true Gryffindor." Minerva smiled proudly at the brunette sixth year, who looked stunned but pleased.

"**You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."**

"**I'll join you when hell freezes over," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army!" he shouted, **

"Hell yes." The DA yelled, each trying to be a loud as possible.

**and there was an answering cheer from the crowd, whom Voldemort's Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold.**

"Why not?" Susan wondered.

"You'll see." Harry grinned.

"**Very well," said Voldemort, and Harry heard more danger in the silkiness of his voice than in the most powerful curse. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head," he said quietly, "be it."**

"What the hell is he talking about?" Seamus spat.

"I don't know." Dean shrugged, "we'll just have to wait and find out."

"Yeah, that's annoying, I wish that lot who know, would just tell us." Seamus grumbled.

**Still watching through his lashes, Harry saw Voldemort wave his wand. Seconds later, out of one of the castle's shattered windows, something that looked like a misshapen bird flew through the half-light and landed in Voldemort's hand. He shook the mildewed object by its pointed end and it dangled, empty and ragged: the Sorting Hat.**

"OK, what's that for?" Andromeda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That will give Neville something to use to destroy the snake." James smirked.

"Yep." Harry nodded, "something nice, shiny and sharp."

"**There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," said Voldemort. "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"**

"No, because people wouldn't be happy with just one house, and there wouldn't be enough room in the Slytherin dorms for everyone." Regulus snorted.

"Besides, Slytherins are cunning, and not everyone is." Orion nodded.

"I thought Slytherin was also the house of the ambitious." Theo frowned.

"Ah, but everyone has some ambition of some sort." Cygnus pointed out, "even Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The original point about the houses was so that the students could make friends with people who were like them, but also so that the students weren't forced to be in close contact with people they didn't like, for whatever reason."

"How long has the rivalry and 'we're better than them' philosophy been going?" Blaise asked curiously.

"There was no real rivalry when we were at school." Dorea frowned, "yes the houses were exceptionally competitive, especially on the Quidditch pitch, but even then, the matches were more friendly, and the House cup was fairly competitive, but it was also a lot closer, and no house won more than once or twice in a row."

"I think Voldemort did something to escalate it." Caruso sighed, "our first year was quite calm, but then from second year onwards, relations between the houses were breaking down, and by the time we left, well, that was it, the Slytherins and Gryffindors hated each other."

"It only took six years to go from friendly competition to outright hatred?" Pansy yelped.

"It does seem strange, but that's what happened." Abraxas nodded.

"So if Voldemort hadn't been around, then we would have been friendly with the snakes." Sirius frowned.

"Yes." Caruso nodded, "people did have friends in other houses, and no one was discriminated against because of the house they were in. Not when we started school."

**He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, then forced the hat onto Neville's head, so that it slipped down below his eyes. There were movements from the watching crowd in front of the castle, and as one, the Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the fighters of Hogwarts at bay.**

"**Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort, and with a flick of his wand, he caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames.**

"No." Lily and many others moaned.

"In a few seconds, minutes, or however long, Neville will have both a powerful weapon, and a chance at the snake." James grinned.

**Screams split the dawn, and Neville was aflame, rooted to the spot, unable to move, and Harry could not bear it: he must act –**

**And then many things happened at the same moment.**

"Oh no, what now?" Lily groaned nervously. She knew her son had survived, but she couldn't work out how he had managed to get off the ground without Voldemort or any of the Death Eaters noticing.

**They heard uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over the out-of-sight walls and pelted toward the castle, uttering loud war cries. At the same time, Grawp came lumbering around the side of the castle and yelled, "HAGGER!" His cry was answered by roars from Voldemort's giants: they ran at Grawp like bull elephants, making the earth quake. Then came hooves, and the twangs of bows, and arrows were suddenly falling amongst the Death Eaters, **

"The centaurs." Dorea smiled.

"It would appear that what Hagrid said, got them irritated enough to join the battle." Charlus grinned.

**who broke ranks, shouting their surprise. Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from inside his robes, swung it over himself, and sprang to his feet, as Neville moved too.**

**In one swift, fluid motion, Neville broke free of the Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming hat fell off him and he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering, rubied handle -**

"The Sword of Gryffindor." Tonks grinned, "we should have known, especially since Harry said that he had got it out of the sorting hat, and I don't know how it got in there in the first place."

"But how did I manage to get it?" Neville wondered, "I don't think I'm a descendant of Gryffindor, though Gran hasn't told me much about my family history."

"You are a descendant." Helena smiled, "my sister, Magdalena, was the mother of the Weasley and Longbottom lines."

**The slash of the silver blade could not be heard over the roar of the oncoming crowd, or the sounds of the clashing giants, or of the stampeding centaurs, and yet, it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke, Neville sliced off the great snake's head, **

"You did it." Remus grinned, "that means Voldemort's mortal again."

"Congratulations Neville, you've just joined a very exclusive club, the only members being Harry, Hermione, Ron, Professor Dumbledore and Crabbe." Draco sniggered.

"What club would that be?" Sirius asked.

"The 'I destroyed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes' club." Draco smirked.

**which spun high into the air, gleaming in the light flooding from the Entrance Hall, and Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream of fury that nobody could hear, and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet –**

"Uh oh, he's angry." Susan grimaced.

"That just means that he'll make a mistake, and not be able to think so clearly." Harry grinned, "the angrier he gets, the sloppier he gets."

**Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry cast a Shield Charm between Neville and Voldemort before the latter could raise his wand. Then, over the screams, and the roars, and the thunderous stamps of the battling giants, Hagrid's yell came loudest of all.**

"**HARRY!" Hagrid shouted. "HARRY – WHERE'S HARRY?"**

"Hagrid." James groaned, "I don't think you were supposed to notice that."

"Sorry." Hagrid grinned sheepishly.

**Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, everyone was fleeing the giants' stamping feet, and nearer and nearer thundered the reinforcements that had come from who knew where; **

"Where did they come from, or didn't you find out?" Hannah wondered.

"Hogsmeade." Draco grinned, "those reinforcements were the residents of the village, the Slytherins who had wanted to stay and fight, but didn't dare because of the Death Eaters in the house, the parents of a lot of the students, other ordinary people who'd found out about the battle, and people who'd been out of the country until that day."

"With those reinforcements, the Death Eaters were outnumbered, by quite a lot." Harry added, "I don't know the exact figures, but it was phenomenal."

**Harry saw great winged creatures soaring around the heads of Voldemort's giants, Thestrals and Buckbeak the Hippogriff**

Narcissa paused, slightly confused, and looked at Harry, saying, "I thought Buckbeak had escaped after this idiot tried to have him executed." She pointed at Lucius to indicate who she was calling an idiot.

"Oh he did escape, then spent a year on the run with me, and after I offered Grimmauld Place as the Order's Headquarters, poor Buckbeak was stuck in Mother's bedroom." Sirius smirked.

"He was brought back to Hogwarts with a different name after Sirius did his triple-axle through the gate to Volia." Harry added.

"Is that where I ended up?" Sirius asked.

"Yep." Harry nodded.

**scratching at their eyes while Grawp punched and pummelled them; and now the wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike were being forced back into the castle. Harry was shooting jinxes and curses at any Death Eater he could see, and they crumpled, not knowing what or who had hit them, and their bodies were trampled by the retreating crowd.**

"That's good." Remus grinned darkly.

**Still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry was buffeted into the entrance hall: he was searching for Voldemort and saw him across the room, firing spells from his wand as he backed into the Great Hall, still screaming instructions to his followers as he sent curses flying left and right; Harry cast more Shield Charms, and Voldemort's would-be victims. Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott, darted past him into the Great Hall, where they joined the fight already flourishing inside it.**

"Thanks Harry." Both grinned.

**And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, and Harry saw Charlie Weasley overtaking Horace Slughorn, **

"Does that mean that I really was a bad guy?" Slughorn asked nervously,.

"No, it just means you were slow." Hermione giggled.

"I mean seriously, Charlie's not the fastest bloke around, but you were barely going faster than walking pace." Ron snorted, "anyone could have overtaken you, most just thought they ought not to. Charlie got irritated by the slow pace, and wanted to get to the battle as fast as possible."

"I don't know how he managed it, he must have been bloody knackered." Harry sniggered, "he'd been riding Norberta all the way from the Romanian reserve to the Welsh one, then flooed to Hogsmeade with a group of handlers who wanted to fight."

"So I did get to join in." Charlie grinned.

"Yep." Ron nodded.

**who was still wearing his emerald pyjamas. They seemed to have returned at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight along with the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade. The centaurs Bane, Ronan and Magorian burst into the hall with a great clatter of hooves,**

"So Hagrid's words really did get them to join the battle." Minerva whispered.

"It would appear so." Albus breathed, knowing that they were hearing about the true end of Voldemort, and not really wanting to speak too loudly for fear of making people realise that it wasn't going to happen just yet.

**as behind Harry the door that led to the kitchens was blasted off its hinges.**

"Blimey, the house-elves are fighting as well." Seamus said with wide eyes.

**The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleavers, and at their head, the locker of Regulus Black bouncing on his chest, was Kreacher,**

Sirius winced, knowing that he had not treated Kreacher very well, which was why the house-elf had gone to find Bellatrix and Narcissa, and indirectly leading to his disappearance through the Veil/gate/thing. He wasn't sure what had happened afterwards, but Kreacher had evidently chosen to fight against Voldemort, for some reason, and he was almost positive that Harry had had something to do with it.

**his bullfrog's voice audible even above this din: "Fight! Fight! Fight for my Master,**

"Oh yeah, he likes you." Regulus grinned at Harry, "he wouldn't say something like that if he didn't."

"That may be, but the rest of what he said is even more impressive." Narcissa giggled, reading ahead.

"Go on, what did he say?" Regulus asked.

**defender of house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!"**

"Oh bloody Merlin." Regulus murmured, "he's fighting because of me."

"He really did like you." Orion smiled, "your supposed death did hurt him, a lot."

**They were hacking and stabbing at the ankles and shins of Death Eaters their tiny faces alive with malice, **

"I'm not surprised." Flitwick said, "the house-elves would have suffered with the Death Eaters in the school. I'm sure the Carrows would have used the house-elves as target practise when they were teaching the students, and the house-elves wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop them."

**and everywhere Harry looked Death Eaters were folding under sheer weight of numbers, overcome by spells, dragging arrows from wounds, stabbed in the leg by elves, or else simply attempting to escape, but swallowed by the oncoming horde.**

"I wish I'd been able to see that." Remus sighed.

"So do I, it sounds brilliant." Sirius nodded.

**But it was not over yet: Harry sped between duellers, past struggling prisoners, and into the Great Hall.**

**Voldemort was in the centre of the battle, and he was striking and smiting all within reach. Harry could not get a clear shot, but fought his way nearer, still invisible, and the Great Hall became more and more crowded as everyone who could walk forced their way inside.**

**Harry saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan, **

"Go George." James grinned.

**saw Dolohov fall with a scream at Flitwick's hands, **

"Go Flitwick." Everyone cheered for the diminutive professor, who was wearing a malicious grin at the thought of putting Dolohov down.

**saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground. **

"'E deserved it." Hagrid growled.

"Yeah, he definitely did." Harry nodded, "trying to kill poor Buckbeak."

"Why?" Regulus wondered.

"Because he attacked someone who then claimed to be dying." Hermione sighed, "it was all rather melodramatic, especially when the only injury on his target was a scratch."

"Oh." Regulus muttered, "let me guess, that person had insulted him, and then went crying to his Daddy when Buckbeak retaliated."

"Yep." Harry nodded.

"Did he not know that Hippogriffs are exceptionally proud creatures, and hate to be insulted?" Charlus asked.

"I don't think he did." Ron grimaced, "he wasn't listening to Hagrid's lecture."

"Well that was stupid." Dorea sighed, while Narcissa glared at her son for being so idiotic as to ignore a teacher and then accuse the teacher of not doing his job properly.

**He saw Ron and Neville bringing down Fenrir Greyback,**

"Brilliant." Remus grinned.

**Aberforth Stunning Rookwood, **

"Go Abe." James shouted at the barman, who blushed and ducked his head. He really wasn't keen on getting praise for doing something any reasonable person would have done.

**Arthur and Percy flooring Thicknesse, **

"Congratulations." Fred and George bellowed.

**and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son.**

"They couldn't fight, they didn't have wands." Ernie pointed out.

"Even if we did have wands, we wouldn't have been fighting." Lucius said, "or if we had, we'd have been fighting against the Death Eaters."

**Voldemort was now duelling McGonagall, Slughorn, Kingsley all at once,**

"Bloody hell." Abraxas muttered, "that would have been a sight to see."

"Oh it was amazing." Harry nodded, "they were all using extremely powerful and borderline spells."

"I'm pretty sure that some of the spells spewing out of Minnie's wand were more than borderline." Ron grinned, "I could have sworn that she was firing blood-boiling and cutting curses."

**and there was a cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him –**

**Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master she duelled three at once: Hermione, Ginny and Luna, all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them,**

"Yeah, and even though I can't really remember much, I can remember that it was quite a challenge." Bellatrix mumbled, "and I'm not just talking about the duel itself."

"What's wrong?" Andromeda asked gently.

"I remember Voldemort's control weakening slightly, and fighting myself." Bellatrix sighed, "I remember trying to stop some of the curses hitting them, and managed to cause a few to miss. I do know that I didn't truly want to fight, but there was nothing I could do to stop."

"Merlin." Ted murmured.

**and Harry's attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch –**

"Sweet Merlin, that was close." Mrs Weasley murmured, trying not to glare too much at Bellatrix, who had been forced to fight when she didn't want to. The redhead had heard what the other woman had said, and felt sorry for her, knowing that it must have been hard to watch as her body did all sorts of terrible things, while being unable to stop it.

**He changed course, running at Bellatrix rather than Voldemort, but before he had gone a few steps he was knocked sideways.**

"**NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"**

"I think I know who that was." Sirius smirked, while almost all the Weasleys stared at their mother, as if she was an alien. Ron was the only one not staring, having seen and heard his mother during the battle.

"I can't believe she actually said that." Fred muttered to George.

"I can't either." George whispered, gaping at their mother in awe.

**Mrs Weasley **

"I thought so." Sirius grinned at Mrs Weasley, who was blushing and had hidden her face in her husband's shoulder.

**threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms, Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of the new challenger.**

"You shouldn't have laughed." Andromeda sighed, "you do remember that she is the only one who was able to beat you at the school duelling tournament in your sixth year."

"Yeah, that was a bit stupid." Bellatrix grimaced.

"**OUT OF MY WAY!" shouted Mrs Weasley to the three girls, and with a simple swipe of her wand she began to duel. Harry watched with terror and elation as Molly Weasley's wand slashed and twisted, and Bellatrix Lestrange's smile faltered and became a snarl. **

"I can't imagine how it would have felt to watch two talented witches duelling like that." Regulus whistled.

"It would have been scary, impressive, awe-inspiring." Andromeda nodded, "I saw them when I was a fifth year, and while they weren't using lethal spells during the tournament, they were two of the best in the school."

**Jets of light flew from both wands, the floor around the witches' feet became bot and cracked; both woman were fighting to kill.**

"Wow, it does sound incredible." Susan whispered, staring in awe at both women.

"**No!" Mrs. Weasley cried as a few students ran forward, trying to come to her aid. "Get back! _Get back!_ She is mine!"**

"Who was it that tried to help?" Mr Weasley asked, wondering who had been brave enough to try and get involved.

"Me, Susan, Neville and Padma." Draco replied with a smile.

"But I thought you were wandless at the time." Remus frowned.

"I won a wand from a Death Eater, and joined the fight." Draco shrugged, "I managed to take Rowle and Travers down, with help from Hermione."

"Help he says." Hermione snorted, "all I did was cast a shield charm on you a couple of times. I didn't need to do anything else."

"That's a result of the training we gave you." Snape smirked.

**Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights, Voldemort and his three opponents, Bellatrix and Molly, and Harry stood, invisible, torn between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, unable to be sure that he would not hit the innocent.**

"**What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Molly's curses danced around her. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"**

"Oh Bella, you should have realised that a mother can be as dangerous as a dragon when her children are threatened." Andromeda groaned.

"I think I did, subconsciously, but I couldn't really do anything about it." Bellatrix grimaced.

"**You – will – never – touch – our – children – again!" screamed Mrs Weasley.**

**Bellatrix laughed the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backward through the veil, and suddenly Harry knew what was going to happen before it did.**

**Molly's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.**

"What curse was it?" Rodolphus asked, having been unconscious at the time.

"And how did you survive?" Bill added.

"It was a bone-breaker, and while it didn't kill her, it did do a lot of damage." Harry smiled, "when we found her, after the battle, she had a fractured sternum, five broken ribs, a massive crack in her pelvis, concussion, and a punctured lung."

"Wow, that's a long list of painful injuries." Andromeda whispered.

"Yeah, and I would have died, slowly and painfully if Harry and Lucius hadn't found me." Bellatrix nodded, "I owe them my life."

**Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.**

**Harry felt as though he turned in slow motion: he saw McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air,**

"Merlin, I hope they were all right." Lily whispered.

"Oh they were." Harry smiled, "as we said earlier, the only injuries the Healers could find on Minerva, were a broken wrist and a cut on one cheek."

"What about Kingsley and Slughorn though?" Flitwick wondered.

"Kingsley had a sprained ankle and bruised coccyx, while Slughorn had a few scratches on his arms and feet." Hermione replied.

**as Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb, Voldemort raised his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley.**

"**Protego!" roared Harry, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Hall, **

"It wasn't just an ordinary shield." Hermione grinned, "it was one of the most powerful I have ever seen."

**and Voldemort stared around for the source as Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak at last.**

**The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of, "Harry!" "HE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, **

"Of course they would be." Susan said, "they would realise that the end was upon them."

"Plus Harry's aura was pulsing, almost visible." Ron grinned.

"And there was the fact that we had all seen his body, looking very dead, lying on the ground, and to see him alive was a shock." Hermione added.

**and silence fell abruptly and completely as Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other.**

"**I don't want anyone else to help," Harry said loudly, **

"I don't think the thought of helping crossed our minds." Daphne said, "it just wasn't possible."

**and in the total silence his voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."**

**Voldemort hissed.**

"**Potter doesn't mean that," he said, his red eyes wide. "This isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"**

"Does he seriously think that that will make you decide to let someone else get between you?" James asked.

"Probably, either that or he thought it would make me angry." Harry shrugged.

"**Nobody," said Harry simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good …"**

"**One of us?" jeered Voldemort, and his whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"**

"He really seems to think that I had anything to do with Harry's survival." Albus murmured, "the only thing I did was hope and pray. I wasn't pulling any strings at all."

"**Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. They were still moving sideways, both of them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other, and for Harry no face existed but Voldemort's. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"**

"Bloody hell, when did you become so cool?" Seamus asked.

"He's always been cool." Neville shrugged.

"I know that, but throughout most of this book, he's been a typical emotional teenager, and now he's really cool." Seamus said, "it's like he gained something in the forest, instead of losing anything."

"He did gain an insight into death." Luna whispered, "anyone would change after experiencing something like that."

"**_Accidents!_" screamed Voldemort, but still he did not strike, **

"Of course not, he was absolutely terrified of you." Hermione giggled.

**and the watching crowd was frozen as if Petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody seemed to breathe but they two. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and snivelled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!"**

"**You won't be killing anyone else tonight," said Harry as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. **

"I've just noticed something." Regulus said, "Harry's eyes are Slytherin green, while Voldemort's are Gryffindor red, and yet they were in the opposite house."

"And Harry's eyes are the colour of the Killing Curse, while Voldemort's eyes are the colour of the Stunning spell, but they throw the opposite spells at each other." Remus added.

"If you really want to be pernickity about that, then Voldemort's eyes should have been blue, which is the colour of the Disarming charm." Harry grinned, "my favourite spell."

"True." Remus shrugged.

"**You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people –"**

"**But you did not!"**

"– **I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. **

"So that's why his spells don't work." Sirius realised, "your sacrifice is protecting them."

"Exactly." Harry nodded.

**You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"**

"Ooh, he really won't like that." Rodolphus grinned.

"Of course not, that's why I said it." Harry laughed.

"**_You dare –_"**

"**Yes, I dare," said Harry. "I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"**

"He won't listen, and it will be his last and _biggest_ mistake." Remus said.

**Voldemort did not speak, but prowled in a circle, and Harry knew that he kept him temporarily mesmerized and at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that Harry might indeed know a final secret …**

"**Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake's face jeering. "Dumbledore's favourite solution, _love,_ which he claimed conquered death, **

"Which it does." Lucius grinned, "love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe."

**though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach,**

James, Remus, Sirius and Snape growled angrily at that, as did all the students and staff who hated that word. Even Charlus and Dorea were struggling to contain their anger at the way Voldemort dismissed their daughter-in-law as nothing more than a mudblood.

**Potter – and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?"**

"The fact that you might miss, or it might bounce off him again." Dean snorted.

"Yeah, I can't see Harry not dodging or finding some way to reflect it." Seamus grinned.

"**Just one thing," said Harry, and still they circled each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by nothing but the last secret.**

"**If it is not love that will save you this time," said Voldemort, "you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"**

"**I believe both," said Harry,**

"But no wand is as powerful as the Elder Wand, even though it doesn't work properly for Voldemort." Susan whispered.

"True, but I think that is negated by the fact that Harry does have the seemingly endless capacity to love, and love is far more powerful than anything Voldemort could throw at him." Albus smiled.

**and he saw shock flit across the snakelike face, though it was instantly dispelled; Voldemort began to laugh, and the sound was more frightening than his screams; humourless and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall.**

"I didn't think he could get more scary, and then he did that." Hermione shuddered.

"**You think _you _know more magic than I do?" he said. "Than _I_, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"**

"Oh I dreamed of it, I won't deny that." Albus sighed, "but I knew not to use it to the extent that Voldemort did."

"**Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."**

"**You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"**

"That isn't weakness." Flitwick snapped, "it's strength. He had the strength to resist the temptation."

"**No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."**

"**I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"**

"**You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."**

"That sounded like you were saying he was still alive." Remus frowned.

"I know, I realised after I'd said it." Harry grinned, "whoops."

**For the first time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one.**

"**_Dumbledore is dead!_" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as though they would cause him unendurable pain. "His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"**

"You only saw his remains because you broke into his tomb, you bloody bastard." Minerva snarled, not realising that she had just sworn.

"**Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."**

"Hang on, since we all know that professor Snape is a spy, is he going to be able to continue, or will he have to stop?" Pansy wondered.

"I can't continue." Snape said, "not only have I undoubtedly missed at least one meeting over the last few days, but Harry removed my Dark Mark, and I'm not taking it again."

"Well that's good." Pansy nodded.

"**What childish dream is this?" said Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry's.**

"**Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's. **

"When you said that, almost everyone gasped." Hermione giggled, "no one, except those who already knew, could believe it."

**Dumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"**

"Of course he didn't." Bellatrix grimaced, "he never bothered to make sure the Death Eaters could produce one. He felt that the Patronus charm was beneath him, which makes me believe that he couldn't actually cast it, and he had other ways of controlling the Dementors anyway, so didn't need it."

"Most of the Death Eaters couldn't cast the Patronus anyway, especially after years in Azkaban." Rodolphus sighed, "I think Severus might just be the only one who can."

"I still can, I think." Lucius frowned, "I haven't actually tried recently."

**Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart.**

"**Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized," he said as he saw Voldemort's nostrils flare, "he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"**

"**He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him –"**

"He got totally the wrong idea there." Snape said, "he never bothered to learn about love, so he never knew the difference between familial love and lovers. So I used that lack of knowledge against him."

"Yeah, he never understood the true meaning of family." Harry nodded, "his father had abandoned his mother when he found out that she'd drugged him to make him fall in love with her, and she died an hour after he was born, so he thought that all families would be the same."

"**Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"**

"**It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great _love!_ Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!**

"I think it's Voldemort who doesn't understand." Dorea snorted, "but then, he doesn't have all the information, so can't come to the correct conclusion."

"**Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy – I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up.**

"No, he didn't." Susan said, "I think Harry understood what was going on far earlier than Voldemort."

**I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"**

"It did go wrong, but not in the way he thinks it did." Ginny grinned.

"**Yeah, it did." said Harry. "You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you think what you've done … think, and try for some remorse, Riddle …"**

"Why tell him that?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Because I felt that he ought to be given the chance, even if I knew he wouldn't take it." Harry replied, "I didn't want to be like him, killing someone without giving them the chance to change."

"**What is this?"**

**Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.**

"I can understand why." James muttered, "I don't think he could comprehend the possibility that someone would do something like that."

"I think it is good that Harry offered Voldemort that chance." Albus said, "it is a shame that Voldemort would never take it."

"**It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left … I've seen what you'll be otherwise … be a man … try … try for some remorse …"**

"**You dare –?" said Voldemort again.**

"Of course he does, get over it." Lily snapped.

"**Yes, I dare," said Harry, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle."**

"But how?" Lavender asked, "I can't work it out."

"You'll see." Harry smirked.

**Voldemort's hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, and Harry gripped Draco's very tightly. The moment, he knew, was seconds away.**

"**That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."**

"**He killed –"**

"Just because he killed the headmaster, does not mean that he defeated him." Hermione snorted, "defeated doesn't always mean killed."

"**Aren't you listening?**

"Evidently he's not." Andromeda laughed.

**_Snape never beat Dumbledore!_ Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die, undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"**

"**But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" Voldemort's voice shook with malicious pleasure. "I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"**

"That wouldn't work, even if I had died undefeated." Albus said.

"It's like he didn't even listen to a word Ollivander told him." Cygnus snorted.

"**You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? _The wand chooses the wizard _… the Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance …"**

"So who was it, and were they defeated afterwards?" Parvati asked.

"You'll see." Draco grinned.

**Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at his face.**

"**The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."**

"Unbelievable." Lisa muttered, remembering the chapter about the capture of the trio, when Harry wrenched three wands out of Draco's hand, including Draco's wand, which meant that Harry had won the Elder Wand's allegiance.

**Blank shock showed in Voldemort's face for a moment, but then it was gone.**

"**But what does it matter?" he said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: we duel on skill alone … and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy …"**

Narcissa paused, glaring at the book, and growled, "over my dead body."

"It's all right, he didn't get me, and he won't." Draco smiled, trying to calm his mother down, and wondering how on Earth Harry had coped with Lily breaking down during the more emotional or exciting chapters.

"**But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him."**

**Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the Hall upon it.**

"Of course we were bloody staring at it." Ron sniggered, "we were waiting, because we knew that Harry would succeed, and wanted to see it happen."

"**So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does … I am the true master of the Elder Wand."**

"I'm sure it knows." Albus nodded, "as we have been saying quite a lot over the last few days, wands have a kind of sentience, so I'm sure that the Elder Wand would recognise Harry as its master."

"Which is why Voldemort's Cruciatus didn't work on him." Flitwick added..

**A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand:**

"**_Avada Kedavra!_"**

"**_Expelliarmus!_"**

The only sound in the hall was Narcissa's voice. Everyone else was holding their breath, even though the ones who'd had their souls sent back already knew what had happened.

**The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided.**

"Impressive." Caruso muttered to Rodolphus.

**Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last.**

A few people started outright grinning. They knew that Harry had clearly won, and done it in style.

**And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.**

"He did die with a whimper." Bellatrix giggled, "almost."

"YES! YOU DID IT!" James, and everyone else, yelled happily.

"YOU SAVED THE WORLD!" Lily screamed joyously.

"OUR SON/GRANDSON IS AWESOME!" James, Lily Charlus and Dorea bellowed, all trying to hug Harry for all they were worth.

"WELL, I WAS WRONG!" Remus shouted, trying to make himself heard over the noise, "HARRY DID USE THE DISARMING CHARM, AND WON WITH IT. THAT JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT I DON'T ALWAYS KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT."

The entire student body, along with the staff and other guests, were cheering as loudly as they could, every single one of them abandoning all dignity and jumping up and down with no thought of what they would look like to anyone walking in at that point, which is how they all missed the sound of the great hall doors opening and the arrival of sixteen new people, who glanced around and moved to stand in the shadows.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, everyone settled down and Narcissa was able to continue reading.

**One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened him. Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, not tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last –**

"I don't think you can blame them for that." Regulus grinned, "you are, after all, a hero to them."

"Yes, so much so that a few even told me they would give their left arms to be me." Harry snorted, "that was creepy, but fortunately, not everyone was like that."

"I can imagine." Regulus shuddered.

**The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great Hall blazed with life and light. Harry was an indispensable part of the mingled outpourings of jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebration. They wanted him there with them, their leader and symbol, their saviour and their guide, and that he had not slept,**

"For something like thirty-odd hours." Hermione sighed, "that was a long day."

"Yeah, when we finally managed to escape and find somewhere to sleep, we slept for almost twenty-four hours, solid." Ron agreed.

**that he craved the company of only a few of them, seemed to occur to no one. He must speak to the bereaved, clasp their hands, witness their tears, receive their thanks, hear the news now creeping in from every quarter as the morning drew on; that the Imperiused up and down the country had come back to themselves,**

"That's good." Susan whispered.

**that Death Eaters were fleeing or else being captured, that the innocent of Azkaban were being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of Magic …**

"How long was I temporary Minister?" Kingsley asked, slightly nervously. He wasn't looking forward to having to toady to the press or the mounds of paperwork he would undoubtedly be forced to deal with.

"Umm … the word 'temporary' was removed three months later when you won the election, and you kept the position after you won, nine more times, each one a landslide victory." Hermione giggled, "you were still Minister of the Earth Wizards colony, in our time."

"T-that's nearly fifty years." Kingsley stuttered.

"Yes, you were by far, the most popular Minister we had." Harry nodded with a smirk.

Scrimgeour grimaced, wondering whether he should step down, and return to being Head Auror, so that Kingsley could become Minister and deal with the war. Then he wondered what would happen, when they got around to rescuing Amelia from Lestrange Manor. Would the people want her to take the position? After all, she had been the popular choice, before she was captured. The Minister sighed, knowing that he had a lot of things to think about, and a lot of difficult decisions to make, in not much time.

**They moved Voldemort's body and laid it in a chamber off the Hall, away form the bodies of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey, and fifty others who had died fighting him. McGonagall had replaced the House tables, but nobody was sitting according to House any more: all were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in a corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouth. **

"That's how it should be." Albus whispered, "everyone, regardless of blood or race, sitting together, enjoying the company of others."

"The middle table is a perfect example of that." Minerva smiled, "purebloods sitting next to muggle-borns and half-bloods, with a werewolf and a metamorphmagus right in the middle."

"They've been like that all through the book." Flitwick nodded, "and while they have occasionally been sitting in different places, not one of them has sat at any other table since the beginning."

"It is an inspiration to the rest of the school, and hopefully, the world." Albus said quietly.

**After a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found himself sitting on a bench beside Luna.**

"**I'd want some peace and quiet, if it were me," she said.**

"**I'd love some," he replied.**

"I can imagine." Orion nodded with a wry grin.

"**I'll distract them all," she said. "Use your cloak."**

**And before he could say a word, she had cried, "Oooh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger!" and pointed out the window. Everyone who heard looked around, and Harry slid the Cloak up over himself, and got to his feet.**

"So what is a Blibbering Humdinger?" Susan asked.

"Nothing." Luna giggled, "I made it up."

"Unbelievable." Hannah snorted, "one of the creatures she likes that doesn't actually exist."

"Yeah, I had thought that it might be another of those things that isn't actually native to this planet, like the Crumple-Horned Snorkack-thingy." Susan nodded.

"I still can't figure out how Luna knows of those, when they don't actually live here." Hannah muttered.

"They may not be native to this planet, but there is a small colony in Greenland." Hermione smiled, "the Nox brought them here as a gift when the Ancients first made contact with them and began the Great Alliance."

"Oh." Susan mumbled.

**Now he could move through the Hall without interference. He spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder: there would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk. He saw Neville, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers.**

"I'd forgotten that I'd been the one to kill Nagini." Neville laughed.

"Yeah, and I hope no one managed to cut themselves on it." Harry added.

"That would have been a disaster." Minerva grimaced.

**Along the aisle between the tables he walked, and he spotted the three Malfoys, huddled together as though unsure whether or not they were supposed to be there, but nobody was paying them any attention. **

"We were rather glad that we were being ignored." Lucius mumbled, "it meant that we weren't being dragged away."

"A few Aurors did look like they wanted to drag you away, but they lost their nerve when Harry growled and glared at them." Hermione grinned, "he told them that if they tried, they would have to face him, and none of them dared to go against him."

"And then they saw Hagrid carrying Professor Snape in." Ron smirked, "they were hoping to be able to arrest him, but Harry wasn't having any of it, he sent that entire group, scurrying away with their tails between their legs."

"That's fortunate." Albus nodded. "I hope they didn't return and arrest him later on."

"Nope." Harry grinned, "they got mauled by the dragon-ladies. Then after professor Snape was moved to St Mungo's, Kingsley put an Auror on protection duty."

"Though Dawlish, the one who had duty, thought he was making sure that professor Snape didn't escape." Ron added.

"How the idiot came up with that idea I don't know, after all, professor Snape was in a bloody coma, he wasn't likely to be going anywhere." Harry snorted, "and when I pointed that out, he pissed himself."

"Oh dear." Albus murmured, slightly amused at Dawlish's reaction.

**Everywhere he looked, he saw families reunited, and finally, he saw the two whose company he craved most.**

"**It's me," he muttered, crouching down between them. "Will you come with me?"**

"Of course." Ron grinned.

"If you hadn't asked, we would have looked for you and berated you for leaving us." Hermione nodded.

**They stood up at once, and together he, Ron and Hermione left the Great Hall. Great chunks were missing from the marble staircase, part of the balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains occurred ever few steps as they climbed.**

"How?" Susan asked, "I thought the whole castle was an illusion?"

"Oh it is." Hermione smiled, "and while the original city wasn't damaged, due to the fact that it had been made invisible, and in places, incorporeal, the illusion was created in such as way as to mimic the damage that the Founders knew would occur if and when the school was attacked. The bloodstains were real, but while the rubble looked and felt real, it wasn't. If we'd known about it when we were doing repairs, we would have merely programmed the illusion to return to its original appearance, which would only have taken about thirty minutes, at the most."

"Oh, that makes sense." Padma nodded.

**Somewhere in the distance they could hear Peeves zooming through the corridors singing a victory song of his own composition:**

_**We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the One,  
And Voldy's gone mouldy, so now let's have fun!**_

"Peeves is the best." Sirius grinned, while the Poltergeist began to sing the same song, twirling and spinning in place as he sang.

"**Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?" said Ron, pushing open a door to let Harry and Hermione through.**

**Happiness would come, Harry thought, but at the moment it was muffled by exhaustion, and the pain of losing Fred and Lupin and Tonks pierced him like a physical wound every few steps. Most of all he felt the most stupendous relief, and a longing to sleep. But first he owed an explanation to Ron and Hermione, who had stuck with him for so long, and who deserved the truth. **

"You didn't have to tell us then, we would have waited." Ron said.

"It needed to be done, and that was the best time to explain it, when it was all fresh." Harry smiled.

**Painstakingly he recounted what he had seem in the Pensieve and what had happened in the forest, and they had not even begun to express all their shock and amazement, when at last they arrived at the place to which they had been walking, though none of them had mentioned their destination.**

"I didn't realise we didn't have any particular destination, I was just following you." Hermione giggled, while Ron nodded.

"And I was going wherever my feet took me." Harry snorted.

**Since he had last seen it, the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's study had been knocked aside; it stood lopsided, looking a little punch-drunk, and Harry wondered whether it would be able to distinguish passwords any more.**

"Nope, it couldn't." Rodolphus sniggered, "I remember being told that those who had been working on repairing it, had to find the original notes Salazar had made when he enchanted the gargoyle."

"So Salazar Slytherin is the one who created that ugly thing." Sirius whispered.

"He didn't carve it, he just enchanted it to work as the gate-keeper to his office." The Baron said, "it was given to him as a thank you for his creation of a pesticide for an African village that had been plagued by locusts."

"But why is it so ugly?" Lavender asked.

"Because it was the animal representation of one of the village's luck deities." The Baron replied, "they were a highly superstitious people, and believed that the gargoyle would bring him luck."

"**Can we go up?" he asked the gargoyle.**

"**Feel free," groaned the statue.**

**They clambered over him and onto the spiral stone staircase that moved slowly upward like an escalator. Harry pushed open the door at the top.**

**He had one, brief glimpse of the stone Pensieve on the desk where he had left it, and then an ear-splitting noise made him cry out, thinking of curses and returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort –**

"That would have been a nightmare." Susan whispered.

"Especially after we had worked so hard to get rid of him." Ron agreed with a laugh.

"A third rise would have been a bit disturbing and irritating." Harry snorted.

**But it was applause. All around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other's hands; they danced up and down on their chairs in which they have been painted: Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamedly;**

"I like her, she's cool, apart from the fact that she bursts into tears at the drop of a hat." James grinned.

**Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Nigellus called, in his high, reedy voice, "And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"**

"I don't think we could forget." Dorea said, "despite the fact that most of the Death Eaters were Slytherins, I think the house has begun to redeem itself."

**But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry with the same balm as phoenix song.**

**At last, Harry held up his hands, and the portraits fell respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes and waiting eagerly for him to speak. He directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous care. Exhausted and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice.**

"I wonder what about." Justin muttered.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Megan shrugged.

"**The thing that was hidden in the Snitch," he began, "I dropped it in the forest. I don't exactly know where, but I'm not going to go looking for it again. Do you agree?"**

"**My dear boy, I do," said Dumbledore, **

"Pity it didn't work." Harry sighed.

"Why not?" James asked.

"When I woke up the next day, the damn thing was on my finger." Harry grumbled, "no matter where I put it, it reappeared on my finger every time."

"How odd." Albus muttered, "no one has actually studied the Deathly Hallows in depth, so no one knows the limits to their power, especially when united, so I don't know why the stone would reappear on your finger when you hide it."

**while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. "A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone know else know where it fell?"**

"**No one," said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction.**

"**I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though," said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed.**

"I should bloody well hope so." James and Charlus said.

"It's been in our family for centuries." Charlus continued.

"**But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!"**

"**And then there's this."**

**Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see.**

"Sorry." Both mumbled, looking sheepish.

"It was the first time I'd seen the wand up close, and I still couldn't really believe it existed." Hermione added, going slightly pink in the cheeks.

"**I don't want it." said Harry.**

"You're not serious?" Almost everyone yelped incredulously. The only ones who didn't were those who had had their souls sent back.

"I was deadly serious, though, like the stone, the wand kept reappearing near me wherever I was." Harry sighed, "eventually, Penny told me to buy a holster for it, and keep it on me at all times."

"Well, if getting rid of it didn't work, that was the next best thing to do." Albus nodded.

"**What?" said Ron loudly. "Are you mental?"**

"**I know it's powerful," said Harry wearily. "But I was happier with mine. So …"**

**He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly still just connected by the finest threat of phoenix feather. Hermione had said that they could not be repaired, that the damage was too severe. All he knew was that if this did not work, nothing would.**

"Will it work?" Lisa frowned.

"Maybe." Albus said, "the Elder Wand is powerful, but whether it is capable of repairing a wand that has been that badly damaged, I do not know."

**He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster's desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and said, "_Reparo._"**

**As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end. Harry knew that he had succeeded. He picked up the holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion.**

"Well, I'll be." Remus whispered, "I'm amazed."

"And we all thought it was impossible." Seamus snorted.

"Harry doesn't know the meaning of that word." Hermione laughed.

"I think that's fairly obvious." Charlus grinned.

"**I'm putting the Elder Wand," he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, "back where it came from. It can stay there.**

"If it was willing to, then yes it could, but it would appear that that bleedin' wand is like a little puppy dog, going wherever its master goes." George snorted.

**If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will never have been defeated. That'll be the end of it."**

**Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other.**

"**Are you sure?" said Ron. There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand.**

"**I think Harry's right," said Hermione quietly.**

"**That wand's more trouble than it's worth." said Harry. "And quite honestly," he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."**

"That's the end of the chapter." Narcissa said, breathing a sigh of relief. "There's only the epilogue to go now."

"Let's read that after we've been introduced to the people standing in the corner." Albus suggested with a smile as everyone turned to the corner to see the sixteen people there, four of whom they recognised, having seen them during the reading.

The four who had already introduced themselves, Teddy, DC, Dee and Rus, smirked and grabbed seats with their families at the middle table, Teddy squeezing between his parents, Dee nudging her mother and Cygnus apart, DC almost pushing Ron off the end of the bench as she sat between Daphne and Lucius, and Rus folding himself into the gap between Snape and Hermione. Everyone just stared, moving their heads between the four who were now seated, and the rest of their group, who had stepped out of their corner.


	45. Chapter 45

"Oh for Merlin's sake." One of the visitors muttered, getting fed up of all the staring.

"It's really creepy." Another shivered, drawing all the attention to herself. She looked like a female version of Harry, but with grey eyes, instead of green. "Fine, I'll go first. I'm Kaitlyn Grace, DC's younger sister, I'm twenty-nine, and was a Ravenclaw."

"Like me." Rus grinned.

"I was a Ravenclaw too." DC added.

"Lots of us were." Kaitlyn said, "of our group, seven of us were Ravenclaws, Teddy is the only one who was a Gryffindor, and all the rest were Slytherins."

Lily and James stared at Kaitlyn, realising that not only was she another of their grandchildren, but also that she was obviously a bookworm, especially if she had gone into the house of blue and bronze.

"Next?" Charlus asked.

"I'm Annia Aurelia Faustina Potter-Malfoy, thirty, former Slytherin, and eight months pregnant with my third daughter." Said a pregnant woman with auburn hair, one green eye and one grey eye.

"She's the only one of us pregnant ones who isn't having a son." Kaitlyn smirked.

"Wow." Lily grinned, "how many grandchildren have you lot provided my son with?"

"So far, the ten of us who have actually had children, have had twenty between us." DC snorted, "there are five more on the way though."

"Merlin, that's a lot." James whistled.

"Yeah, but there are ten of us." Annia pointed out, "and it only comes to about two each, on average. Plus, DC had a set of twins, so I'm not really all that surprised that we've had so many."

"True." James nodded.

"So if Harry's your father, who's your mother?" Sirius asked, having not noticed the fact that Annia gave her surname when she introduced herself.

"You missed me saying that my surname was Potter-Malfoy." Annia snorted, "Draco's my half-brother."

"Harry and Lucius?" Sirius yelped, flicking his gaze from Annia to his godson, and glaring at the raven-haired wizard.

"Yes, and there's nothing you can do about it, so don't even bother." Lily growled, "I've already had this conversation with James, when we met the woman known as DC."

"What do those letters stand for?" Sirius wondered, trying to ignore the fact that his godson had married a man who was older than James.

"Dorea Christine." DC replied with a smile.

"Wow." Sirius whistled.

"Let's continue." Minerva suggested.

"Good idea." A man who looked very like Harry nodded, "I'm Al, also known as Albus Severus Potter-Malfoy, forty-two, and was a Slytherin, though the hat had great difficulty sorting me."

"Yeah, it only chose Slytherin over Ravenclaw after he threatened to chuck it in the lake if it didn't hurry up." Rus sniggered.

"Oh dear." Lily muttered.

"I think it's going to be easier, and quicker if we introduce ourselves in sections now." A man who vaguely resembled Abraxas, but with clear differences, said, "I'm Eustace Donovan, call me Eustace or Don, I'm thirty-seven, and was a Ravenclaw. Standing next to me is my sister Annabelle Elladora. She's thirty-five, and unlike myself, was a Slytherin."

"Don could have been a Slytherin, but he did not want to be in the same house as me, or our older sisters, Ivana and Lana." Annabelle grinned. She vaguely resembled Snape's mother, but had Abraxas' features, which confused quite a few people.

"I figured that being in a different house would give me a chance to hide if I accidentally irritated you all." He shrugged.

"Didn't work." A woman with strawberry blonde hair snorted. "My cousin Fabiola might have been a Ravenclaw too, but she was Ivana's best friend, which meant that each sided with the other during almost every argument, and Fabiola helped out whenever Ivana was on the warpath."

"And who are you, my dear?" Albus asked.

"I'm Dominique, second child and middle daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley." The woman smiled, "oh, and I'm forty-three, and like both my sisters, was a Ravenclaw. Our kid brother was a Hufflepuff."

"Given the fact that you're a Weasley, is your cousin Fabiola one too?" George asked.

"And if so, who are her parents?" Fred added.

"Oh yes, she's definitely a Weasley." Dominique nodded, "and her parents are Charlie and Narcissa Weasley."

"That's nice." Charlie grinned goofily at the blonde sitting next to him.

"Why isn't she here?" Narcissa wondered.

"Two reasons, one, she wanted to be there to send her daughter off to school for the first time, and two, she couldn't get the whole day off." Dominique shrugged. "That's actually the reason only a few of us came."

"Oh." Narcissa nodded, knowing that the first day of school was always an important event, in any parent's life.

"Yeah, it still doesn't explain why DC came, missing the opportunity to be there to send her twins to school for the first time." Teddy snorted.

"Elvira and Carmelita were already at school." DC grinned, "that's one of the perks of living there. After all, don't forget that my dear husband is one of their teachers."

"Good point." Teddy nodded.

Everyone then turned to look at the final six unknowns. Two of the females were almost identical, with strawberry blonde hair, and one green eye, one grey eye. The other two were both dark-haired, though one looked like a female version of Snape, while the other looked like Snape's mother, but had grey eyes like the Malfoys. The blond male looked very like Abraxas Malfoy, but instead of having Malfoy grey eyes, he had brown ones, while the dark-haired male, had green eyes like Harry, and very pale skin. All-in-all, to Albus, Minerva and those who had been at Hogwarts during the early forties, he looked very like Tom Riddle had, though they could tell that he was nicer and less likely to go on a rampage.

"Right, just us five now." The blond male grinned, "I'm Abraxas John, call me AJ, I'm thirty-five, Dee's younger brother, and was a Ravenclaw. And standing next to me, are the so-called Terror Twins, Tarquinia Lily and Titania Mirabella. They are one day younger than their brother Al, inherited their grandfather's penchant for pranking, and were Slytherins."

"Which is why they earned the nickname, Terror Twins." Al sighed.

"That sounds ominous." Minerva muttered to Flitwick.

"I will have retired by the time they start school." Flitwick decided.

"Right, fair enough." The female Snape lookalike said, "I'm Eileen, call me Ellie, or Leenie, I'm not fussed, I'm Rus' younger sister, I'm forty-one and was a Slytherin."

"And I'm Allana Marlene, also forty-one, former-Slytherin, one of Don and Annabelle's older sisters, and our parents are Abraxas Malfoy and Eileen Prince." The last woman smiled.

The hall was stunned silent. Everyone stared at Abraxas and Eileen, wondering how on earth two people who looked as though they were in their late sixties were able to have more children.

"H-h-h-h-how?" Minerva stammered, uncharacteristically incoherent, "I don't understand how that's possible."

"The same way it was possible for you and Dad to have children." Ellie grinned, grabbing a seat between Eustace and Snape.

"Indeed." Abraxas nodded, "we decided to de-age ourselves. Once we knew, for certain, that there was no way our arranged marriages could interfere, we wanted to marry and have children together, so de-aged ourselves by fifty and fifty-three years."

"Merlin." Flitwick whispered, shocked that two people would ever be willing to de-age themselves that much. From what he had heard about one of the various methods of de-ageing, it was a fairly painful process, but he did know that there were other methods, though he didn't know anything about them.

"I can't believe you were willing to put yourselves through that much pain." Minerva murmured.

"It wasn't as painful as you'd think." Abraxas smiled, "we used the same de-ageing spell that you had been hit with, though in far more controlled conditions. It was slow, but definitely not painful."

"Incredible." Pomfrey muttered.

"And who are you, young man?" Albus asked the one remaining visitor.

"Gabriel Anthony Potter-Malfoy, call me Gabe, I'm thirty-one, former Ravenclaw, and yes, I know how much I resemble that bloody idiot Voldemort."

"Ah." Albus nodded with a smile as Gabe took a seat next to Harry.

"How long are you lot able to stick around?" James asked.

"Not too long, the rift we opened won't stay open for much longer, but we can stick around for a few days." Annia replied, "we're not too likely to get stranded, unless we end up staying longer than two weeks, total."

"How are you going to get back?" Lily wondered, "I mean, you are leaving the ships you brought here, so how are you going to return without taking one of them with you?"

"We brought more than the ones we're leaving behind." Allana giggled, "that's why we finished setting up the satellite network so fast. We had twelve ships in use, and when we leave, we'll be taking four back with us. We decided to leave eight behind, to give you lot a head-start on your fleet."

"Which ones did you bring, other than the Valkyrie, Warrior Soul, Thunderchild and Yellowstone?" Bellatrix wondered.

"Dreadnought, Defiant, Dawnrazor, Retribution, Aurora, Hippoforalcus, Scimitar and the Sabretooth." Rus replied.

"They're not all sitting in orbit without people controlling them are they?" Minerva asked, slightly worriedly.

"No." Teddy grinned, "there are still people on those ships, monitoring the satellite data, just in case one of the System Lords decides to take an interest in what's going on in this sector."

"That's good." Minerva nodded.

"Where on Earth did you get the names from for those ships?" Seamus queried.

"Legends, music, extinct animals, books we've read, anything that sounded cool." Lucius replied, smirking at the gob-smacked expressions.

"Not to mention all the ones that sounded utterly ridiculous." Harry added, "like the names of some of the cargo vessels, the Trousersnake and Parselcrotch, for example."

"Oh dear." Dorea sighed, rolling her eyes at her grandson's dirty mind.

"The Aurora and Hippoforalcus, however, weren't actually named by us, they were named by the Ancients." Lucius grinned, "we found both ships, derelict, and managed to repair them, so we added them to the fleet."

"Interesting." Minerva muttered, "are you going to find them and do that, this time around?"

"Yes." Harry nodded, "we know where they are, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get them."

"I've just thought of something." Susan said suddenly.

"Yes." Albus nodded.

"How can we tell all these people who have the same names apart?" Susan asked, "I mean, there are two people called Abraxas, how do we let them know which one we're talking to when we're asking a question."

"Easy." The younger Abraxas grinned, "call me AJ."

"And to differentiate between me and Gran, call me Leenie." The younger of the two Eileens shrugged, "or Ellie, as I said earlier, I'm not terribly fussed."

"Nice to know." Albus smiled. "let's read the epilogue now, and then we can get to know each other afterwards."

"Good idea." Annia nodded.

"So who would like to read?"

"I will." Mr Weasley shrugged, not really bothered about it, he just thought someone should volunteer.

"Very well." Albus smiled.


	46. Chapter 46

A.N. This is my attempt at altering the DH epilogue to fit my idea of the relationships. I hope it's all right.

* * *

**Seventeen Years Later**

"**Seventeen Years Later**," Mr Weasley read happily.

**Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Three large cages tattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the little blonde girl trailed fearfully behind her siblings, clutching her father's arm.**

"Yeah, Charlotte really was a cry-baby that year." Tarquinia nodded.

"You two were worse when Rax and Akasha began their first year." Teddy snorted.

"True, but we were only seven." Titania pointed out, "and missed our big brother."

"And she was nine then, going to turn ten, and we weren't going to be there to celebrate with her." Al said, "we wouldn't have been allowed to miss a day of school, just for her birthday."

"**It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.**

"**Two years," sniffed Charlotte. "I want to go _now!_"**

"Tell me I wasn't as bad as her when I was that age." DC said, looking at Lucius hopefully.

"You weren't, but you had Rose, Jeanette, Elizabeth, Alistair, Shawn and Frank junior to keep you company." Harry grinned, "Charlotte didn't have anyone her own age, other than Roxy and Drew."

"And of course, in her opinion, Drew was a disgusting little boy." Lucius sniggered, "of course, with his habit of making mud and mashed nettle pies and then eating them, I thought he was a bit disgusting as well."

**The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Albus's voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamour; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car. The two strawberry blondes with them rolled their eyes as they heard their brothers, hoping the boys wouldn't continue their argument when they got on the train.**

"Forlorn hope." Al snorted, "Rax definitely enjoyed driving me up the wall."

"You are so easy to irritate though." Eustace sniggered.

"**I _won't!_ I _won't_ be a Hufflepuff!"**

"Not that there's anything wrong with the house, other than the colours." Al mumbled.

"What's wrong with the Hufflepuff colours?" Susan asked.

"They make me think of a beehive, and I don't like bees." Albus replied, going bright red with embarrassment.

"Yeah he really doesn't like them." Rus snorted, "his Boggart is a swarm of bees."

"**Abraxas James, give it a rest!" said Lucius.**

"You named your oldest son after us." James whispered, indicating himself and Abraxas.

"Yes." Harry grinned.

Sirius still couldn't get over the fact that Harry had married Lucius and had children with the man. He was perfectly fine about Harry being gay, he just wasn't sure about Harry's choice in men, but since Lily told him off earlier, he decided against saying anything, for fear of angering the woman even more.

**Yes, that's right, Lucius Malfoy, not Ginny Weasley. Harry and Ginny had decided, after the final battle, that they had changed too much to make a relationship work, and anyway, Harry had realised that he was gay, and Ginny thought of him as a brother.**

"Plus, we're just too closely related to be comfortable." Ginny muttered disgustedly.

"How closely?" Al wondered, having never actually bothered to work it out.

"Second cousins once removed." Harry replied.

"Yeah, that's too close." Titania nodded, "urgh."

**Lucius, like Narcissa and Draco, had been cleared of any wrong-doing, after the discovery that he had actually spent the better part of twenty-four years spying on Voldemort, and didn't truly believe in pureblood supremacy.**

"That must have been a surprise." Dean said.

"Not as much of a surprise as catching this one singing The Rolling Stones' Jumping Jack Flash in the shower." Harry sniggered, pointing at Lucius, who was blushing slightly. "Or discovering the fact that he owns a Stratocaster."

"A what?" Theo asked.

"A guitar." Lily whispered in awe, "it's iconic."

"One of the guitars the Weird Sisters used during the Yule Ball, was a Stratocaster." Harry added.

"So what were the others?" Blaise wondered, "or were they just ordinary guitars?"

"I believe one of them was a Gibson Les Paul, and one was a Telecaster." Harry replied, "those three are the most well-known electric guitar types in the world."

"So how did the Weird Sisters manage to make them work?" Colin asked.

"The guitars were enchanted." Hermione said, "almost anything electronic can be made to work around magic, using magic as a power source. It's not easy, and takes time, but it can be done."

**So, Harry, feeling sorry for the three Malfoys, who had not felt comfortable returning to their own home, had invited them to stay at Potter Manor, and, when Draco and Harry revealed that they were friends, the elder Malfoys slowly began to shed their masks, allowing Harry and his friends to see who they truly were. **

**In August, after Hogwarts had been repaired, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco took their N.E. , having decided that they didn't need to spend another year at school going over things they had already been taught, and all four passed easily, being offered jobs in the Department of Mysteries once they had they results. So they were sent to America, to join the Stargate Project, followed by Lucius, who had been loosely involved in the project since the beginning.**

"Yes, I was the one who dealt with the political side of the project." Lucius sighed, "getting in the way of the American government when they tried sticking their noses in where they weren't wanted."

**During the months between allowing the Malfoys to stay at Potter Manor, and moving to America, Harry realised that he had fallen for Lucius. He hadn't expected the blond to reciprocate, but Lucius did, and the two got together, the love between them getting stronger with every day. To the shock of the wizarding world, they got married on the one-year anniversary of the end of Voldemort, though there wasn't as much hatred for same-sex relationships as there was in the Muggle world.**

"Yeah, that's because men can actually get pregnant here, so there aren't as many problems with carrying on the family lines." Theo nodded.

**Male pregnancy wasn't uncommon either. Not when one or both men had creature blood, and because Lucius was part-Veela, and Harry had an ancestor who had been a Siren, they were able to become pregnant quite easily,**

"Very easily." Lucius snorted, "it was unbelievable how quickly we got pregnant, after deciding that we wanted children."

"So you had sixteen of them?" Sirius squeaked.

"We both wanted big families, so we just kept going." Lucius shrugged.

**both at the same time, leading to the births of Abraxas James and Akasha Charlene, nine months after the wedding. Their son had been named after his grandfathers, while Akasha's names were chosen because the name Lily just didn't fit her.**

"So did you name any of your children after your mother?" Charlus asked.

"Me." Tarquinia grinned, "my middle name's Lily. AJ did mention it when he introduced us."

"**I only said he _might_ be," said Abraxas, grinning at his younger brother, startling Harry out of his reminiscing. "There's nothing wrong with that. He _might_ be in Huff–"**

**But Abraxas caught his father's eye and fell silent.**

"Yep, none of us want to get on the wrong side of Papa, or Dad." Kaitlyn giggled.

"Dad's worse though." Gabe snorted, "he's very good at the 'I'm very disappointed in you' look, and makes us feel really small when he uses it."

**The eight Potter-Malfoys approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother,**

"Urgh, Rax really was a cocky a bastard at the beginning of our first year." Al snorted.

**Rax took the first trolley from his father and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished, as had Akasha, who was two days younger than him.**

"So which of you carried Akasha, and which carried her brother?" Pansy asked.

"I carried Rax, and Harry carried Akasha." Lucius smiled.

"**You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother. The twin girls beside him also wanted to know whether they would be getting letters from home, but hoped that they wouldn't get too many, unlike Albus, who was slightly less eager to be away from their parents.**

"Oh dear." Narcissa smiled.

"**Every day, if you want us to," said Lucius, ruffling the boy's hair.**

"**Not _every_ day," said Albus quickly, "Rax says most people only get letters from home about once a month."**

"That's how often most parents write." Mrs Weasley nodded.

"Rax got about three a week when he was an ickle firstie." Teddy sniggered.

"They weren't all from Dad and Papa though." Al grinned, "Rosie and DC were rather proud of the fact that they had begun learning how to read and write, and kept sending him post, full of scribbles and random letters."

"We were only three." DC snorted.

"**We wrote to Abraxas three times a week when he started his first year," said Lucius.**

"**And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."**

"Yep, Rax did like pranking." Rus nodded, "his biggest prank involved filling everyone's shoes with mud and water. How he managed that I don't know. But these two were far worse."

"Remember that bobble-head doll they made and stuck to your Dad's desk, when they were fifth years?" Dominique giggled.

"Oh Merlin." Snape murmured, mock-glaring at the two strawberry blondes.

"Yeah, they got a week's detention for that." Rus smirked, "how they found time to do it, on top of everything else they did that year, I'll never know."

**Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus and the twins winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which Rax and Akasha had already disappeared.**

"**Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously,**

"Who?" Susan wondered.

"Me, our oldest sister Laura, and Aaron, Draco's son." Allana replied.

**peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.**

"**We'll find them," said Lucius reassuringly.**

**But the vapour was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud, Harry thought he head Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello …**

"Sorry Perce." Harry muttered with an embarrassed grin. Percy waved it off, not as offended as he would have thought he would be.

"**I think that's them, Al," said Harry suddenly.**

**A group of seven people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Lucius, Charlotte, Albus and the twins had drawn right up to them.**

"**Hi," said Albus, sounding immensely relieved.**

"Of course I was." Al grinned, "I had a buffer between me and the twins once we'd found them."

**Laura, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him from beside her godfather, who had been tasked with getting her to school for the first time.**

"Why weren't your parents there?" Ernie asked, looking at Allana, "I would have thought that they'd want to send their daughter off to school for the first time, themselves."

"We had hoped we could, but we were just too busy, and couldn't get the day off." Abraxas sighed.

"**Parked all right, then?" Draco asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you?**

"Of course not, you drive too fast." Hermione snorted, "ignoring the speed limit."

**She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."**

"**No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."**

"**As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Draco whispered to Harry, as together they lifted Albus's trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."**

"That is true, but I wouldn't want to rely solely on magic." Lily sighed.

**Back on the platform, they found Charlotte and Allana, Laura's younger sister, having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.**

"Which house was Charlotte in?" Flitwick asked.

"Ravenclaw." Allana grinned, "though she could have gone into any of the houses."

"**If you're not in Slytherin, your parents'll disinherit you," said Draco, "but no pressure."**

"No we wouldn't." Eileen snorted, "neither of us would want to lose you."

"**_Draco!_"**

**Charlotte and Allana laughed, but Albus and Laura looked solemn.**

"**He doesn't mean it," said Hermione and Lucius, but Draco was no longer paying attention. **

**Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.**

"**Look who it is."**

**Blaise Zabini was standing there with his wife and daughter,**

"Who did I marry, and did my mother leave me alone after my wedding?" Blaise wondered.

"You married Hannah, and as far as we know, she chased your mother off, about three months before your daughter was born." Hermione giggled.

**a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat,**

"I was losing my hair?" Blaise whined, thumping his head onto the table. "Oh Merlin."

"I'd rather lose my hair than go grey." Sirius said, "that way I could ignore the signs of ageing."

"You're going slightly grey already." James laughed, seeing the pale streaks of grey in amongst his best friend's black hair.

"Didn't want to know that." Sirius snorted.

**which emphasized his Italian ancestry. The new girl resembled Blaise as much as Akasha resembled Lucius.**

"So she looks like me, only female." Blaise whispered, smiling at Hannah, who glanced at the staff table before inviting him to sit next to her.

**Blaise caught sight of Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Lucius staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again. His wife, however, grinned and mouthed an invitation to dinner, without all the children getting in the way.**

"Yeah, that would have been a fun evening." Harry grinned.

"Unfortunately we weren't able to make it." Lucius sighed, "Fleur went into labour, and we were stuck with baby-sitting all the Weasley children who weren't old enough for Hogwarts."

"And that's on top of our own children." Harry added.

"Poor you." Dorea commiserated.

"How many children were you looking after that day?" Sirius wondered.

"Fourteen." Harry replied, "the oldest was nine, while the youngest was eleven months."

"Me." Gabe grinned.

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"Merlin." Sirius whistled.

"**So that's little Emily," said Draco under his breath. "She's gonna be beautiful when she grows up."**

"She is." Al smirked.

"**For Heaven's sake, don't start planning a wedding between her and Aaron." Hermione said, half stern, half amused.**

"Oh dear." Blaise murmured, feeling overprotective of his little girl, even though she hadn't even been born yet.

"So did she marry your son, or not?" Hannah asked Hermione, with a giggle.

"No." Al grinned, "she chased me, tied me down and told me I was going to marry her, then shagged me senseless."

"So who did Aaron marry then?" Blaise asked.

"A muggle-born from Croatia." Draco replied, "she was one of the first group of children who attended the primary school we had set up for the Empire. That school took a lot of the pressure off Hogwarts, teaching magical theory and basic wand movements, so the teachers here didn't have to."

"Impressive." Minerva muttered.

"**You're right, sorry." said Draco, but unable to help himself, he added, "I hope Aaron gets close to her, we know she'd be good for him, with Hannah Abbott as her mother."**

"**Hey!"**

**Abraxas had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.**

"Yes, news that we didn't want to get out at that point." Teddy grumbled.

"**Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam.**

"I would have thought you'd have graduated at that point." Tonks frowned.

"No, it was my last year though, but even after I graduated, I was going to the station every year, helping get Cassie and her friends to school." Teddy grinned.

"**Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging Victoire!_"**

"Thank you Rax." Teddy grumbled, "I wish he hadn't caught us, and told practically everyone."

"Oooh, Teddy got a girlfriend." Sirius teased.

"If you don't stop, I'll neuter you, in both forms." Teddy grinned, then smirked when Sirius whined pathetically.

**He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.**

"**_Our_ Teddy! _Teddy Lupin!_ Snogging _our_ Victoire!**

"So you snogged my daughter." Bill growled, like an overprotective father.

"He married her." Dominique giggled, watching Teddy's hair turn an alarming shade of bright red.

"Yep, he proposed during her graduation ceremony." Titania nodded, "and they've been married for twenty-eight years."

"They've also got two children." Tarquinia added.

"Ooh, what are their names?" Tonks asked.

"Bellatrix Jeanette and Cygnus Alphard." Teddy replied.

"You continued the Black family tradition of naming children after stars and constellations." Sirius sniggered.

"You snogged my daughter and got her pregnant." Bill grumbled, not wanting to hear about his daughter doing anything involving boys.

**_Our_ cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing –"**

"**You interrupted them?" said Lucius. "You are so like Draco –"**

"Yeah, but at least he didn't walk in on them while they were naked." Draco snorted, "I learned to knock after that."

"– **and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's _snogging_ her!" Abraxas added as though worried he had not made himself clear.**

"Oh he made himself perfectly clear." Rus grinned.

"Not quite as clear as Cam did when she announced that you had asked her to marry you." Teddy sniggered, "didn't she send your Dad a Howler to tell him?"

"Yes, yes she did." Rus sighed, "and consequently, she told the entire school, who all told their parents, who told their friends, and somehow, the quiet little wedding we had planned, with just the pair of us and our close friends and family, turned into the society event of the year."

"Oh dear." Snape murmured.

"**Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Charlotte ecstatically. "Teddy would _really_ be part of the family then!"**

"**He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry.**

"Yeah, he used our house as his hideaway when he got fed up of his parents, and his Grandmother." Harry sighed.

"Yes, well, if they hadn't been so ridiculously overbearing, I wouldn't have had to." Teddy snorted, "plus it was a good way to avoid the embarrassing questions that Gran had a habit of asking, especially after I lost my virginity."

"If you hadn't climbed onto the roof of her house, and screamed it out to the entire world, she wouldn't have been eager to get all the juicy details." Harry laughed.

"I doubt that would have helped." Tonks giggled, "mum is extremely nosy."

"I am not." Andromeda said, pretending to be offended, though the amusement in her eyes betrayed her.

"**Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"**

"**Yeah!" said Abraxas enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al – Teddy could have my room!"**

"Not a chance." Lucius laughed.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have a house left if Rax and Al shared." Harry nodded.

"Besides, I wouldn't have wanted a room filled with Rax's stinky socks." Teddy grinned.

"**No," said Lucius firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."**

**He checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.**

"You kept it." Mrs Weasley whispered, wiping a few tears from the corners of her eyes.

"**It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."**

"**Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Hermione told Al as she hugged him.**

"**Aunt Hermione! I can't give a professor love!"**

"That would be weird." Neville grinned, "not to mention embarrassing, for both of us."

"**But you know Neville –"**

**Abraxas rolled his eyes.**

"**Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him _love _…"**

**Shaking his head at his godmother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus.**

"That was mean of him." Dorea frowned.

"**See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."**

"**I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible!_"**

"So you weren't able to see them?" Lily asked, hopefully.

"Not then." Al replied, "but since I joined the Imperial Defence Force, and was assigned to the Wraith space border patrol, I can."

"I think we can all see Thestrals now." Rus mused, "we were there when the Asgard blew themselves up, and I'm sure that watching an entire race die, would be enough."

**But Abraxas merely laughed, permitted his Dad to kiss him,**

"Permitted?" Lily asked with a giggle.

"Yes, he was fifteen at the time." Lucius smirked, "and felt that he was too old to kiss his parents."

"All boys feel that way." Charlus nodded, "especially teenagers. They seem to think their social lives will suffer if they show their parents too much affection."

**gave his Papa a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.**

"**Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them.**

"You were scared when you first saw them." Luna pointed out.

"I thought I was going mad, because nobody would tell me what the hell they were, and hardly anyone else could actually see them." Harry snorted.

"Thestrals aren't the prettiest of creatures, though one does get used to their skeletal appearance eventually." Lily smiled.

**Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."**

**Lucius kissed Albus good-bye.**

"**See you at Christmas."**

"**Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let Rax wind you up."**

"Good advice." Sirius grinned.

"You could have said, don't duel at all." Lily frowned.

"That is not going to happen." Charlus snorted, "the kid's a Potter, he's inevitably going to find himself duelling someone at some point while in school."

"And he's our grandson as well." James sniggered, "we also got into a few duels when we were students."

"**What if I'm in Hufflepuff?"**

**The whisper was for his Dad alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.**

"Sorry about that." Al mumbled, slightly sheepishly.

"It's OK, you did explain why you didn't want to be a Hufflepuff." Susan smiled.

**Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own.**

"That can't have been easy." Annia giggled, "what with the fact that you were a week away from giving birth to me."

"It was extremely difficult." Harry snorted, "being nearly nine months pregnant makes moving and bending very awkward."

**Like almost all of Harry's older children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes. Akasha and their younger siblings all had grey eyes, like their Papa.**

"So how many of you have green eyes?" Lily asked with a smile at the thought of her grandchildren having the same eyes as her son.

"Six of us." Gabe grinned, "Annia and the twins have one of each. The rest have grey eyes like Papa."

"Wow." Lily whispered.

"**Albus Severus,"**

"I still can't get over the fact that you named one of your sons after me." Snape murmured, honoured beyond belief that Harry would do so.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry, wondering why on Earth his godson would name one of his sons after the potions master, when, as far as he knew, the two couldn't stand each other.

**Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Lucius could hear, and he was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Laura, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts.**

"One of which didn't even want the position." Snape grumbled, trying not to imagine how nightmarish it would be.

**One of them was a Slytherin and he is probably the bravest man I have ever known, while the other was a Gryffindor. We don't care what house you go into, no matter what your brother likes to say."**

"**But just say –"**

"– **then Hufflepuff House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matter to you, you'll be able to choose Slytherin over Hufflepuff. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."**

"**Really?"**

"**It did for me," said Harry.**

"I thought it just decided to put you in Gryffindor, without taking your opinion into account?" Neville frowned.

"It had difficulty deciding, but I convinced it." Harry grinned.

"I did mention that Potters have always been silver-tongued enough to persuade the hat to sort them into other houses." Charlus smirked. "Probably something to do with the fact that almost all of us, have married Slytherins or Ravenclaws."

**He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus's face when he said it. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders, Albus jumped into the carriage with his sisters and Lucius closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.**

"**Why are they all _staring_?" demanded Albus as he, the twins and Laura craned around to look at the other students.**

"You did tell them the story didn't you?" Lily asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "we couldn't hide it from them, so we made sure they were aware that we were famous, even though we tried to keep them out of the spotlight."

"**Don't let it worry you," said Draco. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."**

"So famous we all got our own Chocolate Frog cards." Hermione giggled.

**Albus, the twins, Laura, and Charlotte laughed.**

**The train began to more, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him … at least for the six hours before he was due to pilot the school transport craft away from Earth to the education planet.**

"Why didn't you stop using the train after you moved Hogwarts?" Minerva wondered.

"It was traditional, and while some traditions were disposed of, because continuing them just wasn't feasible, the train was something we didn't want to stop using." Lucius smiled, "so we kept the train, but instead of the students getting to school in the carriages or boats, we built a landing pad near Hogsmeade station, and used a transport craft to get the students to and from school."

"Despite moving most of the magical population off Earth, there were some who stayed, usually muggle-borns whose families didn't want to leave, but also didn't want to deprive their children of the education we were providing. And there was the fact that we had left an outpost on the planet, that detected the births of new Muggle-born children, and some of the people who worked there had children of their own." Harry added.

"Understandable." Albus nodded.

**The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.**

"**They'll be all right," murmured Lucius.**

"We were fine." Al and the twins nodded.

**As Harry looked at him, he lowered his hand absent-mindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.**

"**I know he will."**

**The scar had not pained Harry for seventeen years. All was well.**

"That was the end of the book." Mr Weasley said, "and that was a lovely ending."

"It really was." Lily smiled.

"What do we do now?" Seamus wondered.

"Well, first off, we should eat, and if you have any questions, then we'll have a question and answer session." Albus said, looking at his watch.

Everyone glanced at their own watches, and seeing that it was seven in the evening, agreed to the suggestion that they eat.


	47. Chapter 47

As soon as the meal was nearly over, and the students were beginning to get fed up of waiting for the staff and those at the middle table to finish, the staff opened the floor to the first question.

"You said yesterday that you had freed Miss Black and her ex-husband from Voldemort's control because they didn't want to be Death Eaters. I was just wondering if there are any others in the same position." Neville said, having realised that both Bellatrix and Rodolphus were victims of Voldemort's megalomania, just like all those who had suffered and died fighting him.

"None that we know of." Lucius replied sadly, "there are some who only joined to protect their families, like Anthony Nott and Brendan Bulstrode, but most of the Death Eaters, like Rabastan, Dolohov and Stephen Parkinson, are completely fanatical. As far as I am aware, there are no others who only joined because they were ordered to while under the Imperius."

"So when did you find out about that?" Bill asked, beating Sirius, who also wanted the answer to that.

"A week after the final battle, when Harry started going through some of the paperwork associated with the Black family." Lucius sighed, "he had asked for my help, with the legal side of things, and when he discovered the marriage contract, asked me what I knew about it and what he should do about it. The only way to release them from the curse was to declare the contract null and void, which Harry did, and three days later, while we were clearing up some of the rubble from the battle, we found Bellatrix, huddled in a corner of a disused classroom, crying her eyes out and half-dead due to the injuries she'd gained."

"You mean she went nearly two weeks without seeing a Healer?" Pomfrey shrieked.

"Yes." Harry nodded, bracing himself for the nurse's eruption.

"Don't blame them." Bellatrix whispered, "I was not exactly in the right frame of mind to care about having my injuries healed. At that point, I felt they were a fitting punishment for not being strong enough to refuse to follow Voldemort's orders."

"Merlin." Sprout murmured.

"I have a question." Padma said nervously, "what are the legal ramifications of the people who were considered dead, being back?"

"That will need to be discussed in depth, both with the goblins at Gringotts, and with the Ministry." Scrimgeour replied, "they will need to be declared legally alive, but whether they regain the various titles they had, which were passed on to their heirs as soon as they died, will have to be decided by both them and their heirs."

"What about Sirius' legal position?" Remus wondered, slightly nervous about what was going to be revealed about his friend's legal status.

"Because I was in Azkaban, even though I was innocent, I'm barred from holding any title." Sirius sighed.

"So the title of Lord Black will either return to me, or remain with Harry, depending on what we decide to do." Orion shrugged, "it's unfortunate, but the law forbidding anyone from claiming a title if they've been in Azkaban, has been around since the first inmate entered the prison."

"Even if I hadn't been thrown through the Veil/gate/thing, my Will would have been activated once I managed to prove my innocence." Sirius added.

"Merlin." Dean muttered.

"So you're saying that Harry's going to remain emancipated, even though he's sixteen and his parents are here?" Seamus asked.

"Precisely." Charlus nodded, "even if one of us agreed to regain the titles that he inherited from James, he still has two that we wouldn't be able to hold, for whatever reason."

"For example, neither of us can hold the title of Lord Shelby, because we aren't blood related to the Shelby family, that's his mother's line." James added, "and I don't think we'd be able to claim the title of Heir of Slytherin either, even though we are descended from Slytherin's daughter."

"Interesting." Seamus muttered.

"I've got a question, when will we get to see proof of what you've said about the existence of aliens?" Ernie asked.

"Aliens?" Sirius squeaked quietly, looking at his brother and father for answers.

"Yes." Orion nodded, making sure he didn't disturb those around them, "we'll explain in more detail later, after you've had a chance to read the first thirty-three chapters of the book. So for now, it might be a good idea to just sit and listen."

"You've already seen some proof." DC grinned at Ernie and the rest of the students, "when I came three days ago. Constructor bots, Liquid Naquadah, nanites. Not one of those things was created by humans, or on this planet."

"I wasn't even born on this planet." Kaitlyn grinned, "I was born on New Athos, a lovely planet in the Pegasus galaxy."

"But if you want more proof, just wait a few days, and I'm sure Dad will show you one of the vessels we brought." Annia added, "and there's the Jumper we sent on Saturday, that should have landed in the middle of this hall at around lunch-time."

"It did." Harry nodded.

"So that's what that brown thing that looked like a turd was." Theo murmured.

"I hope your other ships aren't that ugly." Pansy said.

"No, they're not." Cygnus grinned, "we designed them to look at least vaguely reasonable, taking inspiration from what we saw of the Muggle and natural worlds."

"And other things." Orion nodded, "we wanted our vessels to be not only resilient and capable of what we needed them to do, but also to be aesthetically pleasing, so yes, we think they look decent."

"Are there any more questions about that?" Albus asked, looking around the hall, trying to work out how much longer the session would take so he could figure out when plans could be made for dealing with everything.

"I've got one." Angelina said, "will we be taught how to use the technology, and if so, when?"

"We hope to teach everyone here how to use all the technology we have, as well as the machines we're planning to build, but we'll have to organise when, so that we don't interfere with everything else that needs to be done." Lucius replied, "our basic idea was to teach the fifth and seventh years during the summer holidays, so that their O.W.L and N.E.W.T studies don't suffer, while the rest get taught during free periods, weekends and holidays, but we do need to coordinate with the staff before we start."

"What about those who've already graduated?" Bill wondered.

"We'll need to work around your schedules." Abraxas shrugged, "we don't want to force you to quit your jobs, so we'll have to monopolise at least some of your time off."

"Understandable." Charlie nodded.

"And, if we get you all up to speed on everything quickly enough, you can then help teach the younger kids." Bellatrix grinned.

"Are Harry and that lot going to take their N.E. early, or are they going to wait and take them with the rest of their year?" Colin wondered.

"We'd like to take them as soon as possible, so we can get them out of the way, and then we won't have to worry about putting things on hold for too long." Hermione said, "but whether we can or not, is up to the teachers."

"We have spent some time deliberating on that topic since Miss Greengrass mentioned it on Saturday, and we have decided that forcing that group to wait would be a disservice to them, so I sent a letter to the Wizarding Examinations Authority to inform them, after we finished reading for the day on Monday." Albus added, "I should be receiving a reply from them, either tonight, or tomorrow morning."

"When are we going to prove to Voldemort just how much of a smeghead he is?" Ernie asked, using a Muggle reference that he felt fit perfectly.

"And will the students be allowed to fight?" One of the quieter fifth year Slytherins added.

"We haven't decided on when we will battle Voldemort, that will be discussed later on." Albus sighed, "as for whether students will be allowed to fight, only those who are seventeen and wish to will not need to ask for parental permission. Anyone who is fifteen or sixteen will need to ask for parental permission before joining."

Ginny and a few of the fifth years growled at that, each and every one glaring at the headmaster angrily. Many of them felt that they should be allowed to fight, even if they weren't seventeen yet, though they knew that their parents wouldn't allow it. Ginny knew that her adoptive parents would try to forbid her, but she also knew that her biological parents would be a little bit more lenient, and she might be able to convince them to agree.

"Albus, maybe we should discuss that later as well." Minerva suggested, knowing that many things would need to be hashed out.

"Indeed." Albus nodded, "when we have agreed on our plan for how we will deal with Voldemort, we will inform everyone, so please be patient."

"Going back to talking about the technology you use. You mentioned that you couldn't replace Ariana because she was too young, is that why you didn't replace Cedric either?" Hannah asked.

"Partly." Harry replied sadly, "while Cedric was old enough for a replacement to be feasible, we couldn't get close enough to him to replace him, not without being suspicious. It would have been nice to replace him, but there were just too many obstacles for us to be able to do so."

"Besides, we only had enough nanites available to create six bodies, one for a demonstration of their capabilities, and the other five to replace a few of the people we had planned to replace." Lucius continued.

"So that's why you only replaced those five, and no one else?" Neville muttered.

"Precisely." Lucius nodded, "when we have a chance, once we have wiped the Replicators in the Pegasus galaxy, we will be endeavouring to replace two others."

"Who?" Seamus wondered curiously.

"Frank and Alice." Harry replied, "we think they deserve the chance to live properly."

Neville stared at Harry, shocked out of his wits at the thought of being able to talk to his parents properly, and having them recognise him.

"Wouldn't it be easier, not to mention safer, to use your technology to cure them?" Dean asked.

"If there was a method we could use to do so, we would." Bellatrix sighed, "the Ancients never found a way to cure mental illnesses, of any sort, that was one thing they never managed to do. So despite the large amount of data they had collected during their studies of the brain, there was no information that would help. The only thing we can do, is go back and replace them."

"I understand." Neville nodded.

"Is there a piece of technology that would cure Albus' hand?" Minerva wondered.

"Not that we know of." Lucius replied, "there are methods that may help, such as using Asgard technology to grow him a new body, or building a nanite body, into which we would transfer his soul, but even that might not work. We don't even know what the curse would do, if we did replace his body."

"Even if one of those methods would work, that does not mean that he would want us to try." Harry added.

"Indeed not." Albus said quietly, "I have accepted that my time is coming, and I think I've lived long enough already. I probably should have had the good sense to die in my sleep years ago."

"Does the fact that they've all been revealed as not being loyal Death Eaters mean that professor Snape still has to kill the headmaster?" Dennis asked, cocking his head to one side in curiosity.

"Unfortunately, because I agreed to both an Unbreakable Vow and a Wizards' Oath before the end of the summer holidays, I will have to, at some point within the next year, despite the fact that there was no time-limit specified." Snape sighed, "it is not something I wish to do, but if I do not, I will die."

"Merlin, that's so sad." Tracy whispered.

"As was said when the fact that he was the one to cast the curse at me was revealed, I would prefer to have someone I trust use the Killing Curse than to suffer the long, drawn-out death that I am already facing." Albus said, "to be perfectly honest, I would dearly like to simply slip away in my sleep, but I know that that is not to be."

"Can we get off the subject of death now, please?" Sirius asked, almost pleading. He wasn't particularly keen on the subject, and wanted to lighten the mood somehow.

"A very good idea." Albus nodded, "are there any more questions, or should we try to return to some semblance of a normal routine now?"

"I've got a question." Alicia said.

"Go ahead." Harry smiled.

"Well, you mentioned some of the races that live in this galaxy, but we don't know how they fit in to the galaxy as a whole. I was just wondering if you were ever going to explain the political structure of the galaxy?"

"We will." Lucius nodded, "at some point, how soon actually depends on how much time we have, we will give a few talks on the current political situation in both the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies, giving an overview of all the key players, and which races we will be approaching and making alliances with."

"For those who aren't interested in politics, we won't force attendance, but it would be a good idea to attend one or two, just to get some vague idea of what the potential consequences of making a mistake are." Harry added, "however, as has already been mentioned, we will be trying to work around the school timetables, without disrupting the fifth and seventh years' exam preparations."

"That's good." Alicia grinned, knowing that she would not have been happy if she had still been in school and she was so distracted from her studies that she ended up failing, but she was still happy that no one would be left out deliberately.

"We'll also be giving talks on at least some of the history of the Ancients." Rodolphus added, "I don't know how much we'll be able to cover, since there's so bleedin' much of it."

"Fifty million years to be precise." Bellatrix snorted.

"Indeed, but we can give at least a vague idea of the big events, specifically when and why the Ancients came to this galaxy, the plague that caused their departure, and why a few returned." Rodolphus continued, "and we will, of course, not drone like Binns."

"That's good." Neville grinned, while the rest of the students cheered.

"I should hope you're not going to be so utterly boring that we end up wanting to jam your nose between your cheeks and make it the filling of a buttocks sandwich." Ernie grinned.

"Oh Merlin." Harry groaned, as most of the other purebloods stared at Ernie in incomprehension.

"I really wish Dad hadn't let you watch Red Dwarf last summer." Justin sighed.

"What's that?" Susan asked.

"Only one of the best Muggle comedy shows ever." Ernie grinned.

"OK." Susan muttered.

"To explain more fully, it's a British TV franchise, there were ten series of it, four novels, and a lot of other stuff." Harry said, "we didn't pay much attention after the end of the tenth series, so I don't know whether there were any more, but the episodes we did watch were brilliant."

"Let's add that to the list of things we need to show examples of." Hermione suggested when she saw the still slightly confused expressions on the faces of some of the purebloods in the hall.

"Good idea." Lucius nodded.

"I've got a question." Katie said, "Harry said that Mr Malfoy owned a Stratocaster, can he play it, or is it just an ornament?"

"I can just about wring a tune out of it." Lucius replied, "I'm not very good at it, but I can. Harry's better at it than I am."

"How did Mr Malfoy hide his guitar from the Death Eaters, when Voldemort was using his house as headquarters?" Alicia wondered.

"I put it in a secret chamber, under the drawing room, with my music collection." Lucius smiled, "I also made sure that the Death Eaters couldn't access the chamber, no matter what they tried."

"That was annoying, I could quite happily have lived in that chamber, with some of the music you have." Rodolphus grinned.

"I know you could have, some of it was yours." Lucius snorted.

"Don't forget the one or two Beatles albums I managed to buy, despite Mother's snooping." Bellatrix added.

"True." Lucius nodded.

"What kind of music do you like?" Justin asked, wondering if he and the other Muggle-borns would recognise and/or enjoy listening to Lucius' collection.

"A right mixture." Draco sniggered, "the collection covers almost every genre you can think of."

"Wow." Colin whistled.

"Yeah, and some of the names of our vessels came from that collection." Annia giggled, "if it hadn't been for going through his music, we wouldn't have a cargo vessel called, 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother'."

"We also wouldn't have a warship called, 'No Sacrifice, No Victory'." Teddy sniggered, "but then again, I doubt the Valkyrie would have been named that if it hadn't been for Uncle Lucius' music collection."

"It would probably have been named Enterprise or similar." Rus snorted, "you know how much of a Trekkie he is."

"Too true." Al grinned.

"OK." Alicia muttered, understanding rather more of the conversation than those around her. After all, her father was obsessed with Star Trek as well.

"Can we get back to something sensible please?" Anthony asked.

"A very good idea." Minerva nodded, glaring sternly at almost everyone in the hall.

No one wanted to irritate the Transfiguration professor, so everyone tried to forget any silly thought they had had, and Terry, one of the less out-going Ravenclaws, decided to ask a question that he had been thinking about since Harry had mentioned that the entire magical population would be moving off the planet.

"When you move the magical people off Earth, what about those who have muggle relatives? Will they be forced to leave their families behind, or will the parents join in?"

"Any muggle relatives will be given the opportunity to join." Cygnus replied, "even if they don't have magic, they have skills that witches and wizards don't necessarily have, so they can still contribute."

"Yeah, my parents are dentists, and they enjoyed plying their trade among the stars." Hermione added, "other parents and relatives can do something similar."

"I'm confused about something." Alicia frowned, "how are you lot going to get off this planet when you want to build more ships, or are you going to build them here?"

"We do have several ships that we can use to get off the planet, and there are five Stargates on Earth as well, so we won't be stuck here." Harry replied, "and there are two massive shipyards in space, we know where they are, so no, we won't be building any ships here."

"Where are those shipyards?" Angelina asked.

"The galactic cores of the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies." Caruso grinned, "they aren't easy to get to, because even the slightest error can be disastrous, but that also means that they are well protected."

"I can imagine." Lily whispered, "the galactic core is one of the most dangerous places in the known universe."

"What's so dangerous about it?" Katie queried.

"The simple fact that the shipyards are surrounded, on all sides, by black holes and exploding stars." Harry replied, "those black holes and stars provide a hell of a lot of raw materials for the shipyards, and a natural shield, to keep enemies away."

"Merlin." Dean blinked.

"Why are there five Stargates on Earth?" Seamus wondered.

"The Ancients put a Stargate in every city-ship they built, and for some reason they left two city-ships on the planet, they also placed a gate in Antarctica, and there's the one in the Department of Mysteries, that everyone seems to call the Veil of Death." Harry replied, "the fifth was brought by the Goa'uld, and placed in the area that is now known as the Giza plateau in Egypt."

"Why would they do that?" Dean asked, "especially with four others here already?"

"They did not know about the city-ships, nor did they know about the one in the DoM, and they didn't find the one in Antarctica either." Lucius replied, "or at least, we don't think they found that one, though when we found it, there was the frozen body of a Jaffa right next to the device that was used to connect the gate to any destination."

"What's a Jaffa?" Stephen asked.

"The Jaffa are the soldiers of the Goa'uld Empire." Harry said, "they were human originally, but the Goa'uld genetically modified them, and now they are completely dependant on the Goa'uld for survival. They don't have anything even remotely resembling an immune system, and need to have larval Goa'uld implanted in their abdomens just so they don't die of disease. The Jaffa are slaves, basically, bred to follow the Goa'uld, and any Jaffa that decides that he does not wish to, is called a Shol'va, a traitor."

"The Goa'uld punish traitors in a rather brutal fashion." Lucius continued, "they crush the larval symbiote, thus poisoning the Jaffa."

"It's not just those who refuse to worship them that the Goa'uld punish like that." Caruso added sadly, "a friend of ours was forced to watch his father murdered, purely because he lost a battle that he had no chance of winning, at all."

"Merlin." Flitwick whispered, "those poor Jaffa."

"Is there a way to save them?" Minerva asked, dabbing a few tears from her eyes.

"Yes." Hermione nodded, "we may not be able to save every single Jaffa, but we will do our best."

"There is a serum, called Tretonin, that we will be able to produce, which can be used as a substitute for a larval Goa'uld, so the Jaffa can gain some independence." Bellatrix added, "unfortunately, the Jaffa will have to take a dose of that serum every day for the rest of their lives, but we may be able to find a way give them total freedom, eventually. It will just take time."

"That's good to know." Minerva nodded.

"You mentioned, before we started reading, that a lot of you were on something called, the Alteran High Council, what precisely does that mean, and how is it organised?" Scrimgeour asked.

"It is the system of government for the Alteran Empire." Daphne replied, "and it is organised in much the same way as the Ministry, with various departments overseeing different aspects of the running of the Empire. The High Councillor is basically in charge of the whole Empire, like the Minister of Magic, but he must have the agreement of at least half of the other members before making any decision."

"Impressive, what about the public, do they get a say in the decision-making process, or not?" Kingsley wondered.

"They do." Hermione nodded, "we do try to keep the public apprised of at least some of the decisions, but there are some that we just cannot reveal for security reasons."

"The public also get a say in who their representative is." Harry concurred, "each department has a representative who attends every Council meeting, along with representatives from every planet in the Empire, each of whom is elected by the people who live on those planets."

"How often are elections held, or is the position permanent and hereditary?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Elections are held every four to five years." Hermione replied, "and we try not to have someone representing a planet for too long, but it doesn't always work, as proven by the fact that Earth's representative was Kingsley, and he was re-elected eight times."

"So you're saying that the representative of each planet is the leader of that planet's population." Minerva surmised.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "each planet has its own council, and the leader is generally the representative. We don't particularly care about how each planet is governed, as long as they send an elected representative to the High Council meetings."

"And even if that is how we governed the Empire in our dimension, we won't insist on doing it the same way here." Lucius added, "it worked for us, but here we may end up going down a different route, if people come up with a better way of running things."

"Interesting." Albus mused.

Some of the younger students yawned, bored with the talk about politics.

"I think we should wrap this up, and if anyone else has a question, they can ask at a later date." Minerva suggested quietly, watching the first and second years drooping slightly.

"Indeed, a very good idea." Albus nodded, standing up and gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. "I can see that a lot of you are tired, so I think that now would be a good time for the younger years to get some rest. Therefore, all students, apart from those seated at the middle table, please head to your common rooms in an orderly fashion, and we will return to a normal time-table tomorrow."

There were some grumbles, but everyone did as they were told, with the prefects leading, one house after another.

When all the students had left the hall, the only people left were the group at the middle table, the staff, the ministry personnel, and the four who had been invited to join and sat at the Gryffindor table.

"Now that we're the only ones here, can everyone come to this end of the hall please?" Albus asked, not explaining why, even when Minerva inquired as to his intentions.

Everyone shrugged and did as the headmaster wanted. They were all curious about what he was doing, but they all knew that he could be extremely stubborn, so just went with it and waited until he decided to explain.

As soon as the last person was stood in front of the staff table, Albus waved his wand, causing the four house tables to shrink, along with the benches, and move to rest against the side walls. Then he waved his wand again, and the purple-clad table shortened and widened, until it was square, but still big enough to hold everyone.

"Right, now we can all sit at that table and discuss how we can organise our efforts to change the future." Albus smiled.

"Do you really need us here?" Allana wondered, "or do you want us to leave?"

"It is entirely up to you." Albus said, "while you may find yourselves rather superfluous, you may also think of things that we have missed."

"True." Annia nodded, "let's stick around for now, we'll decide what to do later, if the discussion runs on too long."

Everyone sat down, splitting into two groups, with those who had experience of the future on two sides of the table, while those who did not know anything about the future, took the other two sides.

"First off, we will need to inform at least some of the other countries in the ICW about what we're doing." Scrimgeour said, starting everything off. "If we are to move everyone off the planet, we cannot leave the other countries out of it."

"We had thought about that, but we weren't sure how." Harry sighed, "last time around, it wasn't us that dealt with that, it was the people in charge of the SGC, because they were able to concentrate on that, being on Earth more often than we were."

"What about Voldemort and his supporters?" Mr Weasley asked, "what do we do about them?"

"OK, we need to focus on one thing at a time." Flitwick said, "let's start with Voldemort, since he's one of the bigger obstacles."

"Indeed." Albus nodded, "now, to reiterate, how close are we to making him mortal?"

"The only Horcrux left is Nagini." Harry replied, "we just don't know how to get close enough to deal with her."

"Do we know where Voldemort and the Death Eaters are staying?" Kingsley asked.

"Nott Manor." Lucius sighed, "I don't know how long they're going to stay there."

"Voldemort's still very weak after his failed attempt at possessing Harry, and as far as I can remember, he did not move from Nott Manor until he broke Azkaban open again." Bellatrix said.

"So, we can afford to wait a few weeks or so before dealing with Voldemort, which will give us time to make a plan for how we do that." Albus nodded.

"We can start dealing with his supporters, who are inside the Ministry, now that we have a list of the main ones." Percy said, "and if we work with the Department of Mysteries, we may be able to set up a ward to detect when someone is under the Imperius. That way we can try to obstruct Voldemort's plans a bit more."

"Yes, that is indeed a good idea." Scrimgeour nodded.

"When we deal with Voldemort, are we intending to hold the battle here, or will we be taking the fight to him, and going to Nott Manor?" Hermione wondered.

"There are advantages and disadvantages to both." Flitwick sighed, "why?"

"If we take the battle to him, all we need to do is make sure we have enough people, but if we hold it here, we need to find some way to have the shields at full power, while also keeping the illusion up." Hermione replied.

"But you said that the things producing the illusion can't handle having the shields at full power as well." Andromeda frowned.

"True, but if we can get access to the auxiliary shipyard, we can build illusion emitters, which will take the strain off the city's shield emitters, and it will then be possible to have both up at the same time." Harry grinned.

"Which means that you'll need access to Azkaban." Minerva muttered.

"I don't understand." Kingsley frowned.

"Azkaban is the other city-ship hidden on Earth." Harry smiled, "the Ancients called it Iona, and used it as an auxiliary shipyard for repairing vessels when they couldn't, or didn't have time to, go to one of the space-based shipyards, and when they wanted to build smaller things. They hid it under an illusion, like Avalon."

"We'll have to decide what to do with the prisoners there, before you go anywhere near the place." Scrimgeour warned, "and I can't make that decision unilaterally."

"The brig on the Valkyrie or one of the other ships could hold all the prisoners." Teddy suggested, "and it would be good to see how many are truly guilty, and how many are actually innocent."

"Yeah, if you put them all on one of the ships, someone could question them, with Veritaserum, and those who are actually guilty could then be placed somewhere far away from the innocent." Al added.

"Very well, I will discuss that with head Warden, as well as the senior members of the DMLE." Scrimgeour nodded, "but what do we do with the Dementors? As far as I know, they can't be destroyed."

"They can." Harry smiled, "but there are only two things that we know are powerful enough to do so. I can't quite remember how we discovered it, but the fire of a phoenix's rebirth, will destroy Dementors, as will dragon-fire."

"So either we find a phoenix about to go through a burning day and place it on a Dementor, or encourage a dragon to breathe fire on the things." Moody snorted, "what about a volcano, or Fiendfyre?"

"We never tested either of those things, nor did we test the drone weapons." Hermione replied, "we didn't need to, not after discovering that dragon-fire was perfectly capable of destroying the Dementors."

"Right, it's probably easier to use a dragon, so I think we'll need to make sure that the Welsh reserve is on standby." Kingsley muttered.

"Now, back to your plans for the Alteran Empire." Scrimgeour said, "as I mentioned earlier, we will have to inform the other countries in the ICW, and get the Department of Mysteries to cooperate."

"We'll also need to inform the commander of the SGC, because the gate there is the only one that's connected to the network." Lucius added, "we can use one of our ships as a glorified taxi, and use other gates on the network, but the gate at the SGC is, by far, the most useful one, and if we do decide to use it, we need to make sure that they know about it."

"So we need a meeting with the ICW representatives from some of the more powerful countries, some unspeakables, and SGC personnel." Albus nodded.

"Indeed, and if we can record that meeting, then even if some people aren't actually there, they can still have all the information and won't be kept in the dark." Rodolphus agreed.

"We'll also want to take our Apparition tests early, to get them out of the way, so we don't have to worry about them, and it will also mean that we don't have to rely on others to get us to where we need to be at any given time." Daphne put in.

"Very well." Scrimgeour nodded, "I suggest you take your Apparition tests tomorrow, and depending on whether the WEA agrees, you can take your N.E. next week. That way, we will have more time to deal with everything else that needs to be done."

"What does need to be done?" Kingsley asked, "I know you want to build more ships, move everyone off the planet, and create a galactic empire, but I'm sure there has to be more to it than that."

"Yes, there is." Hermione nodded, "we need to deal with the hostile races, hopefully without too much hassle, we need to make contact with the allies we had had in our original time-line, as well as those the Ancients had had, and to get everyone comfortable with the technology we use."

"Some of those things are easier than others, and some need to be done as quickly as we can before we move on to anything else." Harry added, "the Replicators, for example. They need to be eliminated as soon as possible, especially the ones in the Pegasus galaxy, for two reasons. One, they're one of the biggest threats in existence, and two, they built around a hundred and fifty city-ships of the same design as Avalon and Atlantis, and we want those ships."

"That's one of the reasons we need access to Iona." Lucius said, "we need to build at least two EMP amplifiers, as soon as possible, and when we have wiped the Replicators, we can use the city-ships for our own purposes."

"You mean that the other group of these Replicator-things are different?" Mr Weasley frowned.

"Yes." Harry sighed, "as we mentioned while we were reading, someone had found the specifications for the constructor bots and the replication programme of the nanite technology the Ancients used, and combined the two, which led to the creation of the Replicator menace that the Asgard are struggling to deal with. Those Replicators are less advanced than the ones in the Pegasus galaxy, that we call Asurans because the planet they have taken over, is called Asuras, but that doesn't mean that they're less dangerous."

"Merlin." Mr Weasley muttered.

"And that's on top of the genetic degeneration that the Asgard have been suffering for the last several centuries." Kaitlyn sighed, "we've been trying, and unfortunately failing, to halt that."

"We did wonder whether we could splice our DNA on to theirs, to fill in at least some of the blanks, but they blew their home up before we could find out whether that would work or not." Gabe added.

"How are you going to make contact with them if they're so far away?" Mrs Weasley asked, worried that her youngest son, as well as her honorary children, would be away from home for more than a year. She had no idea how fast Alteran vessels could travel, so Harry, Ron and Hermione could understand her fear.

"We can either use the Stargate, or one of our vessels." Harry replied, "it shouldn't take more than two weeks to get from here to Othala if we pushed the hyperdrive to its limits, or if we used the Stargate, the journey wouldn't take more than five seconds."

"Besides, we wouldn't all be going." Ron grinned, "for all we know, the Asgard have detected the presence of our vessels and are on their way here, or are going to send a ship as soon as one becomes available. Even if they don't send a ship here, either Harry and Lucius will go to Othala together, just the two of them, or we'll invite the Asgard to Hedwig Station for a summit between ourselves and all the other races we want to ally ourselves with."

"How would the Asgard detect your ships, from three million light-years away?" Professor Vector asked with a gasp. "Surely that would be too far."

"Their sensor systems are far more powerful than ours." Hermione said, "they aren't a warlike race, though they do understand that there are times when warlike behaviour is required, so instead of investing a large amount of time in designing powerful weapons, they spent more time building sensor systems that have a long range, and are extremely sensitive to the smallest detail. They also have a satellite network surrounding this galaxy, so they can keep a eye on what's going on here, just in case the Goa'uld decide to break the treaty they made."

"Yes, the Protected Planets Treaty, which the Goa'uld hate." Harry snorted.

"What does the treaty entail, and why do the Goa'uld hate it?" Scrimgeour wondered.

"The Asgard and Goa'uld signed a treaty saying that the System Lords would not oppress certain planets within the galaxy, and if any minor Goa'uld did attempt to, then the System Lords would go in and remove the interloper." Harry replied, "basically, the System Lords are doing what the Asgard can't, making sure that any planet mentioned in the treaty, remains free of Goa'uld oppression. The unfortunate thing is that the Asgard also cannot get involved in anything that will affect the natural development of those planets, which means that they wouldn't be able to protect those planets from natural disasters."

"There is also a stipulation that the people on the named planets must not develop technology beyond a certain level, otherwise the Goa'uld will destroy them." Lucius added, "the only reason that treaty was signed, was because the Asgard haven't got the resources to engage in a war with the Goa'uld, and the Goa'uld, who had no idea about that, did not want to get involved in a war with a race as technologically advanced as the Asgard."

"Merlin." Kingsley muttered.

"I don't think there's anything else we have to talk about right now, is there?" Scrimgeour said finally, "due to the fact that I'm sure the Department of Mysteries has been researching the true history of our people, I would expect them to know at least some of what you've already mentioned, and I think we need to get them involved before we go too far, so I suggest that we wait until after they've been informed of everything, before continuing."

"A very good idea." Albus nodded, "I suggest we head to bed ourselves, and tomorrow, Harry and his friends can take their Apparitions tests, then we'll have to see whether or not the WEA have replied to my letter."

"I'll be heading back to the Ministry, and can chivvy them along, if they haven't decided." Scrimgeour said, "it's the least I can do to help. I'll also arrange for the meeting with the ICW representatives, on Monday, then we'll see what else we can do. I think we may need to organise another meeting, once the students have completed their exams, just to make sure everyone is on the same page, and no one ends up being forced to do too much at once."

"Very well, I'll see you all tomorrow morning then." Albus smiled, indicating that the meeting was over and everyone could leave.

"We'll be heading back to our own time tonight." Teddy said, "we don't need to stick around, the satellite network is up and running, with all data being sent to the Valkyrie, Warrior Soul, Dawnrazor, Dreadnought, Sabretooth and Retribution for analysis, and really, there's nothing for us to do now, so if we stuck around, we'd feel like lemons."

"If you're sure." Minerva murmured, looking between Rus and Leenie, as if to try and memorise their faces.

"Yeah." Allana nodded, "don't worry though, you'll see us again, one day. We're not going to disappear forever."

"But when are we going to see you?" Remus asked, grabbing on to his son and appearing as though he was not going to let go ever again.

"Whenever you manage to knock Mum up." Teddy grinned at everyone over his father's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's all it takes really." Dominique giggled.

"Do remember what we said we had discovered when planning this whole thing." Hermione said, smiling at Tonks. "No matter when you have children, no matter what order you have them, they will still have the same souls."

"Exactly." Leenie nodded, hugging her parents quickly, "you'll still have us, even if we aren't born on the same days or in the same order."

"It would be nice if you could stay for a little while longer, but we do understand that you have responsibilities that you can't avoid, and we know that you don't belong in this time." Minerva whispered, not letting go of her son and daughter.

Almost everyone was slightly tearful about saying goodbye, and didn't want to need to. The only ones who weren't, were Harry, Lucius, Bellatrix, Eileen and Abraxas, who had all been involved in the planning and research for the mission, so they had got used to the idea that their children wouldn't be able to stay, and knew that they'd be able to see the children again when they were born.

Remus, who was slowly coming to grips with the knowledge that a family wasn't something to avoid, suddenly thought of something. "Harry, how is the fact that Sirius has already been rescued going to alter your plans?"

"It shouldn't alter them too much." Harry replied, "the fact that he has already been rescued, means that we have one less thing to do, and therefore we have more time to concentrate on our other plans."

"Wait, you were going to leave me there?" Sirius yelped.

"We were planning to rescue you as soon as we had enough combat vessels to take six with us, leaving one or two behind to protect Earth." Harry said.

"Yeah, if we had decided that the plan to leave the three combat vessels and one cargo-ship, was a good one, you would have had to wait about six weeks for rescue." Rus snorted, "but we looked over the plans and felt that four ships just wouldn't be enough, which is why we chose to double the number. That would have allowed you to be rescued within a month, if my wife hadn't threatened to castrate me if we let her Dad get dissected."

"You married my daughter?" Sirius growled, sounding more like his animagus form than human.

"Yes." Rus nodded.

"I think I should be the one who's irritated about that marriage." Snape muttered, "since, apparently, your daughter sent me a howler."

"She did." Leenie giggled, "and while neither of you was happy, you knew not to try separating them. It was hilarious, watching you both cower from Cam's mum."

"No one wants to get on the wrong side of Amelia Bones." Rus said flatly, "she may have been a Hufflepuff, and not exactly tall, but that does not make her any less intimidating."

"Right." Snape and Sirius mumbled, before looking at each other in horror at the fact that they were agreeing on something for the first time in their lives.

"That reminds me, after you have read the chapters you missed, I will want a word with you Sirius." Dorea said sternly, looking at her great-nephew.

"Why?" Sirius asked, as they all headed out on to the front lawn.

"You'll understand when you read those chapters, especially the one we finished before you arrived." Dorea sighed, "suffice it to say, I am deeply disappointed in the way you treated young Severus when you were at school, and you will be apologising when you understand how wrong you were."

"Oh." Sirius mumbled, pretending to be ashamed, though he still felt that Snape deserved what he got.

"Goodbye, we'll see you in a couple of years." Tonks whispered to Teddy as she hugged him.

The group from the future waved to their parents before being beamed back onto their ships, and everyone else peered at the night sky, wishing their children good luck. Some of the women started crying as they saw the four faint flashes that indicated that their children had gone home, and the men embraced their wives, before everyone went back inside, heading to bed, so they would be ready for the next day.


End file.
